By: Wichita State
at 
Kansas (29-20, 2-14) at Wichita State (16-31, 8-11)
Wed., April 27- 5:00 p.m.
Wed., April 27- 7:00 p.m.
Quick Hits:
- Kansas (29-20) at Wichita State (16-31)
- Kansas is currently 4-10 in the Big 12 as the Shockers are 8-11 in the MVC
- The Shockers are 18-64-1 against KU all-time
- WSU is 3-6 against KU in the Mike Perniciaro era
- Wichita State is 2-2 against KU at home in the Perniciaro era
- KU has won five of the last six games against the Shockers
- The two teams split the series at Lawrence in 2010
- Shocks won the first game 4-1 and lost the second 9-2
- Wichita State is 1-6 against Big 12 opponents this year, but 1-0 at home
Another Meeting With the Big 12: Wichita State welcomes Big 12 member, Kansas, to Wilkins Stadium for the final home series of the season. The two teams meet for a doubleheader on Wed., April 27 starting at 5:00 p.m. Kansas is the fifth Big 12 opponent for the Shockers this season. WSU is 1-6 this season against the Big 12 with an upset victory over #18 Oklahoma State and losses to Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State.
Scouting Kansas: The Jayhawks lead the series against Wichita State with an all-time record of 64-18. KU comes into the doubleheader with a 29-20 record on the season. They are coming off of a series split with Iowa State, which ended a four game losing streak by the Jayhawks. The Shockers got swept by the Cyclones earlier this season at Wilkins Stadium. KU was picked to finish last in the Big 12 and currently sits at the bottom of the conference standings. Kansas is 7-8 away from Lawrence this season and has a 27-6 record in its non-conference action.
Kansas' Offense: Maggie Hull leads the KU offense as she is batting .345 at the plate with 51 hits, 13 doubles, eight home runs, and 47 RBI. Brittany Hile leads the team in home runs with 13 on the season as she is hitting .321. As a team, KU is hitting .284 on the year and has four different players batting over .300.
Kansas' Pitching: KU's opponents are hitting .282 against them this season, and the pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.56. Allie Clark leads the staff with a 12-7 record and 3.67 ERA. She has made 33 appearances and started 17 games. Clark has 63 strikeouts in 118.1 innings pitched.
Scouting Wichita State: Senior Heather Gerritse leads the way for the Shockers' this season. She is hitting .369 on the season with 48 hits, 23 RBI, eight doubles, and four home runs. Senior Jamie Hull is close behind with a .321 batting average. Hull leads the team with 30 RBI and 28 runs scored. Katie Armagost leads the Shockers' pitching staff with a 3.85 ERA and team best six wins. Sloan Anderson has made the most appearances and leads the team with 77 strikeouts.
Wichita State's Game Against MSU Postponed: The Wichita State softball team's Tuesday contest at Missouri State has been postponed due to heavy rain. The game will be rescheduled for Thurs., May 5 at 7:00 p.m. in Springfield, Mo. The Shockers will travel to Missouri State to wrap up the three-game series that began in Wichita, Kan. The two teams met for a doubleheader at Wilkins Stadium on Wed., April 20. The Bears took both of the games from WSU.
Shockers' Seniors Lead the Way on Senior Day: Senior Brianna Smet threw a two-hitter and the seniors combined for four runs on eight hits as Wichita State beat Evansville, 5-1, on senior day at Wilkins Stadium Saturday afternoon.With the win, the Shockers' claimed the series against the Purple Aces in front of 251 fans at Wilkins Stadium. It is the second Missouri Valley Conference series the Shockers have won this season.Senior Kiersten Dixon went 3-for-3 at the plate, scored three runs, hit a home run, and picked up one RBI in the game. Senior Heather Gerritse went 3-for-4 with a double and picked up two RBI. Senior Jamie Hull was 2-for-4 on the day with a home run, a run scored, and an RBI.After giving up one run in the first inning, senior Brianna Smet held the Purple Aces scoreless for six innings as she picked up the win. It was Smet's first complete game of the season as she went 7.0 innings and gave up just one run on two hits.
Shook Named Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week: Sophomore Sammie Shook was named the Missouri Valley Conference athlete of the week for her performance last week.Shook led the Shockers' offensive attack for the second straight week as she led WSU to a 3-3 re cord, including a 4-2 up set over #18 Oklahoma State. After hitting .500 in the series sweep over Creighton two weeks ago, Shook followed that up with a .429 batting average in the Shockers' six games in five days last week. She picked up six hits, two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, and scored four runs in 14 at bats. Shook hit for power with her two doubles and three home runs which was good for a 1.214 slugging percentage. She picked up at least one hit in five of the Shockers' six games last week. Shook went 1-for-2 and picked up an RBI in the upset over #18 Oklahoma State. She went on and led the Shockers' in the series against the Purple Aces. She was 4-for-7 with a double, three home runs, seven RBI, and four runs scored. Shook hit two home runs in the 12-4 run-rule over the Aces on Fri., April 22.
Breezy Shines: Senior Brianna Smet led the Shockers' pitching staff with a 1-1 record last week, including a 2-hit win on senior day over the Purple Aces. For the week, she had a .40 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. She made four appearances, including three starts. Smet also recorded four strikeouts last week. After giving up one run in the first inning, Smet held the Purple Aces scoreless for six innings as she picked up the win on senior day. It was Smet's first complete game of the season as she went 7.0 innings and gave up just one run on two hits.
Seniors Lead the Way: The 2011 senior class led the Shockers to a 2-1 series win over the Purple Aces this past weekend. Kiersten Dixon, Heather Gerritse, and Jamie Hull all hit over .500 for the weekend and combined for 16 hits, four doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI. Senior Brianna Smet threw a two-hitter and the seniors combined for four runs on eight hits as Wichita State beat Evansville, 5-1, on senior day at Wilkins Stadium. Senior Kiersten Dixon went 3-for-3 at the plate, scored three runs, hit a home run, and picked up one RBI in the game. Senior Heather Gerritse went 3-for-4 with a double and picked up two RBI. Senior Jamie Hull was 2-for-4 on the day with a home run, a run scored, and an RBI.
Shockers Upset Nationally Ranked Oklahoma State: After losing on the road to Oklahoma State, 10-1, earlier this season, the Shockers welcomed the Cowgirls to Wilkins Stadium for the second game of the series on Tues., April 19. In their first game under the lights this season, the Shockers never trailed to nationally ranked Oklahoma State. Freshman Sloan Anderson picked up her fifth win of the season as she held Oklahoma State to two runs on four hits in 3.1 innings of action. Senior Brianna Smet picked up her second save of the season. All three pitchers saw action in the game. Hayley Temple led the Shockers' offensive attack. She went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs. Freshman Erin Carney was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored. Kiersten Dixon, Jamie Hull, Heather Gerritse, Sammie Shook, and Brittney Osborn each picked up one hit in the contest. Both Rachel Milnark and Shook picked up an RBI.
Softball Adds Katherine Johnson to 2012 Recruiting Class: Sixth-year softball head coach Mike Perniciaro has announced the signing of his sixth student-athlete to a National-Letter-of-Intent to play softball at Wichita State. Katherine Johnson will join early signees Brianne Bond, Layne Greenlee, Kaitlyn Carey, Melanie Jaegers, and Sydney Stuever as a member of the freshman class for the 2012 season. Johnson is a right-handed pitcher from Alameda High School in California. She was named the 2011 Most Valuable Player at the 10th Annual Standley Cup after helping her team win the tournament. In 2009, she led her team to the North Coast Sectional Championship and was named first team All-ACCAL in 2010. Johnson works just as hard in the classroom as she is a three-time member of the North Coast Section Scholastic Championship team. "We are excited about Katherine joining our program," Perniciaro said. "She brings a lot of talent to the pitcher's circle and will add more depth to our pitching staff. She is also an outstanding student, and we are glad she will be a Shocker."
-WICHITA STATE-
