WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State softball team looks to bounce back after a tough weekend in Tempe, Ariz. The Shockers will take on UMKC twice, UT Arlington, and Nicholls State twice, in Arlington Texas for the UTA Invitational.
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Scouting UMKC: The Roos have begun the season with a 3-6 record, winning all three games at a neutral site and losing four as the away team. Kelsey Goodwin has led the team with a batting average of .407, collecting three doubles, two triples and five RBI.
The Roos pitching staff has seen five different pitchers so far this season with Lynsey Conner racking up the most innings at 17.1. Alex Larson has won two games for the Roos and has an ERA of 0.90.
In 2016, UMKC went 24-26 overall and 10-5 in the WAC, falling to Seattle University to end their season, 7-3.
The Shockers are 33-9 all-time against UMKC, with head coach
Kristi Bredbenner being 2-3 vs. the Roos. The last meeting came in 2014.
Scouting UT Arlington: The Mavs are 5-4 to start the season, winning just one game against New Mexico, 5-1. UTA then turned things around as they traveled to Hammond, La., and won all four games they played, with the fifth game being cancelled.
Krista Rude has led the Mavs so far this season, hitting .516 with one double and four RBI, while also having an on-base percentage of .516.
In 2016, UTA went 29-20 overall, but just 8-16 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Mavs fell to Troy 3-2 in nine innings to end their season.
The Shockers are just 7-8 agasint the Mavs, and 0-1 in the Bredbenner era, with 2012 being the last time that the two teams have faced off.
Scouting Nicholls State: The Colonels have started the 2017 season 11-2, defeating four teams in just five innings. Samantha Mracich is leading the team so far with a batting average of .432, with eight RBI and six walks.
Megan Landry has gone 6-1 for the Colonels, with an ERA of 0.70 in 40 innings pitched. Jackie Johnson has also thrown 31.2 innings and holds a record of 4-1.
In 2016, Nicholls State went 39-17 overall and 21-5 in the Southland Conference, falling to Stephen F. Austin to end their season, 1-0.
The Shockers have only played the Colonels once all-time, defeating Nicholls State in 1989.
Shockers News and Notes:
Coming off a strong weekend in Houston, the Shockers traveled to Tempe, Ariz., where they lost both games on Friday, to South Dakota and Arizona State. Day two of the tournament was cancelled due to rain and the Shockers ended the weekend with an 0-2 record.
So far this season, the Shocker offense has been led by
Mauriana Jamele who is hitting an even .500 and by
Mackenzie Wright who is hitting .471.
The Shockers have a team ERA of 2.15, with senior
Katie Malone throwing 21 innings, with a record of 3-2 while freshman
Bailey Klitzke has thrown 18 innings and has an ERA of 2.33.
Wichita State finished the 2016 regular season winning 12 of their last 13 games, with a 12 game winning streak being the second longest in school history.
After winning the regular season championship, the Shockers then went on to win the Missouri Valley Tournament Championship, winning both for the first time in school history.
Wichita State then was selected for the 2016 NCAA Regional in Oklahoma, falling to Oklahoma and Ole Miss, but defeating Tulsa for Wichita State's first win in an NCAA Regional.
The Shockers will return four of the seven athletes who recieved All-MVC honors in 2016, including
Paige Luellen,
Jenni Brooks,
Mackenzie Wright and
Macklin Hitz.
Paige Luellen had reached base in the first 28 games for the Shockers in 2016, but ended her 33 game on-base streak at Kansas last Tuesday.
Wichita State lost two giant bats from 2016 in
Cacy Williams and
Brittany Fortner, but look to pick up where they left off, bringing in eight newcomers to battle for playing time with the 8 returning starters from a year ago. Returning starters for the Shockers are
Kelli Spring,
Laurie Derrico,
Mackenzie Wright,
Ashley Johnson,
Paige Luellen,
Macklin Hitz,
Jenni Brooks and
Katie Malone.
The Shockers also return three other position players including,
McKenzie Adams who played in 22 games in 2016, hitting .212.
Mauriana Jamele,
Kennedy Long,
Cassidy Kelsheimer,
Bethany Canada and
Kaylee Huecker will also return in 2017.
Wichita State returns seniors
Katie Malone, who made the most starts among the pitching staff (43) a season ago, and
Jenni Brooks, who led the team in ERA (3.23), wins (18), and was second in starts (21), and innings pitched (136.1).
Malone appeared in 43 games while starting 26 for the Shockers. During those 43 appearances (which led the team), she also was second on the team in wins (15), strikeouts (78), complete games (11) and second on the team with an ERA of 4.18. Brooks appeared in 38 games for the Shockers, collecting 18 wins and holding opposing hitters to an average of .271. The Shockers have also brought in two newcomers that will pitch for the Shockers in
Bailey Klitzke and
Morgan Palmer.
In just her junior season,
Paige Luellen is beginning to work her way up the Shocker record book, currently in fifth in batting average (.337), second in slugging percentage (.600), first in on-base percentage (.459) and 13th in walks (68).
Along with Luellen breaking records, senior pitcher
Katie Malone is also climbing the ranks with a full seasons still to play. She is fourth all-time with 50 wins, second all-time with 11 saves, fifth all-time with 125 appearances, tied for sixth all-time with 88 games started and seventh all-time with 320 strikeouts.
Head coach
Kristi Bredbenner is entering her sixth season with the Shockers after coaching at Emporia State prior to taking the job at Wichita State.
Wichita State was picked second in the 2016 MVC preseason poll, as voted on by the Valley coaches. The Shockers collected 88 points and three first-place votes. Drake was picked first with 92 points and six first place votes.
Two Shockers were named to the 2017 Preseason First Team All-MVC, including Wright and Hitz.
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