WICHITA, Kan. - With Loyola defeating No. 5 Evansville in the first round, the Shockers will take take on the Ramblers on Friday at 11 a.m., in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
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Scouting Loyola: The Ramblers finished the regular season with an overall record of 26-25 and went 9-17 in MVC play to take the eighth seed.
Throughout the year, Shannon McGee led the team, as she started all 51 games and led the Ramblers with a batting average of .297. Katie Kasubke led the team with 25 RBI and also led with five home runs.
The Ramblers had two pitchers throw over 150 innings this season with Kiley Jones leading the way with 200.2 innings and an ERA of 2.27, while Keenan Dolezal pitched 151.0 innings and had an ERA of 2.64.
The Shockers took two of three games from Loyola in Chicago, winning by scores of 2-1 and 3-0, but falling in game three, 2-1.
Shockers News and Notes: Wichita State finished the regular season with a three-game sweep for the first time since 2014, as they knocked off Evansville last weekend. The Shockers head into this weekend looking to win back-to-back MVC Tournament Titles for the first time in school history.
Wichita State had four players named to the All-MVC first team including,
Kelli Spring,
Mackenzie Wright,
Katie Malone and
McKenzie Adams, while two players were named to second team. Those players are
Madison Perrigan and
Laurie Derrico. Perrigan was also named to the All-Defensive team.
In game one against Evansville, the Shockers tied a school record, playing 12 innings in the game. This had been done three other times, with the most recent being against Evansville in 2009.
With the sweep of Evansville, head coach
Kristi Bredbenner moved into second all-time in wins at Wichita State. Senior
Katie Malone also set a new Wichita State single season record for wins with 25 and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Senior
Kelli Spring has reached base in her last 14 games.
Wichita State currently ranks 27th in the nation in slugging percentage, 29th in doubles per game and 30th in batting average.
Senior
Katie Malone needs just three wins to set an all-time Wichita State record for wins in a career.
Malone collected her 22nd win of the year after going 3-0 with 20.0 innings pitched, allowing zero runs to win MVC Pitcher of the week for the week of April 17.Â
Wichita State has five players that have started all 50 games this season. Those players are,
Kelli Spring,
Mackenzie Wright,
Madison Perrigan,
Laurie Derrico and
Macklin Hitz. Four of those five players are currently hitting over .300.
Bredbenner also needs just five wins to reach 500 in her career.
Senior
Katie Malone has now collected 75 wins in her career, ranking second all-time in Wichita State history. She just needs three more wins to move into first place all-time at 77 wins.
The Shockers had started conference play 3-0 for the first time since 2007. In 2007, the Shockers also swept Drake at home to begin MVC play.
In the most recent RPI ranking, the Shockers are placed at 77th.
Senior
Katie Malone is currently seventh in the nation with 25 wins, setting a new career high and a new Wichita State single season record.
The Shockers are currently first in the Missouri Valley in batting average at .310, second in slugging percentage (.471), second in on-base percentage (.387), second in runs scored (262), first in hits (426), second in RBI (238), first in doubles with 74 and second in home runs with 44.
Laurie Derrico is second in the Valley with 11 home runs.
Senior
Katie Malone leads the Missouri Valley in innings pitched (216.1), wins (25) and is second in the Valley in total strikeouts (158).
The first two home games of the year brought in 1,113 people and 1,115 people respectively, both setting new Wilkins Stadium record.
Mackenzie Wright hit .435 in six games and earned Missouri Valley Player of the week for the week of March 6.
Katie Malone went a perfect 5-0 in Arlington, throwing 29.1 innings, earning her Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 27.
So far this season, the Shocker offense has been led by
Kelli Spring who is hitting .379 and by
Mackenzie Wright who is hitting .370.
The Shockers have a team ERA of 2.48, with senior
Katie Malone throwing 216.1 innings, with a record of 25-10 while freshman
Bailey Klitzke has thrown 37.1 innings and has an ERA of 3.94.
Jenni Brooks has now made 20 appearances and has thrown 81.2 innings and allowed 31 earned runs for an ERA of 2.66.
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.
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.
In just her junior season,
Paige Luellen is beginning to work her way up the Shocker record book, currently in 11th in batting average (.316), fifth in slugging percentage (.572), third in on-base percentage (.438) and third in walks (91).
Along with Luellen breaking records, senior pitcher
Katie Malone is also climbing the ranks as she finishes her senior year. She is tied for second all-time with 72 wins, second all-time with 11 saves, first all-time with 166 appearances, second all-time with 117 games started and fourth all-time with 463 strikeouts.
Head coach
Kristi Bredbenner is entering her sixth season with the Shockers after coaching at Emporia State.
Wichita State was picked second in the 2017 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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