WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State softball team opens American Athletic Conference play for the first time in school history when they host Memphis this weekend in a three-game series at Wilkins Stadium. Play begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday with the Shockers selling game jerseys in the 5th inning on Saturday to raise money for the Cure Retinal Blindness Foundation.
SCOUTING MEMPHIS
The Tigers come into the opening weekend of American Athletic Conference play with a 21-7 record, the best in The American, with a win over Ole Miss (who recently dropped out the NFCA rankings) the highlight. The Tigers are led by pitching ace Molly Smith who sports a 1.00 ERA and 12 wins on the year. Another Smith, Baylee, is the batting ace whose .472 average ranks in the top 30 in the NCAA.
SERIES HISTORY
The teams have met twice with both games part of a doubleheader between the Shockers and Tigers held in Memphis to open the 2010 season. This will be the first meeting between the teams as part of the American Athletic Conference and the first for Wichita State under
Kristi Bredbenner.
LAST MEETING WITH THE TIGERS
The Shockers and Tigers last met back in 2010 in a doubleheader in Memphis, splitting the series with current Shocker HD color commentator Jamie Hull pitching two scoreless relief innings in a 4-1 victory.
QUICK HITS
• After five wins against 'Power Five' schools, a clean sweep at the WSU Tournament alongside wins over Iowa and Creighton, Wichita State continued to receive votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll on March 20. This is the third week straight the Shockers have received votes.
•
Bailey Lange leads The American in looking strikeouts (29), saves (4) and is third in strikeouts per game (8.11) and total strikeouts (105). Lange is also 31st in the NCAA in strikeouts on the year and her nine wins this season are the most in her career.
•
Paige Luellen took sole posession of the career RBI record list at the WSU Tournament by going 6-for-14 with three home runs including a grand slam and three-run walk-off home run to move into first place.
•
Laurie Derrico became the fifth different Shocker this season to be named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll (March 19). Derrico hit her first career grand slam, first career triple and hit .500 through four games to join
Paige Luellen,
Bailey Lange,
Ryleigh Buck and
Bailee Nickerson who have all earned a nod to the honor roll so far this season.
• Ignoring the four blowouts to ranked opponents this season, the other six Shocker losses have only been decided by a combined eight runs; four by one and two by two.
• Even when an opponent scores up to six runs the Shockers still have a winning record (16-4); when the opponent scores first the Shockers also hold a winning record (8-6)
• Wichita State are 8-2 in their last 10 games and 5-0 at Wilkins Stadium.
• Within the last 10 games the Shockers are batting .316 and fielding .957. The pitching staff have a 3.15 ERA and an opposing batting average of .255. The Shockers also have 11 home runs, 86 hits and 62 RBI within the past 10 matchups.
NOTED AND VOTED
The Wichita State softball team have received votes in three consecutive USA Today/NFCA Weekly Poll's in 2018. The Shockers received one vote on March 6, 14 on March 13 and 10 on March 20. This is the first time the Shockers have entered one of the main two softball polls since the 2006 ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll released prior to that season.
RPI AND R-B-EYE
The Wichita State softball team debut in the first RPI ranking of 2018 at #26 with a strong non-con schedule helping their cause. Wichita State are also the highest RPI ranked team in The American with Memphis coming in second best at #68. The Shockers are also raising money for the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation this weekend by selling game jerseys for $50 in the fifth inning on Saturday; all proceeds will go the CRB Foundation.
THOSE TOP-25 TEAMS
The Shockers have dropped
three game all year to teams not receiving votes or ranked within the top-25 nationally. The Shockers fell on a walk-off two-run homer to Furman back on the first weekend of the season in Auburn, Ala., before falling by one run to both Iowa and Creighton at the Creighton Tournament last weekend. Every other loss in 2018 has come to a team in the national poll or receiving votes.
DOING IT IN STYLE
Senior
Paige Luellen took control of the career RBI record book after a stellar weekend at the plate at the WSU Tournament. The senior struck three home runs that included a grand slam to lift the Shockers out a six-run hole and a three-run walk-off home run to go 4-0 over the weekend. Luellen leads the team in RBI and slugging percentage; she also leads the conference in the latter.
HONORED BY THE AMERICAN
Laurie Derrico became the fifth different Shocker this season to earn a spot on the American Honor Roll after hitting .500 at the CU Tournament with her first career triple and first career grand slam.
Paige Luellen tabbed Honor Roll honors after her performances at the WSU Tournament the week before with
Bailey Lange, Ryleigh Buck and
Bailee Nickerson also earning spots on the Honor Roll this season.
MAKING AN IMPACT
Ryleigh Buck and
Bailey Lange are currently sitting in a number of top-10 conference categories. Buck leads the conference in chances and putouts at first base while Lange is third in batters struck out and is also leading The American in looking strikeouts. Senior
Paige Luellen is ninth in batting average with .390 and leads the conference in slugging percentage with .732.
ADJUSTMENTS, REWARDS
After hitting .205 and .244 through the whole month of February,
Laurie Derrico and
Mackenzie Wright have improved dramatically at the plate. Derrico is hitting .429 through March with a .762 slugging percentage and 11 RBI. Wright is hitting .342 in the leadoff spot with a .458 on base percentage.
Madison Perrigan has also improved the at-bats by doubling her slugging percentage from .303 to .622. She only had 3 RBI in February but has 13 in March.
Paige Luellen is another having a stellar March with a .409 batting average, .447 on base percentage, .659 slugging percentage and 19 RBI through the 12 games played.
THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING
Junior pitcher
Bailey Lange leads the Shocker pitching staff in wins and strikeouts despite missing most of the Texas Invitational with an illness. She returned in emphatic fashion against Nebraska, pitching 12.0 innings, striking out 12 and only giving up two runs for two Shocker wins. Against Arkansas she gave up five hits, struck out six en-route to her third shutout of the season. She earned her seventh and eighth wins at the WSU Tournament against Missouri State and Western Illinois; she also picked up two saves on the weekend. The lefty pitcher also has the most looking strikeouts in the American Athletic Conference, is averaging 8.11 strikeouts per game and is 31st in the NCAA in total strikeouts.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
There's something about playing on a Friday night under the floodlights. The Shockers are currently on a seven game win streak, including two this season, in regular season games played on Friday evenings at 5:30 p.m. or later dating back nearly
two years to March 2016. The last time the Shockers lost on a late Friday evening? The 2016 NCAA Regional game against #3 Oklahoma in Norman.
ROAD WARRIORS NO MORE
After traveling roughly 2010 miles to three tournaments, the Shockers close out a run of 15 games back in the Midwest. The Shockers took to Wilkins Stadium for the first time this season with five games in a week beginning with a 1-0 win against Arkansas (R.V.) and a 4-0 weekend at the Wichia State Tournament. After splitting games with Creighton and Iowa at the Creighton Tournament, the Shockers open American Athletic Conference play with a three-game series against Memphis in Wichita State's inaugural season in the conference.
500 NOT OUT
Head coach
Kristi Bredbenner earned her 500th career victory as a head coach when the Shockers took down Northern Colorado in Huntsville, Texas, in February. Bredbenner is in her seventh year at Wichita State and is currently second in wins and winning percentage in the Shocker record books.
MOVING ON UP
Multiple current Shockers have individual career records in the top-10 record books.
Mackenzie Wright is seventh in batting average [.330],
Laurie Derrico is second in slugging percentage [.594] with
Paige Luellen [third with .433] and Wright [fourth with .425] seperated by eight percentiles in on-base percentage.
DRAWING AND STEALING
Seniors
Paige Luellen and
Mackenzie Wright both continue to climb the Shocker record books in walks and stolen bases. Luellen is third in walks with 96 [needs 9 to move into first] with Wright fourth in stolen bases with 47 [needs 10 to move into first].
Bailey Lange is 7-for-7 this season in stolen bases, the second most in The American so far this year.
STACKED SCHEDULE
The 2018 Shockers have the toughest schedule in the history of the program by facing off against 11 teams that reached the 2017 NCAA Tournament; including two teams that reached the College World Series in Washington (play twice at the Sam Houston State Tournament) and defending National Champion Oklahoma (the Shockers travel to Norman in April).
YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR
Since
2014, every Shocker softball squad has entered the batting record books with the
'14, '15, '16 and
'17 teams all holding top-six positions in multiple categories including highest batting average, highest slugging percentage, highest on base percentage, most runs scored, most hits, most doubles, most home runs and most RBI's.
ALL EYES ON WILKINS
Every Shocker softball home game in 2018 will be broadcast live through ShockerHD with Steve Strain on the play-by-play call and former softball standout Jamie Bredbenner (formely Hull) as the color commentator for the second straight season.
SHOCKER MANIACS
Attendances at Wilkins Stadium continue to rise under
Kristi Bredbenner. Through 13 games at home last season, Wichita State welcomed 511 fans per game; the highest average attendance figure in program history.
STAYING IN THE LOOP
Follow the Shocker softball program on twitter (
@GoShockersSB) for up-to-date content and in-game updates. You can also become a fan of Wichita State Softball on Facebook (
WichitaStateSoftball) and Instagram (
GoShockersSB).
