WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State softball team opens a sequence of four straight road games with a lone matchup against No. 24 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, live on Fox Sports Plus, on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. CT.
 

WICHITA STATE SOFTBALL

Stillwater, Okla.

Cowgirl Stadium

Game Notes: WSU

GAME 30

Wichita State (17-12) at Oklahoma St. (23-8)

Tuesday, March 27

5:30 P.M. CDT

Live Stats

Shocker HD

Fox Sports Plus

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SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowgirls are sporting a 23-8 record after the opening weekend of conference play. They defeated Iowa State twice in Stillwater, falling in the final game in similar fashion to the Shockers (in extra innings).
OSU has won 14 of its last 16 and are 8-1 at Cowgirl Stadium this season. They have also been ranked in one of the national polls for the eighth week straight dating back to last year.
Vanessa Shippy leads the offense with a .532 batting average and a .792 slugging percentage. Madi Sue Montgomery hits .415 and slugs .798 and leads the team in RBI (35) and total bases (75).
All four Cowgirl pitchers own winning records with Logan Simunek 6-0 with a 0.78 ERA in 45.0 innings pitched. Emmie Robertson and Samantha Clakey both own 8-4 records and 2.12/2.60 ERA's; both have pitched over 70 innings this season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Shockers trail Oklahoma State 8-79 overall with the Cowgirls the sixth team the Shockers faced in their inaugural 1978 season. The two teams have faced off every year since then apart from in 1980, 1982 and 1983.

LAST MEETING WITH THE COWGIRLS
The Shockers and Cowgirls met last season in a lone matchup in Stillwater with the Shockers dropping the game 11-3; Madison Perrigan's three-run home run the offensive highlight. Paige Luellen went 2-for-3 in that game with Mauriana Jamele going 1-for-1. Bailey Klitzke started that game but lasted 0.1 innings before being replaced in the circle.

QUICK HITS
• After five wins against 'Power Five' schools, a clean sweep at the WSU Tournament alongside wins over Iowa and Creighton saw Wichita State continue to receive votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll on March 20 for the third straight week.
• Bailey Lange leads The American in looking strikeouts (31), saves (4) and is third in strikeouts per game (7.83) and total strikeouts (105). Lange is also 33rd 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) and followed up with a second straight nod on March 26.
Derrico hit her first career grand slam, first career triple and hit .500 through four games at the CU Tournament and then hit .500 vs. Memphis with two home runs 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, seven of the eight Shocker losses have only been decided by two runs or less. The other was decided by three in extra innings.
• Wichita State are 9-4 in their last 13 games and 6-2 at Wilkins Stadium. They are also 5-3 away from home with victories on the road over Texas, Sam Houston State, Creighton and Nebraska (twice).
• The Shockers have scored 52 runs in their last six games.

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.

THOSE TOP-25 TEAMS
The Shockers have dropped five 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 . This weekend the Shockers fell twice to Memphis by one and three runs. 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.

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. She also hit .500 vs. Memphis in the conference opening series to earn her second straight honor roll nod. Paige Luellen tabbed Honor Roll honors after her performances at the WSU Tournament the week before that with Bailey Lange, Ryleigh Buck and Bailee Nickerson also earning spots on the Honor Roll so far 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 is second in 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 16th in batting average with .343.

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 .442 through March with a .827 slugging percentage and 17 RBI. Wright is hitting .347 in the leadoff spot with a .450 on base percentage. Paige Luellen is another having a stellar March with a .358 batting average, .404 on base percentage, .566 slugging percentage and 19 RBI.

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 that weekend. The lefty pitcher also has the most looking strikeouts in the American Athletic Conference, is averaging 7.83 strikeouts per game and is 33rd in the NCAA in total strikeouts.

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 8 to move into first] with Wright fourth in stolen bases with 47 [needs 10 to move into first]. Bailey Lange is 7-for-8 this season in stolen bases.

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).