WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State softball team head to Norman, Okla., for a lone matchup with reigning College World Series Champions Oklahoma. The Shockers and No. 2 Sooners are set to begin at 5:00 p.m. in front of a sold-out crowd live on Fox Sports Southwest Plus and on the Fox Sports Go app.
 

WICHITA STATE SOFTBALL

Norman, Okla.

Marita Hynes Field

Game Notes: WSU

GAME 37

Wichita State (22-14, 5-4)   at #2 Oklahoma (34-2, 9-0)

Wednesday, April 11

5:00 P.M. CDT

Live Stats

Fox Sports Go

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SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners lead the nation in scoring and field percentage, sit second in ERA and fourth in batting average. They are also third in home runs per game, on base percentage and slugging percentage. With the longest active win streak in the NCAA (25), the Sooners are unbeaten in 20 home games dating back to last season and are still undefeated in Big 12 play (9-0) this season and in the past 46 series (42-0-4). Jocelyn Alo and Sydney Romero are both hitting over .400 while Alo has 17 home runs as a freshman this season which is second best in the NCAA. Paige Parker is the pitching ace whose 0.40 ERA leads the nation.

SERIES HISTORY
The Sooners and Shockers have faced off 50 times total with Oklahoma leading the series 45-5. Wichita State has dropped 34 straight to OU. The last Shocker victory over Oklahoma was back in 1990 under head coach Jim Maynard, a 4-1 victory.

LAST MEETING WITH THE SOONERS
The Shockers hosted Oklahoma in front of a sold out Wilkins Stadium, leading the Sooners until the fifth inning in which three errors helped OU tie the game. From there the Sooner bats stayed hot to take a 7-3 victory.

QUICK HITS
• The Shockers sit #29 in the latest RPI rankings; they are 4-4 against teams with RPI's 1 -25, 1-3 against those 26-50 and 5-4 against 51-100.
• The Shockers took down Tulsa, 14-5, (5) last weekend scoring in every one of the five innings; the last time the Shockers scored in every inning was vs. UMKC in 2014.
• The Shockers are averaging 1.03 home runs per game; good for 25th in the nation. WSU are also leading The American in doubles per game and slugging percentage.
• Bailey Lange's five saves on the year lead the American Athletic Conference and rank her third in the NCAA. She is also 45th in the nation in strikeouts.
• Paige Luellen is averaging a single RBI per game this season; that ranks her 50th in the nation.
• The Shockers swept Uconn in Storrs for their first conference three-game road series sweep since April 2016.
• Mackenzie Wright became the first Shocker in history to be named the American Athletic Conference softball player of the week on April 1st. Her 7-for-10 weekend at UConn included her 100th career RBI, 200th career hit and 600th career at-bat.
• The Shockers took down #23/24 Oklahoma State in Stillwater on March 27 for their first win over a ranked opponent in two years.
• Wichita State holds a 9-3 record on the road with notable wins against Oklahoma State, Texas, Creighton and Nebraska (twice).
• Paige Luellen took sole possession 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; she is now two RBI from pushing her record to 150.
• The Shockers strong schedule in 2018 is ranked sixth in the nation in strength of schedule.
• 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. Wright became the sixth.

THAT NUMBER 10
Mackenzie Wright became the first athlete in Shocker softball history to earn American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors. Her 7-for-10 weekend at UConn saw her bat in her 100th runner, get her 200th career hit, see her 600th appearance at the plate and hit her first home run of the season. Wright is also on a 11 game hit streak and a team leading 18 game reached base streak. She is the seventh conference honoree this season for Wichita State; the other five were named to the weekly honor roll. Those include Laurie Derrico (twice), Paige Luellen, Bailey Lange, Ryleigh Buck and Bailee Nickerson.

NOTED AND VOTED
The Wichita State softball team have received votes in six consecutive USA Today/NFCA Weekly Poll's in 2018. They were receiving votes in three consecutive ESPN.com/USA Softball polls before dropping out on April 10. The Shockers received one vote on March 6, 14 on March 13, 10 on March 20 and one on March 27. To open the polls in April they saw five in the USA Today on April 3 before receiving two on April 10. 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.

STREAKS ON STREAKS
Mackenzie Wright owns the longest active reached base streak at 18. Wright also owns the hot bat with an 11 game hitting streak; the second longest of her career. She reached 15 in 2015 and also reached base in 23 consecutive games that season. The Wichita State record in Bredbenner's era is 15 hits (set by Wright in 2015) and 28 bases (set by Macklin Hitz in 2016).

HOME RUNS ON HOME RUNS
Laurie Derrico and Paige Luellen are on course to break more records; this time in home runs. Luellen is currently third all-time with 32 and needs just two to move into second and six to tie first with current Director of Operations Cacy Williams.
Derrico is fifth with 28 with current Shocker HD color commentator Jamie Hull in joint-eighth with 24.

WE WAITED AND WAITED
It took over 80 at-bats but Ryleigh Buck finally hit her second home run of the season against UConn on March 29 and also struck her first career triple against UConn the following day (March 30). It then only took three games to hit back-to-back home runs for the first time in her career with two in two games vs. Tulsa on April 8th.

TOUGH SCHEDULE, BIG WINS
After defeating three teams recieving votes in 2018, the Shockers finally took down an opponent inside the top-25 in a 5-3 victory over #23/24 Oklahoma State; the first victory over a ranked team since a 2-1 victory over #23 Nebraska in 2016.
A solo home run each for Paige Luellen and Asea Webber, helped by Madison Perrigan's two RBI's, saw the Shockers come out on top with Bailey Lange and Bailey Klitzke pitching key innings in the win.

DOING IT IN STYLE
Senior Paige Luellen took control of the career RBI record book after a stellar weekend 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.
After taking control of the record book, Luellen is streaking clear and on course to make history as the first Shocker to reach 150 career RBI; she is also second on the team in slugging percentage.

MONEY IN MARCH
After hitting .205 and .244 through the whole month of February, Laurie Derrico and Mackenzie Wright improved dramatically at the plate in time for conference play. Derrico hit .406 through March with 19 RBI and 6 home runs. Wright hit .403 with 5 doubles and 8 RBI; good for a .487 on base percentage.

BIG HITTERS
Four Shockers are slugging over .600 in American Athletic Conference play with just Mackenzie Wright batting over .500. Wright is hitting .500 and slugging .700 while Ryleigh Buck is slugging .857 with a team leading 24 bases through nine conference matchups. Laurie Derrico and Bailee Nickerson are the other two Shockers slugging over .600 after both have reached 22 and 23 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).