WICHITA, Kan. - After spending a week on the road, the Wichita State softball team returns to Wilkins Stadium for a lone matchup with No. 19/24 Oklahoma State for the second and final time this season beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Shockers took down the Cowgirls 5-3 in March for their first win over a ranked opponent in two years and first victory over OSU in Stillwater in three. 
 

WICHITA STATE SOFTBALL

Wichita, Kan.

Wilkins Stadium

Game Notes: WSU | OSU

GAME 37

Wichita State (23-17, 6-6 AAC)   vs. #19/24 Oklahoma St. (32-10, 10-2 Big 12)

Wednesday, April 18

6:00 P.M. CDT

Live Stats

Shocker HD

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SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowgirls sit third in the Big 12 with a 10-2 conference mark having already hit the 30 win point with a 32-12 record. Currently on a four game win streak, Oklahoma State have scored 29 runs in the past week including a shutout of Missouri State, who the Shockers beat twice at the Wichita State Tournament in February and are second in the MVC. They took down Baylor in Big 12 play last weekend in their second conference sweep. Since Wichita State beat Oklahoma State 5-3 on March 27, both teams have gone in different directions with OSU sporting a 9-3 record and the Shockers going 5-5.

SERIES HISTORY
The Cowgirls and Shockers have met 88 times overall with Wichita State trailing 9-79 all time.  WSU are currently on a one game win streak.

LAST MEETING WITH THE COWGIRLS
The Shockers played Oklahoma State back on March 27 in Stillwater, coming away with their first win over a ranked opponent in two years and first in Stillwater in three. Paige Luellen went 2-for-3 with a solo home run. Bailey Lange and Bailey Klitzke threw a combined 7.0 innings only giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out seven.

QUICK HITS
are 2-4 against teams with RPI's 1 -25, 5-8 against those 26-50 and 5-4 against 51-100.
• With six votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll on April 17, the Shockers continue to be one of the two main polls for the seventh consecutive week
• Wichita State are 5-7 against teams either inside the top-25 poll or receiving votes in the poll.
• The American Athletic Conference ranks fourth nationally in the Rating Percentage Index just behind the SEC, Pac-12 and Big-12. Notable conferences behind The American include the ACC and Big Ten.
• The Shockers took down Tulsa, 14-5, (5) on April 8 by scoring in every one of the five innings; the last time the Shockers scored in every inning was vs. UMKC in 2014.
• Ryleigh Buck leads the conference in chances and putouts; she also leads The American in fielding double plays.
• Bailey Lange's six saves on the year lead the American Athletic Conference and rank her fourth in the NCAA. She is fourth in batters struck out and second in struck out looking in The American.
• Mackenzie Wright is hitting .357 on the year; good for 11th in The American.
• Laurie Derrico's team leading nine home runs rank her second in the conference; she is also third in total bases.
• Bailey Klitzke has given up the least hits in the conference with 37 through 22 appearances.
• 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.
• 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 one RBI from pushing her record to 150.
• The Shockers strong schedule in 2018 is ranked sixth in the nation in strength of schedule.

MAKING AN IMPACT
The Shockers rank highly in a number of batting categories in the American Athletic Conference. Wichita State are leading The American in doubles per game with 1.40 (61st nationally), home runs per game with 1.03 (28th nationally) and slugging percentage with .464 (40th in the nation).

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 also had an 11 game hit streak and a team leading 18 game reached base streak entering the weekend at Houston but both fell in game one.
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 received votes in six consecutive USA Today/NFCA Weekly Poll's in 2018 before falling out on April 17. They recieving votes in three consecutive ESPN.com/USA Softball polls before dropping out on April 10 but re-entered on April 17 with 6 votes. 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.

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 tied fourth with 30 while current Shocker HD color commentator Jamie Hull is 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.

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.

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).