The RoundHouse | 4/20/2019 3:48:00 PM

 

Leadoff hitters are asked to show patience at the plate, force the pitcher to show what she's got and give her teammates a plan. Then they're expected to get on base.
 
Wichita State's Sydney McKinney considers herself an aggressive hitter, which runs counter to the job. When she wavers, she's got an accountability partner and a running penalty as a reminder.
 
"You have to see pitches and I'm a first-pitch swinger," McKinney said. "I've learned that I have to see five or six pitches to help the rest of the team, and if I don't then they're kind of clueless going up, too."
 
McKinney was thrust into the leadoff role in the third game of the season (after an injury to Bailey Lange) and held that role, for the most part, all season. She hit leadoff in 16 of the past 19 games and is doing her part to get Wichita State's offense started. 
 
On Saturday, she helped the Shockers defeat East Carolina 11-5 with two hits, a walk and two RBI. With Wichita State down 4-0 in the first, she walked and scored on Ryleigh Buck's home run to start a four-run response. In the third, McKinney singled in two runs to give the Shockers a 6-5 lead. She added a double in the fifth to extend the lead to 8-5.
 
"Sydney is one of those players that she's going to battle, no matter what," catcher Madison Perrigan said. "She's fast and she's a lefty, so most pitchers don't really like throwing to batters like that. Sydney can hit for power, she can slap, she can bunt."
 
Wichita State (28-20, 9-6 American Athletic Conference) won the series 2-1 and remains in third place in the American with series against second-place Tulsa and first-place South Florida remaining.
 
McKinney, a freshman from Norborne, Mo., is 10 for 21 in her past six games to raise her batting average to .331. 
 
All from a job she wasn't really sure she wanted. She hit ninth in Wichita State's first game of the season and second in the next. 
 
"Getting stuck in leadoff is kind of a lot of pressure at first," she said. "I'm getting used to it and it feels good."
 
McKinney transferred to Wichita State from Missouri at semester break. An illness kept her from playing during much of fall practices at Missouri, so she arrived in Wichita lacking a recent look at pitching. 
 
It didn't show much. She went 2 for 3 in the opener, climbed over .300 with a 3-for-5 game in a win over Kansas on March 20 and kept hitting. Her defense is also valuable – she played second base on Saturday (filling in for injured Kaylee Huecker), usually starts at third and played right field last week.
 
"She's finally getting caught up," Wichita State coach Kristi Bredbenner said. "She gives us a good at-bat, barrels up the ball and doesn't try to do too much with it."
 
On Friday, McKinney walked in the fourth inning and Buck homered in an 8-0 win. They recognize the importance of the top-of-the-order hitters getting on base. During last weekend's sweep at Memphis, they decided that failing to get on base in the same inning is subject to penalty. They agreed to run the length of the Wilkins Stadium outfield, from foul pole to foul pole, 10 times after any game in which they didn't go back to back with a walk or hit. 
 
"Holding ourselves accountable is helping a lot," she said. "(After Friday's game), we had 10 foul poles for that because we didn't string anything together. Usually when me and Ryleigh string something together, it helps the team a lot."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.