WICHITA, Kan. - For the first time since May 5, 2019, Wichita State will play a weekend series at Wilkins Stadium. The Shockers will host Creighton for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State opens its home schedule with a three-game series vs. Creighton on Saturday and Sunday. The Shockers and Bluejays will play a doubleheader on Saturday.
• Wichita State is 19-25 in season openers and 7-3 under 10th-year head coach Kristi Bredbenner.
• Wichita State is 30-12 in home openers and 4-4 under Bredbenner.
• Wichita State has won seven of its last eight season openers.
• Four first-year freshmen saw their first collegiate action last weekend at the Scrap Yard Blizzard Challenge. Addison Barnard, Jessica Garcia, Paige Rocha and Gracie Sullivan all made their Wichita State debuts.
• Sophomore Lauren Mills set the single game home run record vs. Lamar on Feb. 20 when she hit three home runs - two in the same inning.
• Wichita State returns nine starters from a season ago and 16 letterwinners in all.
• Wichita State was picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches in the 2021 preseason poll.
• Wichita State led the American Athletic Conference in batting average, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, total bases and walks in 2020. On the defensive side, the Shockers topped the conference in assists and double plays.
• Wichita State had six players in the lineup hitting .345 or better in 2020.
• Sydney McKinney ranked fifth in The American in batting average and third in on-base percentage, hits and walks.
• Madison Perrigan led The American in total bases and walks, ranked third in home runs, doubles and fourth in slugging percentage.
• Wichita State returns four All-Conference performers from 2019: Madison Perrigan (First Team), Ryleigh Buck (First Team), Sydney McKinney (First Team, All-Rookie Team) and Erin McDonald (Second Team).
• No postseason awards were handed out in 2020 due to the shortened season.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State went 2-2 at the Scrap Yard Blizzard Challenge last weekend. Wichita State defeated Tarleton State, 9-3, in game one and Lamar, 19-0, in five innings of game two. Day two went the oppposite, as the Shocker bats were held in check. Wichita State was defeated by Texas A&M Corpus Christi (5-1) and No. 7 Texas in five innings (8-0).

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
Creighton returns 17 letterwinners from 2020 and welcomes six newcomers, which includes five freshman and one graduate transfer. Fifth-year senior Ashley Cantu returns after hitting .427 during the shortened 2020 season. The two-time All-BIG EAST outfielder paced the Bluejays last year with 32 hits and is tied for second in program history with a .379 batting average (181 hits) and owns 113 runs scored during 147 games played as a Bluejay. Mikayla Santa Cruz is the leading returning pitcher after logging 61 1/3 innings with a 2.74 ERA in 2020. Head coach Brent Vigness enters his 28th season at the helm of the Bluejays and owns 790 wins at Creighton, the most by any head coach across all of Creighton athletics.

SERIES HISTORY
Creighton leads the all-time series vs. Wichita State, 51-29. The Bluejays have won seven of the last nine matchups. Wichita State will look to snap a six-game losing streak to the Bluejays in Wichita.

LAST MEETING WITH THE BLUEJAYS
Wichita State and Creighton last squared off in 2018 at the Creighton Tournament in Omaha. The two teams split the two games with Creighton taking game one in extra innings, 12-11, while Wichita State came back to win the final matchup, 9-1. In game one, Wichita State led 6-3 after two innings and 10-5 after four, but the Bluejays answered with five runs in the fifth and the winning two in the bottom of the eighth. Game two was all Wichita State with Bailey Lange pitching a two-hitter, allowing just one run. Lange also drove in three runs at the plate.

HERRING, LANGE CLAIM FIRST HONOR ROLL
Junior Neleigh Herring and redshirt senior Bailey Lange were both named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 22 after their play at the Scrap Yard Blizzard Challenge. Herring was 6-for-11 (.545 avg.) at the plate with a home run, four doubles, four runs scored and six RBI. Lange made two appearances in the circle, posting a 1-0 record in 9.2 innings pitched. She had a 1.45 ERA, 12 strikeouts, while allowing just three runs on 11 hits and walking none.

YOLO LOLO
No Shocker had ever hit three home runs in a single game... until Feb. 20, 2021. Sophomore Lauren Mills stamped her name into the record book in a big way vs. Lamar. The Topeka, Kan., native set a new school record with three bombs in the game, including two in the same inning, while also driving in a career-high six RBI.

STAYING IN THE LOOP
Follow the Shocker softball program on Twitter (@GoShockersSB) for content and in-game updates. You can also become a fan of Wichita State Softball on Facebook (GoShockersSB) and Instagram (goshockerssb).

UP NEXT
Wichita State will travel to Arlington, Texas for the 2nd Boerner Invitational, March 5-7. The Shockers will face Missouri State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, North Texas, UT Arlington and Iowa State in the three-day tournament hosted by UT Arlington.