WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State travels to Stillwater for its final regular season tournament, the Mizuno Classic, March 18-20.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State went 3-1 last week, splitting a midweek doubleheader vs. South Dakota State, and then defeating Omaha and Missouri State on Thursday, as part of its own tournament. The final two days of the tournament were canceled due to rain.
• The Creighton series was Wichita State's first home game since May 6, 2019.
• Home Run Watch: Madison Perrigan became Wichita State's all-time home run leader vs. Missouri State on March 5 with her 40th career home run.
• Perrigan became the program's all-time RBI leader on March 11 vs. Missouri State with 154 career runs batted in.
• Wichita State is 9-1 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State has hit 34 home runs through 16 games, which ranks 8th nationally.
• Wichita State picked up where it left off at the end of 2020 at the plate. The Shocker bats have been busy through the first three weekends of play. Wichita State ranks in the top 25 nationally in home runs per game (5th), slugging percentage (7th), scoring (15th), on base percentage (16th) and batting average (20th).
• 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 is 19-25 in season openers and 7-3 under 10th-year head coach Kristi Bredbenner.
• Wichita State is 31-12 in home openers and 5-4 under Bredbenner.
• Wichita State has won seven of its last eight season openers.
• 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 has seven players in the lineup hitting .314 or better in 2021.
• 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 is coming off a 3-1 week with wins against South Dakota State, Omaha and Missouri State. The Shockers split a doubleheader with South Dakota State last Tuesday. After dropping the opener to SDSU (4-3), Wichita State won the nightcap, 5-3, behind Neleigh Herring's go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. Wichita State shutout Omaha, 1-0, and run-ruled the Bears, 13-2. The final three games of the Wichita State Tournament were canceled due to rain.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State enters the tournament at 20-2 and ranked in the top 10 in all three of the major polls. The Cowgirls have ranked wins over Arkansas, LSU and Louisiana. Alysen Febrey leads three Cowgirls hitting better than .420 in the lineup. Febrey has a team-high seven home runs and 28 RBI behind a .464 batting average. Chelsea Alexander is right behind at .432 and Chyenne Factor hits .426. The OSU pitching staff sports a 1.42 ERA and their 10 shutouts rank second nationally.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Oklahoma State have a series history that dates all the way back to 1978. The two programs have met more than 100 times over the years. Oklahoma State has dominated the all-time series with the Cowgirls owning an 82-12 record against the Shockers. Under Coach Bredbenner, Wichita State has held its own, going 5-10 in 15 meetings.

LAST MEETING WITH THE COWGIRLS
Wichita State and Oklahoma State met in what turned out to be the final game of 2020 for both teams, due to COVID-19. The No. 13/11 Cowgirls shut out Wichita State, 5-0, in Stillwater on March 11, 2020.

SCOUTING UTSA
UTSA enters the tournament at 5-8 through 13 games this season. The Roadrunners are led by Kat Ibarra, who is hitting .375 with three doubles. Celeste Loughman owns a .361 batting average with three doubles, two triples and a home run. Riley Grunberg leads the team in home runs (5) and RBI (16). Marena Estell is 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA. Clarissa Hernandez has made six appearances, three starts, and is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 22.0 IP.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and UTSA have met five times entering the Mizuno Classic with the Shockers owning a 4-1 record against the Roadrunners. Under Bredbenner, Wichita State is 2-1 vs. UTSA.

LAST MEETING WITH THE ROADRUNNERS
The two programs met just a season ago in San Marcos, Texas, at the Bobcat Classic on Feb. 14 and Feb.15, 2020. Wichita State run-ruled UTSA on Feb. 14, 12-1, but UTSA bounced back to shut out the Shockers the next day, 2-0. Wichita State scored seven runs in the sixth inning of game one to end the game after 6 innings.

SCOUTING KANSAS CITY
Kansas City sports an 11-4 record through its first 15 games. The Roos own wins over Texas Tech, Houston and only lost to No. 1 Oklahoma by four runs, 6-2. Lia Lombardini is off to a stellar start at the plate, hitting .489 with two home runs, nine doubles and 22 RBI. Ally Vonfeldt leads with three home runs to go with a .333 batting average and 11 RBI. Camryn Stickel is 6-0 with a 2.33 ERA. Stickel has thrown five complete games in her seven starts. Mia Hoveland has made a team-high 10 appearances and is 5-4 with 61 strikeouts in 54.0 innings.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 47th meeting between the Shockers and Roos. The series has been one-sided in favor of Wichita State with the Shockers owning a 37-9 record against the Roos. Under Bredbenner, Wichita State is 6-3 vs. Kansas City.

LAST MEETING WITH THE ROOS
Wichita State and Kansas City met a year ago in Lawrence, Kan., at the Rock Chalk Challenge, March 6 and March 7, 2020. Wichita State defeated Kansas City by scores of 9-3 and 9-1 in five innings. Madison Perrigan homered twice in the 9-3 victory, breaking the American Athletic Conference all-time home run record with her 37th home run.

PERRIGAN NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Madison Perrigan was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, March 15, while redshirt senior Bailey Lange collected her fourth consecutive week on the Honor Roll. It was the second career Player of the Week honor for the Mustang, Okla., native. Perrigan was 5-for-10 at the plate in Wichita State's four games with two home runs, a triple, a double and five RBI. She drove in four runs vs. Missouri State, including a three-run homer, and became Wichita State's all-time RBI leader in the contest. Lange was 1-1 in two starts, allowing four runs and striking out 13. She threw a complete game shutout with six strikeouts in a 1-0 win over Omaha on March 11.

DOWN GOES NO. 23
Wichita State's win over No. 23 Iowa State last Sunday in Arlington was its first victory over a ranked foe since May 2019 when the Shockers took two games of a weekend series vs. No. 25 USF.

LANGE NABS THIRD HONOR ROLL, BUCK FIRST
Senior Ryleigh Buck and redshirt senior Bailey Lange were both named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on March 8. For Lange, it marked her third straight week on the Honor Roll, while Buck picked up her first of the season. Lange went 2-0 with a save during Wichita State's 5-0 week in Arlington. Buck hit .357 with 2 HR, 3B and 6 RBI.

BARNARD TABBED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Addison Barnard was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on March 1. Barnard started all three games vs. Creighton at second base and went 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate with three home runs, a triple, three runs scored and eight RBI. Additionally, redshirt senior Bailey Lange recorded her second straight American Weekly Honor Roll nod. Lange made two appearances in the circle, both complete games, and went 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA on five hits and one earned run. She struck out 13 batters and allowed only four walks in 12.0 innings of work.

BOMB SQUAD
Wichita State belted 13 home runs last weekend in the series vs. Creighton. The Shockers hit five in game one, six in game two and two in the finale. The six home runs in game two were tied for the second-most in school history for homers in a single game. Addison Barnard (3), Madison Perrigan (2), Neleigh Herring (2), Lauren Mills (2), Ryleigh Buck (1), Jessica Garcia (1), Bailee Nickerson (1) and Sydney McKinney (1) all hit long balls in the three-game sweep.

BACK-TO-BACK 2X IN THE SAME INNING
In Wichita State's 13-3 run-rule of Creighton in game two of the series, Addison Barnard and Madison Perrigan hit back-to-back home runs twice in the same inning. Barnard started the third inning with a two-run shot followed by Perrigan's solo homer. After the lineup batted around, Barnard drove in three on a blast to left, immediately followed by Perrigan's second solo shot of the inning.

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 begins American Athletic Conference play with a home series vs. ECU, March 26-28 at Wilkins Stadium.