WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State continues American Athletic Conference play with its first road series of the season at Memphis, April 1-3.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State sits in third place entering the second weekend of conference play.
• Wichita State went 3-1 last week with a series win over ECU.
• 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 8-2 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State has hit 46 home runs through 25 games, which ranks 9th nationally.
• Wichita State has six players in the lineup hitting .300 or better in 2021.
• 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 five weekends of play. Wichita State ranks in the top 25 nationally in home runs per game (8th), slugging percentage (10th), on base percentage (12th), walks (12th), scoring (13th) and batting average (21st).
• 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 is 4-5 in conference openers under Bredbenner.
• 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 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 weekend as they opened American Athletic Conference play at home vs. ECU. The Shockers pounded ECU in the opener, 16-2, but split the doubleheader on Saturday by scores of 7-4 and 4-8. Wichita State regrouped and run-ruled the Pirates in the finale, 10-2. The Shockers hit eight home runs over the weekend, including five in the Sunday game. For the first time this season, Wichita State dropped a game when taking a lead into the seventh inning. In ECU's lone win, the Pirates scored seven runs in the top of the 7th.

SCOUTING MEMPHIS
Memphis enters American Athletic Conference play at 6-20 overall and 0-4 in league play. The Tigers have played a tough schedule, having faced ranked foes: Alabama, Florida State, Louisiana and Missouri. Lanya Bates hits a team-best .387, while Kendall Lee leads the Tigers in home runs (3) and RBI (18). As a team, Memphis hits just .231 with 10 home runs. The pitching staff has a team ERA of 5.83. Chyanne Ellett is 2-6 with 44 strikeouts. Six different pitchers have made an appearance in the circle for the Tigers.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Memphis have only met eight times prior to this weekend's series. Wichita State owns a 5-3 lead, having won the last three meetings. The Shockers are 3-1 vs. the Tigers in Memphis.

LAST MEETING WITH THE TIGERS
Wichita State and Memphis haven't met since April 12-14, 2019 since COVID canceled the 2020 season right before conference play was set to begin. Wichita State swept the series in Memphis. The Shockers won a doubleheader by scores of 10-3 and 8-4 and then completed the sweep with a 15-3 run-rule in the finale. Wichita State and Memphis were tied 3-3 after 7 innings in the opener before the Shockers scored seven runs in the top of the 8th to win 10-3.

AMERICAN TABS MCKINNEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A stellar weekend at the plate helped Sydney McKinney take home American Player of the Week honors on March 29. McKinney was red-hot during the series with ECU, going 9-for-13 (.692) with a home run, three stolen bases, four RBI and eight runs scored. McKinney regsitered multiple hits in all four games, while scoring a career-high four runs in game one and belting a leadoff home run in the finale. It was the first career weekly honor for the Norborne, Mo., native.

VOTE GETTERS
Wichita State is receiving votes in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll (March 30). The Shockers are on the brink of the top 25 for the second straight week.

SHOCKERS BOAST STRONG RPI
In the second release of the 2021 RPI, Wichita State sits at No. 30 after a 20-5 start to the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Arkansas at No. 8, Oklahoma at No. 18, Oklahoma State at No. 31, UCF at No. 33, South Dakota State at No. 36, Texas at No. 39 and Iowa State at No. 49.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 25 games of the season Wichita State has hit 46 home runs, a mark good enough to rank seventh nationally. The school record for home runs in a single season is 59 set in 2018. At the current pace, the 2021 Shockers are not only going to break that record, but shatter it.

A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is 20-5 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 25 games in program history.

RANKED WINS
Wichita State has picked off two ranked teams over the first month of the season. The Shockers' upset of No. 8/6 Oklahoma State on Thursday, March 18 was the program's highest ranked win in program history. The win in Stillwater was just the fifth-ever win at OSU and marked the largest margin of victory over the Cowgirls. Wichita State's win over No. 23 Iowa State on March 7 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. The Shockers are 2-2 this season against teams ranked in the top 25. The two losses were to No. 7 Texas and No. 8/6 Oklahoma State.

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 a seven-game homestand beginning with a midweek tilt against the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday, April 7 at Wilkins Stadium.