WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State welcomes Kansas City to Wilkins Stadium for a midweek matchup, concluding the current homestand. The Shockers and Roos will play one game with first pitch at 4 p.m.

** Note this was originally scheduled to be a doubleheader, but will now be a single game **

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State sits alone in first place entering the fourth weekend of conference play.
• Wichita State is 9-1 in its last 10 games.
• Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner is one win away from her 600th career coaching victory.
• Wichita State has back-to-back conference series sweeps for the first time since joining the American Athletic Conference.
• Wichita State hit 12 home runs in the series vs. Houston, including three grand slams.
• The Shockers have hit five grand slams this season.
• Junior Neleigh Herring was red-hot in the series vs. Houston, going 7-for-9 (.778) with a home run, two doubles, five walks and six runs.
• Freshman Addison Barnard tied the single season home run record on April 11 vs. Houston with her 16th home run of the season. Cacy Williams set the mark with 16.
• Home Run Queen: 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 has hit 68 home runs through 33 games, which ranks 4th nationally.
• Seven players in the lineup have hit four or more home runs so far this season.
• Wichita State has seven players in the lineup hitting .300 or better in 2021.
• The Shocker bats have been busy through the first seven weeks of play. Wichita State ranks in the top 25 nationally in home runs per game (2nd), slugging percentage (4th), on base percentage (4th), walks (4th), scoring (7th) and batting average (14th).
• 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 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).

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State is coming off its second straight series sweep after taking all four games vs. Houston last weekend. The Shockers won by scores of 13-5, 8-3, 11-2 and 10-7. Wichita State belted 12 home runs in the series and extended its win streak to nine in a row, a season high. The Shockers also hit three grand slams over the series, including two in game one. Four Shockers hit .500 or better over the four-game series, led by Neleigh Herring at .778.

SCOUTING KANSAS CITY
Kansas City enters the midweek matchup at 18-15 overall. The Roos come into the game after losing two of three at Kansas over the weekend. Lia Lombardini leads Kansas City in hitting with a .356 average to go with 10 doubles, four home runs and 33 RBI. Ally Vonfeldt has a team-high 11 home runs to go with 28 RBI and a .308 average. Kloe Hilbrenner comes in just behind Lombardini in hitting at .351. Camryn Stickel leads the pitching staff with a 9-5 record and 3.75 ERA in 93.1 innings. Mia Hoveland has logged the most innings at 116.0 and is 9-9 with a 4.04 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 48th meeting between the Shockers and Roos. The series has been one-sided in favor of Wichita State with the Shockers owning a 38-9 record against the Roos. Under Bredbenner, Wichita State is 7-3 vs. Kansas City.

LAST MEETING WITH THE ROOS
Wichita State and Kansas City have already met once this season just a little less than a month ago in Stillwater at the Mizuno Classic. The Shockers defeated Kansas City, 9-3, behind a strong outing from Caitlin Bingham in the circle and a big day at the plate from Addison Barnard. Barnard homered, doubled and drove in four runs to lead the Shockers to victory.

AMERICAN NAMES HERRING PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Neleigh Herring earned her first career American Player of the Week honor on April 12 after a red-hot weekend vs. Houston. The Chandler, Okla., native was 7-for-9 (.778) at the plate with a home run, two doubles, two RBI, five walks and also scoring six runs. She had multiple hits in the first three games, and didn't officially record an at-bat in the finale, but reached base four times thanks to three walks and a hit by pitch. Herring hit one of the team's 12 home runs in the series.

SCORCHING SYDNEY
Sophomore Sydney McKinney has been a terror for opposing pitchers since league play started. In 12 games, McKinney is 28-for-43 (.651) at the plate with four home runs, 14 RBI, eight stolen bases and 22 runs scored. The leadoff hitter had a career-best 11-game multi-hit streak before it was snapped in the finale vs. Houston on April 11.

VOTE GETTERS
Wichita State is receiving 19 votes - the most in school history - in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll (April 6). The Shockers are on the brink of the top 25 for the third straight week.

SHOCKERS BOAST STRONG RPI
In the third release of the 2021 RPI, Wichita State sits at No. 29 after a 28-5 start to the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Arkansas at No. 5, Oklahoma at No. 16, Oklahoma State at No. 18, Texas at No. 28, South Dakota State at No. 34, UCF No. 37 and Iowa State at No. 46.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 33 games of the season Wichita State has hit 68 home runs, a mark good enough to rank fourth nationally. The school record for home runs in a single season was 59 set in 2018. The Shockers eclipsed that mark on April 10 vs. Houston, needing only 31 games.

A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is 28-5 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 33 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.

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 travels to Orlando to face nationally-ranked UCF for another conference weekend series, April 16-18.