Friday, April 16 | Game 1 | 5 pm CT
No. 25 Wichita State at No. 23 UCF
ESPN+ (Eric Lopez and Francesca Enea)

Saturday, April 17 | Game 2 & 3 | 1 pm CT
No. 25 Wichita State at No. 23 UCF
ESPN+ (Eric Lopez and Alex Powers)

Sunday, April 18 | Game 4 | 10 am CT
No. 25 Wichita State at No. 23 UCF
ESPN+ (Eric Lopez and Alex Powers)

WICHITA, Kan. - No. 25 Wichita State puts its 10-game win streak on the line this weekend in a pivotal conference series in Orlando vs. No. 23 UCF.

QUICK HITS
• The matchup will be the first time in AAC history that two ranked programs will face off in conference play.
• Wichita State sits alone in first place entering the fourth weekend of conference play.
• Wichita State is 10-0 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State's 10-game win streak marks the fifth time in program history the Shockers have won 10 or more games in a row. The school record is 13 straight wins.
• Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner recorded her 600th career win on April 13 vs. Kansas City.
• 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 HR, 2 doubles, 5 walks and 6 runs.
• Freshman Addison Barnard broke the single season home run record on April 13 vs. Kansas City with her 17th home run of the season. Cacy Williams set the mark with 16 in 2014.
• 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 71 home runs through 34 games, which ranks 3rd nationally.
• Seven players in the lineup have hit five or more home runs so far this season.
• Wichita State has six players in the lineup hitting .300 or better.
• Wichita State ranks in the top 25 nationally in home runs per game (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd), 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. 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. Wichita State then defeated Kansas City in midweek action, 4-3, Tuesday night to extend its win streak to 10 in a row. The Shockers hit three home runs, none bigger than Ryleigh Buck's go-ahead bomb in the bottom of the 6th.

SCOUTING UCF
UCF enters the weekend series at 30-9 overall and 9-3 in The American. The Knights sit at No. 23/25 in national polls, owning wins over No. 5 Florida (twice) and No. 2 Arizona this season. UCF leads the American in doubles and shutouts. Jazmine Esparza paces the Knights' offense, hitting .406 with six home runs, 13 doubles and 31 RBI. UCF sits right behind the Shockers with a team batting average of .328. They have eight hitters with a .300 average or better. The pitching staff is anchored by Alea White who is 15-3 with a 2.46 ERA in 117.0 innings. White is UCF's all-time wins leader in the circle.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and UCF have met only seven times prior to this weekend's matchup in Orlando. The Shockers own a 6-1 record against the Knights, having won the last three meetings. Wichita State is 2-1 vs. UCF in Orlando.

LAST MEETING WITH THE KNIGHTS
The last time these two programs met on the diamond was back in April 2019 in Orlando. UCF won a tight contest in game one, 3-2, before Wichita State bounced back to win the final two games, 6-3 and 2-1. Erin McDonald was the pitcher of record in all three games, while Alea White was in two of the three games.

MORE ON THE MATCHUP WITH UCF
According to the American Athletic Conference, this weekend's series between No. 25 Wichita State and No. 23 UCF will be the first AAC series to feature two league teams ranked in the Top 25.

POLL FOR THOUGHTS
Wichita State climbed into the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time in program history on April 13. The Shockers received 61 votes to enter the rankings at No. 25. Wichita State sits at No. 20 in the D1 Softball Top 25 and is receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Top 25.

A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is 29-5 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 34 games in program history.

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.

BARNARD'S BOMBS
Freshman Addison Barnard broke the single season home run record on April 13 vs. Kansas City with her 17th of the season. She broke a tie with Cacy Williams who set the record in 2014. Barnard needed only 34 games to break the program record, as a true freshman. Additionally, her 17 home runs are the most by a player in American Athletic Conference history. She is also seven home runs away from cracking the Top 10 on the career charts at Wichita State, in just one season.

AMERICAN HISTORY
Wichita State is just one conference win from equaling its season high as a league member for an entire conference schedule. They've needed only 12 games to this point in the season. The Shockers went 12-9 (.571) to tie for third in The American standings in their debut season in 2018 and added a matching 12-9 record to take solo fourth place in 2019.

SHOCKERS BOAST STRONG RPI
In the latest release of the 2021 RPI, Wichita State sits at No. 29 after a 29-5 start to the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Arkansas at No. 6, Oklahoma at No. 17, Oklahoma State at No. 18, Texas at No. 21, South Dakota State at No. 33, UCF at No. 39, Iowa State at No. 41 and Kansas at No. 43.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 34 games of the season Wichita State has hit 71 home runs, a mark good enough to rank third 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.

SCORCHING SYDNEY
Sophomore Sydney McKinney has been a terror for opposing pitchers since league play started. In 12 games, McKinney is 29-for-46 (.630) 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.

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 will make the short trip up to Lawrence for a midweek contest against Kansas on Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m.