Friday, April 23 | 1 pm CT
No. 23 Wichita State vs. USF

Saturday, April 24 | 2 pm CT (DH)
No. 23 Wichita State vs. USF
Senior Day Weekend

Sunday, April 25 | 12 pm CT
No. 23 Wichita State vs. USF
Senior Day Weekend
Wichita Eagle Family Day - 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas and 4 bags of popcorn for only $32.

WICHITA, Kan. - No. 23 Wichita State hosts USF in a battle of the top two teams in the league this weekend in Wichita.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State sits alone in first place entering the fifth weekend of conference play.
• Wichita State is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State matched the school record with its 13-game win streak. The 2005 Shockers also won 13.
• Wichita State held No. 23 UCF to just two runs in a four-game series.
• Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner recorded her 600th career win on April 13 vs. Kansas City.
• Wichita State had back-to-back conference series sweeps (Memphis and Houston) 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.
• 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. Barnard now has 18 home runs.
• 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 74 home runs through 39 games, which ranks 4th 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-plus.
• Wichita State ranks in the top 25 nationally in home runs per game (4th), walks (4th), slugging percentage (7th), scoring (11th), on base percentage (13th), doubles (22nd) and batting average (23rd).
• 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 coming off its fourth straight series win after winning three of four games at No. 23 UCF over the weekend. Wichita State won by scores of 7-0, 3-0 and 5-2, before finishing in a 0-0 tie in the finale on Sunday. In a battle of top 25 teams, Wichita State recorded back-to-back shutouts to open the series. It marked the first time since 2019 the Shockers record two straight shutouts. Before Sunday's tie, Wichita State matched the program record with 13 consecutive wins. It was only the second ever tie in school history and first in conference play. Wichita State and Kansas played to a 2-2 tie in 1991. Wichita State is coming off its first loss since March 27 vs. ECU. The Shockers dropped a midweek contest at Kansas on Wednesday, 5-2.

SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
USF enters the midweek matchup at 21-11 overall and 9-2 in the American this season. USF is led offensively by AnaMarie Bruni who hits .426 with 30 stolen bases. As a team, USF has only hit 11 home runs this season. Brooke Hartman has a team-leading three to go with 20 RBI. They rank near the top in the country with 67 steals. In the circle, USF boasts one of the nation's top pitchers in Georgina Corrick. She is 15-4 in 130.1 IP with a 1.07 ERA and 215 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and USF have met 10 times prior to this weekend's series. The Shockers lead the series 6-4 and are 2-1 in games played in Wichita. The first-ever meeting dates all the way back to 1990 - a 5-4 win for Wichita State. This will be the second straight time one of the two teams sit inside the Top 25.

LAST MEETING WITH THE BULLS
The two teams haven't met since May 2019 when the Shockers won two of three vs. No. 25 USF in Wichita. Wichita State was able to win Game 1 on Lauren Mills' walk-off home run, 4-3, in 8 innings. Game 2 ended in only five innings, as the Shockers run-ruled USF, 10-0, but USF bounced back to win a defensive battle, 1-0, in the finale.

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. This week the Shockers climb two spots up to No. 23. Wichita State sits at No. 20 for the second consecutive week in the D1 Softball Top 25. The Shockers completed the four-poll sweep by breaking into the Top 25 in both the Softball America (#20) an ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 (#23) on April 20.

A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is 32-6-1 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 39 games in program history. The 2021 Shockers were the fastest to reach 30 wins in school history, needing only 35 games.

PITCHERS EARN WEEKLY HONORS
Redshirt senior Bailey Lange was named the American Pitcher of the Week on April 19 and junior Caitlin Bingham landed on the Weekly Honor Roll. Lange went 2-0 over the weekend in helping No. 25 Wichita State go 3-0-1 at No. 23 UCF. The lefty finished with an ERA of 0.93, which included two complete games and her fourth complete game shutout of the season. In the series opener vs. the Knights, Lange threw a one-hitter to go with no runs, only two walks and five strikeouts. Bingham was 2-0 in three starts, highlighted by 17.1 innings of scoreless work in two games at No. 23 UCF. She got the start in Game 2 of the series vs. the Knights and registered her first complete game shutout of the season, allowing only two hits.

A TIE?
Wichita State and UCF played one of the more thrilling contests of the season on Sunday, April 18. Especially when you consider the game ended in a 0-0 tie. As far as scoreless games go, it was not short on drama. The two teams battled for 11 innings before the game was called on account of the drop-dead rule and Wichita State's travel arrangements. It marked just the second tie in program history. Wichita State and Kansas played to a 2-2 tie back on April 30, 1991.

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

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, now, 18 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 has already set a program record for conference wins as a member of the American. They are 14-1-1 to this point. The Shockers' 14 wins are the most since joining the league in 2018. They needed only 14 games to reach win No. 13. 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. 25 after a 32-6-1 start to the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Oklahoma at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 14, Texas at No. 18, UCF at No. 30, South Dakota State at No. 33, Kansas at No. 46 and Iowa State at No. 47.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 39 games of the season Wichita State has hit 74 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.

SCORCHING SYDNEY
Sophomore Sydney McKinney has been a terror for opposing pitchers since league play started. In 16 games, McKinney is 33-for-59 (.559) at the plate with four home runs, 14 RBI, eight stolen bases and 24 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 three ranked teams so far this season. Wichita State took 3-of-4 at No. 23 UCF over the weekend - the first time defeating a ranked team in three straight games. 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. The Shockers are 5-2-1 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 and No. 11/9 Oklahoma State meet for the third time this season on Tuesday, April 27 at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.