Friday, April 30 | 3 pm (Doubleheader)
Wichita State at Tulsa
ESPN+ (Bruce Howard & Brook Smart) 

Saturday, May 1 | 2 pm
Wichita State at Tulsa
ESPN+ (Bruce Howard & Brook Smart) 

Sunday, May 2 | 12 pm
Wichita State at Tulsa
ESPN+ (Bruce Howard & Brook Smart) 

WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State wraps up conference play this weekend at first place Tulsa in a crucial series that has regular season championship implications.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State is 6-2-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2021.
• Wichita State dropped its first conference series of the season last weekend vs. USF.
• Shortstop Sydney McKinney ranks 2nd in the NCAA in hits with 69. She is currently riding a 11-game hit streak, which is tied for a season long.
• Wichita State matched the school record with its 13-game win streak. The 2005 Shockers also won 13.
• Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner recorded her 600th career win on April 13 vs. Kansas City.
• 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 19 home runs.
• Barnard also has 51 RBI this season, the most in a single season in program history. She passed Cacy Williams (50) on April 25.
• Wichita State had back-to-back conference series sweeps (Memphis and Houston) for the first time since joining the American Athletic Conference.
• 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.
• Seven players on the roster have hit five or more home runs so far this season.
• Wichita State ranks in the top 35 nationally in home runs (3rd), home runs per game (5th), walks (8th), slugging percentage (10th), scoring (16th), on base percentage (20th), doubles (30th), fielding percentage (30th) and batting average (32nd).
• 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 first conference series loss of the season. The Shockers dropped three of four games vs. USF last weekend behind dominant pitching from Georgina Corrick. USF won game one, 2-1; game three, 3-0; and game four, 8-1. Wichita State's lone win came in game two, a 14-3 run-rule in five innings. The Shockers struck out 29 times vs. Corrick and scored just two runs. Wichita State regrouped and defeated No. 11 Oklahoma State, 3-2, on Tuesday in midweek action. The Shockers won two of the three matchups vs. the Cowgirls during the regular season.

SCOUTING TULSA
Tulsa enters the weekend series at 21-10 overall and 12-3 in the American. The Golden Hurricane currently sit in a tie for first place in the league standings with USF. Kylie Norwood hits a team-high .385 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 19 RBI. Alexis Perry has a team-best six home runs and 31 RBI. Chenise Delce and Samantha Pochop provide a solid 1-2 punch in the circle. Delce is 6-5 with a 2.13 ERA, while Pochop sports a 9-1 record and an ERA of 2.30. Tulsa's pitching staff has an ERA of 2.16 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio that is tops in the American.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Tulsa have a series history that dates back to 1994. The two programs have met 53 times with Wichita State holding a slim 27-26 advantage. Tulsa has won four of the last five meetings, but all five have been low-scoring games decided by just a couple runs. Wichita State is 12-16 vs. the Hurricane in Tulsa.

LAST MEETING WITH THE HURRICANE
The two teams last met almost two years ago to the day in April 2019 in Tulsa. The Hurricane took two of three vs. the Shockers, but all three games were played within a four-run margin. Wichita State won the opener, 4-0, but Tulsa was able to rebound to win the final two games, 4-3 and 3-1. Tulsa was ranked No. 25 in 2019 when these two programs met.

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. Last week the Shockers climbed two spots up to No. 23, the highest in school history, but dropped out after a 1-4 week. On April 20, Wichita State was ranked in all four major polls for the first time ever. Wichita State is receiving 43 votes and the first team out of the Top 25 in this week's NFCA poll, while also receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Top 25. They sit at No. 23 in the Softball America Top 25.

A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is 34-9-1 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 44 games in program history. The 2021 Shockers were the fastest to reach 30 wins in school history, needing only 35 games.

BARNARD NAMED TOP 30 FINALIST
Freshman Addison Barnard was named a Top 30 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year. She is the first Shocker to be named a finalist for the NFCA Freshman of the Year. On May 13, the list will be trimmed down to the top 10 and the three finalists will be released on May 27. The 2021 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced on June 1. With the cancellation of last year's season due to COVID-19, candidates hail from the 2020 and 2021 freshman classes. Due to having two freshman classes eligible for the award, an additional five players have been added to the traditional top 25.

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, the weekend series between No. 25 Wichita State and No. 23 UCF, April 16-18, 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, 19 home runs are the most by a player in American Athletic Conference history. She is also six 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 15-4-1 to this point. The Shockers' 15 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. 30 after a 34-9-1 start to the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Oklahoma at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 13, Texas at No. 15, UCF at No. 36, Iowa State at No. 42, Kansas at No. 43 and USF at No. 46. South Dakota State is just outside at No. 52.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 44 games of the season Wichita State has hit 81 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 in league play. In 20 games, McKinney is 39-for-72 (.542) at the plate with four home runs, 15 RBI, eight stolen bases and 27 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. The Shockers defeated No. 11 Oklahoma State for a second time on April 27 in Wichita. 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 6-2-1 this season against teams ranked in the top 25.

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 wraps up regular season play vs. the No. 1 team in the country, Oklahoma, on Tuesday, May 4 at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.