The RoundHouse | 4/30/2021 10:33:00 AM

 
Neleigh Herring throws, eats and writes with her right hand. She hits left-handed, because her father loves baseball.
 
"First time he put the bat in our hands it was left-handed,' she said. "Lefties have an advantage. My sister and my younger brother didn't take to it. My older brother, Easton, and me both hit left-handed."
 
The foresight of Barry Herring, who played catcher in college and in independent leagues, helped Neleigh Herring grow into a fine softball hitter for Wichita State. Swinging lefty for a right-hander, however, sometimes requires tweaks. 
 
When Herring went 1 for 21 during a recent stretch, it signaled a need to consider changes. On Tuesday, she went 3 for 3 against No. 11 Oklahoma State and hit the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory. 
 
"A lot of it is, pretty much, not trying to think about past at-bats," she said. "Trying not to over-think too much. See good pitch and hit it well."
 
Wichita State (34-9-1, 15-4-1 American Athletic Conference) travels to Tulsa (21-10, 12-3) for a four-game series beginning today (Friday) with a 3 p.m. doubleheader. The Shockers are in third place in the American, trailing Tulsa and USF (both 12-3). The Shockers end their conference season this weekend. USF and Tulsa play one more weekend before the conference tournament.
 
While there is almost always a mental aspect to fighting through a slump, Herring also made an adjustment with her hands. She split the grip on the bat, moving her left hand up about an inch on the barrel, to give her weak hand an easier job guiding her swing and help put a level swing on pitches rising through the strike zone. 
 
"Putting just a little bit of a gap in between gives that left hand less barrel to work with and gives you a little more control," she said. "I felt like it would make my swing a little more reactive, little bit easier to get to that up stuff. Instead of that left hand struggling to get the barrel out, it lets it have a little bit more control so I can put that barrel where ever I need to."
 
Herring, a junior from Chandler, Okla., enters the Tulsa series leading the American with a .542 on-base percentage, second (behind teammate Addison Barnard) in slugging percentage at .738 and third with a .393 batting average. Her 10 doubles are tied for second and her nine home runs are tied for sixth.
 
Barry Herring knew what he was doing all those years ago. He gave his daughter (and Easton, who is volunteer assistant with the Shocker baseball team) a step advantage toward first base and a good view of right-handed pitchers.
 
"I really took to it," Neleigh Herring said. "It's funny, because people, even people I've played with forever, go 'Oh, you're not left-handed.' For some reason, I picked it up and it worked."
 
The Shockers needed that boost from beating Oklahoma State after losing four of their previous five games. The trip to Tulsa, in addition to going a long way to deciding the conference race, continues a closing stretch of 15 games against teams in the top 100 of the NCAA power rankings, 11 of those ranked in the top 51.
 
"We needed this to get our heads right for this weekend and get that confidence back," coach Kristi Bredbenner said. ""This is our team, this is who needs to play this weekend in Tulsa."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.