Tuesday, May 4 | 6 pm
Wichita State vs. #1 Oklahoma
ESPN+ (Jamie Hull & Nicole Entz) 

WICHITA, Kan. - The final regular season contest for the 2021 Wichita State softball team pits the Shockers vs. No. 1 Oklahoma Tuesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State is 5-5 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State is 6-2-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2021.
• Wichita State only lost one series this season, the conference matchup vs. USF.
• Shortstop Sydney McKinney ranks 2nd in the NCAA in hits with 76. She had a career-long 14-game hit streak snapped in the final at Tulsa. McKinney has two hitting steaks of 11 straight games or more this season.
• McKinney broke the single season record for hits on May 1 at Tulsa. Her 76 hits are the most in school history.
• 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 53 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. She now has 54 round-trippers.
• Perrigan became the program's all-time RBI leader on March 11 vs. Missouri State with 154 career runs batted in.
• Eight players on the roster have hit five or more home runs so far this season.
• Wichita State ranks in the top 40 nationally in home runs (2nd), home runs per game (5th), walks (7th), slugging percentage (7th), scoring (16th), on base percentage (19th), doubles (22nd), batting average (32nd) and fielding percentage (36th).
• 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 another conference series victory - its fifth of the season. The Shockers won three of four at Tulsa over the weekend. Wichita State won the first three games, 11-1 (5), 7-6 and 9-5, before falling in the finale, 10-6. In game two, Wichita State erased a four-run deficit to come back and win in the top of the 7th. The home run ball was alive and well over the weekend, as Wichita State added nine to its season total. With the three wins, Wichita State finished conference play at 18-5-1. They became the first team in AAC history to win 18 conference games in a season. Wichita State has its bye weekend this week, while the other six teams wrap up conference play.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma enters the matchup at 39-1 this season and ranked No. 1 in all of the major polls. OU boasts the nation's best offense, as they lead the country in home runs, home runs per game, batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage and runs scored. Jocelyn Alo is the potential  frontrunner for NPOY with eye-popping stats of .504 batting avg., 25 home runs and 68 RBI through 40 games. The Sooners feature seven players hitting .400 or better in the lineup and five with 10 or more home runs. The pitching staff sports a salty 1.45 ERA with 296 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .154.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Oklahoma have a series history dating all the way back to 1978. The Sooners have dominated the series, holding a 48-5 advantage. Wichita State is 3-12 vs. Oklahoma in Wichita. OU has won the last 37 meetings.

LAST MEETING WITH THE SOONERS
Wichita State and Oklahoma squared off in Norman a season ago before COVID halted play for the remainder of the year. The Shockers held an early 4-0 lead before sixth-ranked Oklahoma came back to win 8-5 on March 4, 2020. Bailey Lange and Neleigh Herring both homered in the contest, while Herring also drove in three of the team's five runs.

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 37-10-1 so far this season. That mark is the best record through the first 48 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, 20 home runs are the most by a player in American Athletic Conference history. She is also four home runs away from cracking the Top 10 on the career charts at Wichita State, in just one season. Barnard is one of only six players in the country with 20 or more home runs this 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. 28 after posting a 37-10-1 record in the regular season. Wichita State opponents that sit in the top 50 include: Oklahoma at No. 7, Oklahoma State at No. 9, Texas at No. 18, South Dakota State at No. 37, Iowa State at No. 38, UCF at No. 40, USF at No. 48 and Kansas at No. 49.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Through the first 48 games of the season Wichita State has hit 90 home runs, a mark good enough to rank second nationally. Wichita State is one of only two schools in the country with 90 or more home runs. 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 was a terror for opposing pitchers in league play. In 24 games, McKinney was 46-for-87 (.529) at the plate with a triple, four doubles, five home runs, 18 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 34 runs scored.

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 turns its attention to postseason play beginning with the American Athletic Conference Championship, May 13-15 in Tulsa, Okla.