WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State softball head coach Kristi Bredbenner announced the addition of Nicole Pendley to the staff for the 2022 season.

Pendley will serve as director of operations after spending the last two seasons as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State.

A standout outfielder for the Sooners, Pendley brought home two national championships during her tenure at Oklahoma. The Rio Rancho, New Mexico, native was a three-time All-Big 12 honoree and earned three NFCA All-Region honors.
 
Pendley finished her career ranked sixth in games played (254) and RBI (189), seventh in home runs (47), eighth in at-bats (730), ninth in total bases (422) and runs (177) and tenth in extra-base hits (83) and total hits (240).
 
A competitor in big moments, Pendley was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2018 Big 12 Championship and selected to the 2017 and 2018 All-Tournament Teams.

Pendley continues to compete professionally. She was selected as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2018 NPF Draft by the USSSA Pride and also played with the Cleveland Comets in 2019.

In 2020, Pendley joined Athletes Unlimited for its inaugural season, playing 14 games of a possible 15 games. She was one of the first four captains in the league's history and participated in the first player draft to form Team Pendley in Week 1.

Pendley received her master's degree in workforce education leadership at Mississippi State in 2021 and a bachelor's degree in planned programs at the University of Oklahoma in 2019.