HUNTSVILLE, Texas – No. 25 Wichita State recorded a pair of wins to open the 2022 campaign, defeating Dayton, 13-5, in six innings and Sam Houston, 9-5, in the nightcap Friday night.

Wichita State (2-0) has now won eight of its last nine season openers.

Game 1 vs. Dayton

Sydney McKinney spearheaded the offensive attack in the opener vs. Dayton, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, two runs and three RBI. Bailey Urban tied a career high with three hits – two of them doubles – and drove in two runs. Neleigh Herring was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Addison Barnard belted her first home run of the season to go with a career-high four runs and three stolen bases.

Rounding out the offensive leaders were Lauren Mills (3-for-3, 2 RBI) and Lauren Lucas (2-for-3, R, RBI).

Caitlin Bingham got the ball in the circle to open the season and struggled in the first inning, giving up a grand slam, but settled in as the game went along. She went the full 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, four earned runs, while striking out three and walking only one.

Dayton wasted no time in welcoming the Shockers to the 2022 season. The Flyers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first on a one-out grand slam. But Wichita State has a pretty good offense as well. Following a leadoff double from McKinney and an Arielle James hit by pitch, Herring promptly delivered a three-run shot over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 4-3.

An RBI single from Mills tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third, but Dayton immediately got the run back in the top of the fourth behind two singles and a throwing error.

The floodgates opened in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Mills, Urban and Lucas gave the Shockers their first lead at 7-5. McKinney promptly unloaded the bases with a three-run shot to make it 10-5. Two batters later Barnard made it 12-5 on her first home run of the season.

Urban added her second RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 8-run game and putting the run-rule in play.

Game 2 vs. Sam Houston

McKinney recorded another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs. Urban drove in a pair of runs on a single and double. Barnard (3 RBI), Herring and Zoe Jones all left the yard. With her two home runs on the day, Barnard has already cracked the top 10 home run list at Wichita State. Her 24 home runs place her in a tie for 10th place, and she needed only 54 career games.

Erin McDonald made her first start of the season and struck out 10 in 6.1 innings. She allowed three earned runs on six hits and four walks. Freshman Alison Cooper made her collegiate debut in relief, recording the final two outs. She struck out one and allowed one hit.

Wichita State opened the scoring in the top of the third behind a leadoff double from Urban and a RBI single from Lucas. McKinney then reached on a fielder's choice and immediately came around to score on a stolen base and throwing error.

Two more runs came across in the top of the fourth on solo home runs from Herring and Jones to make it 4-0.

Sam Houston broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run. The Bearkats tacked on two more in the fifth on a fielder's choice and sac fly, making it 4-3.

A five-run top of the seventh broke the game open for the Shockers. Barnard's three-run blast did a bulk of the damage and Urban capped the inning with a two-run single.

Sam Houston plated two more runs in the final at-bat on a single and fielding error.

Up Next
Wichita State returns to the diamond tomorrow for two more games. The Shockers will face South Dakota and Houston Baptist on day two of the Bearkat Classic.