Niner Invitational | Feb. 25-27 | Charlotte, N.C. | D.L. Phillips Complex

Friday:
Wichita State vs. Northern Iowa | 9:00 AM CT
Wichita State at Charlotte | 2:00 PM CT

Saturday:
Wichita State vs. Minnesota | 11:30 AM CT
Wichita State at Charlotte | 4:30 PM CT

Sunday:
Wichita State vs. Minnesota | 9:00 AM CT

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State visits Charlotte, N.C., for the Niner Invitational where they will face Northern Iowa, Charlotte and Minnesota.
• Wichita State is 6-4 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State is 20-25 in season openers and 8-3 under 11th year head coach Kristi Bredbenner.
• Wichita State has won eight of its last nine season openers.
• Wichita State is coming off a 2-2 showing at the Razorback Invitational.
• Addison Barnard now has 27 career home runs, placing her in 9th on the Wichita State home run list.
• Barnard leads the country in stolen bases with 13. Her 13 steals already surpass her total from 2021.
• Neleigh Herring is tied for 11th on the career home run list with 24.
• Wichita State has claimed the first two American Player of the Week honors of 2022: Addison Barnard (Feb. 14) and Sydney McKinney (Feb. 21).
• Wichita State ranks in the Top 30 nationally in home runs (2nd), home runs per game (3rd), slugging percentage (3rd), stolen bases per game (15th), on base percentage (18th), batting average (19th), triples per game (27th) and walks (27th).
• Sydney McKinney and sophomore Addison Barnard were named preseason All-Americans by Softball America, becoming the first Shocker duo to earn preseason All-American honors in school history.
• Wichita State was ranked No. 25 (NFCA, USA Softball, Softball America) in three of the four major polls entering the season.
• Wichita State was picked by the league's coaches to repeat as American Athletic Conference Champions in the preseason coaches poll.
• The Shockers garnered four first place votes and finished with 33 points in the preseason coaches poll. South Florida was picked second with 31 total points, followed by UCF (29).
• Wichita State has only 11 home games on the schedule for 2022, which is tied for the fewest in school history (1983).
• Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner is just 22 wins away from becoming Wichita State's all-time winningest coach. Jim Maynard sits in first with 313 career wins.
• Bredbenner is just 8 wins shy of 300 career victories at Wichita State.
• Sydney McKinney is just 12 hits away from cracking the top 10 list for hits at Wichita State. McKinney set the single season record a season ago with 87.
• Wichita State ranked in the top 30 nationally in home runs (2nd), home runs per game (3rd), slugging percentage (5th), walks (9th), scoring (9th), OBP (16th) and Avg. (30th) in 2021.

SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
Northern Iowa is 2-3 to begin the 2022 campaign with a win over Nebraska and Omaha. Their three losses came against South Dakota State twice and Iowa State. Through five games the Panthers are hitting just .195 as a team with four home runs and 16 runs scored. Mya Dodge is hitting a team-best .412 with a home run, four runs and five RBI. The pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.59 and opponents are hitting .269 against them. Kailyn Packard has thrown 12.0 innings and is 1-1 with an ERA of 2.33. Samantha Heyer leads the Panthers with 16 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.91.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Northern Iowa have a storied history that dates back to 1979 when the two programs met for the first time. The former MVC foes played each other every year from 1983 until 2017 when Wichita State made its move to the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers own a 51-43 advantage in the all-time series, but the Panthers have won the last five meetings.

LAST MEETING WITH THE PANTHERS
Northern Iowa swept the final conference regular season meeting between the two schools as members of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2017. Northern Iowa won 9-7 and 5-1, while the third game was canceled in Cedar Falls, Iowa. In the first game of the series, Macklin Hitz hit a three-run home run, but the bats were silenced in the finale. Wichita State collected just four hits and scored its lone run on a Laurie Derrico RBI groundout. April 29, 2017 was the last time the two programs met.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota is 7-4 through two weekends after facing a challenging schedule. The Gophers have already played four games against ranked teams and are 1-3 in those games. Minnesota has defeated UCF and Fresno State who were receiving votes. Minnesota has hit 15 home runs and batting .296 as a team. Lauren Espalin hits a team-best .400, while Megan Dray leads with four home runs. Chloe Evans has driven in a team-best 13 runs. The Minnesota pitchers have an ERA of 3.45 and opponents are hitting .307. Autumn Pease 3-1 in 38.0 innings with an ERA of 2.76. She also owns 43 strikeouts on the season to go with two saves. Emily Leavitt has already appeared in nine of the team's 11 games, making seven starts. She is 4-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 34.2 innings.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State is just 2-7 all-time vs. Minnesota. The very first meeting took place in 1980. Three of the nine meetings between the two schools happened in 1985. Minnesota enters the weekend having won the last two meetings, both of which were shutouts.

LAST MEETING WITH THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Wichita State and Minnesota last met on March 16, 2019 at the USF Spring Invitational in Tampa, Fla. The Golden Gophers were ranked No. 21 at the time and blanked the Shockers 5-0. Current senior pitchers Caitlin Bingham and Erin McDonald both pitched in the contest.

SCOUTING CHARLOTTE
Charlotte is 10-2 this season, including a win over No. 22 James Madison. Their two losses came against Notre Dame, 16-1 and No. 15 Clemson, 5-2. Offensively, the 49ers have been red-hot at the plate. They are hitting .327 with 14 home runs, 23 doubles and 72 RBI. Charlotte's 23 doubles rank fourth nationally. They also rank in the top 25 in slugging percentage, scoring and shutouts. Bailey Vannoy is hitting .488 with three home runs, five doubles, 14 runs and 10 RBI. Cori Henderson is tied for the team lead with three home runs to go with nine RBI and a batting average of .395. In the circle, Lindsey Walljasper is 5-1 in 32.1 innings with an ERA of 2.38 and 32 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY
This weekend's matchup vs. Charlotte marks just the second and third time the Shockers will face the 49ers. Charlotte won the only other meeting between the two schools, back in 1999.

LAST MEETING WITH THE 49ERS
Wichita State and Charlotte needed extra innings in the only other meeting. Charlotte was able to squeak out a 6-5 win in 10 innings vs. Wichita State back in 1999.

MCKINNEY CLAIMS FIRST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Sydney McKinney added her first American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor (Feb. 21) of the season following another stellar weekend. McKinney hit .438 (7-for-16) in four games to go with a double, two triples, two home runs, five runs, five RBI and a 1.125 slugging percentage. This is the third career Player of the Week honor for McKinney after picking up two a season ago.

THE BOMBS ARE BACK
Wichita State graduated four seniors in the every day lineup in 2021, including 44 of the team's 103 home runs. It would be natural to question the offense in 2022 with as much production that Wichita State lost. At the opening tournament in Huntsville (Feb. 11-13), Wichita State hit 11 home runs in the five games, which is six more than the Shockers hit on opening weekend a year ago. This past weekend at the Razorback Invitational, Wichita State tacked on eight more over four games to run its season total to 19. Addison Barnard leads with five, followed by Sydney McKinney with four, Neleigh Herring with three, Zoe Jones, Bailey Urban and Lauren Lucas have two each. Lauren Mills has one.

BARNARD TABBED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Addison Barnard took home the first American Player of the Week honor of the season on Feb. 14. The Beatrice, Neb., native hit .500 (8-for-16) over the weekend at the Bearkat Classic (Feb. 11-13). Barnard recorded 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 4 walks, 9 stolen bases and 11 runs.

WANTED FOR THEFT
Sophomore Addison Barnard stole a career-high three bases in the opener vs. Dayton (Feb. 11), becoming the first Shocker to swipe three bags in a game since Mackenzie Wright on Feb. 27, 2016. She added two more in both games vs. Sam Houston and Houston Baptist. Barnard finished opening weekend with nine steals in 10 attempts. She added four more at the Razorback Invitational. After the first two weekends of play Barnard leads the nation in stolen bases with 13.

DOWN GOES ANOTHER SCHOOL RECORD
Sophomore Addison Barnard is making it a habit of putting her name in the record books. Barnard broke the single game school record for runs, scoring five at Sam Houston on Sunday, Feb. 13. She scored 11 runs over the weekend after previously setting a career high with four against Dayton on Feb. 11.

HOME RUN LIST
Sophomore Addison Barnard needed only 54 career games to crack the top 10 home run list at Wichita State. Barnard now has 27 career home runs, placing her in ninth all time at Wichita State.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Zoe Jones didn't waste any time etching her name in the Wichita State record books. The Texas Tech transfer tied a single game record with three doubles vs. Sam Houston on Feb. 13.

A PAIR OF PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Wichita State junior Sydney McKinney and sophomore Addison Barnard picked up All-American honors on Feb. 7. The duo were named Preseason Third Team All-Americans by Softball America after producing stellar, record-breaking seasons for Wichita State in 2021.

TOP 50 WATCH LIST
Junior Sydney McKinney was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List on Jan. 26. McKinney is one of only two players from the American Athletic Conference on the prestigious list, joining South Florida's Georgina Corrick. McKinney is coming off an All-American campaign in 2021 where she ranked third nationally in hits.

PRESEASON TOP 100 LOVE
Junior Sydney McKinney and sophomore Addison Barnard were named to the Softball America Preseason Top 100 and the first-ever Extra Elite Top 100 College Player Rankings. McKinney checked in at No. 38 in the Softball America Top 100 and No. 40 in the Extra Elite Top 100 by Extra Inning Softball. Barnard was ranked No. 42 by Softball America and No. 64 by Extra Inning Softball.

MCKINNEY TABBED AAC PRESEASON POY
D1 Softball tabbed Sydney McKinney as the preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year on Feb. 1. The publication predicts McKinney will repeat as the conference's top player in 2022 after earning the honor in 2021.

TOUGH SLEDDING
Wichita State will see at least four nationally ranked teams in 2022, highlighted by the preseason No. 1 team in the nation Oklahoma. Wichita State travels to Norman to face the defending National Champions on March 29. The Shockers also face No. 7 Oklahoma State twice in Stillwater and once in Wichita and No. 10 Arkansas in Fayetteville. Wichita State has also faced Illinois, which was currently ranked No. 24 in the Softball America Top 25 and No. 25 in the D1 Top 25.

ROAD WARRIORS
Wichita State has only 11 home games on the schedule for the 2022 season, which is tied for the fewest in school history. The 1983 team also played only 11 home games, but competed in just 29 games total. The Shockers' first 29 games this season are all away from the friendly confines of Wilkins Stadium. Wichita State's home opener isn't until March 23 vs. Kansas.

ELITE COMPANY
Junior Sydney McKinney has a career batting average of .400. That number places her among the elite in all of college softball. Her batting average places her 20th on the active list for career batting average in NCAA DI. She is only three percentage points from moving into the top 16 currently.

STAFF ADDITION
Wichita State announced on Jan. 28 the addition of volunteer assistant coach Mary Stephens. Stephens comes to Wichita State after spending a season at Sam Houston and two seasons at Texas Tech as a volunteer assistant. She also spent the 2017 season as a graduate manager for Texas Tech where she earned a master's degree in sport management. She completed her collegiate playing career at Missouri State where she started 207 games in her career for the Bears. She graduated in 2017 with a degree in Park, Sport and Rec Administration. Stephens was a career .281 hitter with 170 hits, 27 doubles and 19 home runs. She drove in 103 runs with a career slugging percentage of .424 and drew 64 walks to finish with an on-base percentage of .353.

BIG SHOES TO FILL
Wichita State graduated five starters from the 2021 team: SP Bailey Lange, C Madison Perrigan, 2B Kaylee Huecker, 3B Ryleigh Buck and CF Bailee Nickerson. Those five combined for 1,024 career starts during their time as Shockers. Career starts lost:  Buck (205), Huecker (162), Lange (233), Nickerson (180) and Perrigan (244).

A SEASON FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is coming off its best season in school history in 2021. The Shockers won 75.5 percent (41-13-1) of their games, which was the best in program history. The 41 wins were the second-most in program history and Wichita State reached the NCAA Regional Final for just the second time in school history.

BARNARD'S BOMBS
As a true freshman Addison Barnard broke the single season home run record on April 13, 2021 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. She would finish the 2021 campaign with a school and American Athletic Conference record 22 home runs. She enters her sophomore season just three home runs away from cracking the Top 10 on the career charts at Wichita State. Barnard was one of just nine players in the country with 20 or more home runs in 2021.

AMERICAN HISTORY
Wichita State set a program record for conference wins as a member of the American in 2021. They finished 18-5-1 in league play, becoming the first team in American Athletic Conference history to win 18 conference games in a season. Prior to 2021, the Shockers hadn't won more than 12 American conference games. The Shockers went 12-9 (.571) to tie for third in the AAC standings in their debut season in 2018 and added a matching 12-9 record to take fourth in 2019.

HOMERS FOR HI-CHEWS
Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner started a new tradition in 2021 to reward players who hit home runs. Instead of a normal high-five for her players as they round the bases, Bredbenner began tossing a piece of Hi-Chew candy to her home run hitters. Sophomore Madyson Espinosa should be credited for introducing the chewy candy to Coach B at the first tournament of the season down in Conroe, Texas, and thus a new tradition was born. Be on the lookout for the tradition to continue again in 2022.

THE BRED-WINNER
Bredbenner is the second-longest tenured head coach in Wichita State softball history, which has resulted in more than 280 wins in 10 seasons. Bredbenner has the second-highest winning percentage in school history (.549) behind current Florida softball coach Tim Walton. She is just 24 wins away from becoming Wichita State's all-time wins leader.

UP NEXT
Wichita State gets its first taste against a future league member in Charlotte. The Shockers will face Charlotte, Northern Iowa and Minnesota at the Niner Invitational on Feb. 25-27.