March 9 | 4:00 PM | Springfield, Mo. | Killian Sports Complex

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State heads to Springfield for a midweek matchup against Missouri State on Wednesday.
• Wichita State is 6-4 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State is coming off a 2-2 showing last weekend in Lincoln, Neb. WSU defeated South Dakota State twice, but lost two to NU.
• Addison Barnard has 30 career home runs, placing her in a tie for 7th on the Wichita State home run list.
• Barnard ranks ninth in the nation with 8 home runs.
• Barnard leads the country in stolen bases with 20. Her 20 steals already surpass her total from 2021.
• Barnard is the only player in the country with 8+ home runs and 15+ stolen bases.
• Sydney McKinney is riding a 12-game hitting streak. She ranks 10th nationally in hits and 16th in batting average.
• Neleigh Herring is tied for 11th on the career home run list with 24.
• Wichita State claimed the first two American Player of the Week honors of 2022: Addison Barnard (Feb. 14) and Sydney McKinney (Feb. 21). Zoe Jones (Feb. 28) and Lauren Lucas (March 7) have both been named to the Honor Roll.
• Wichita State ranks in the Top 30 nationally in home runs per game (4th), total home runs (8th), slugging percentage (9th), scoring (10th) doubles per game (10th), doubles (16th), on base percentage (20th), batting average (21st) and walks (26th).
• Sydney McKinney cracked the top 10 hits list at Wichita State.With her 208 hits, she sits in 8th all time. McKinney set the single season record a season ago with 87.
• 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 17 wins away from becoming Wichita State's all-time winningest coach. Jim Maynard sits in first with 313 career wins.
• Bredbenner is just 3 wins shy of 300 career victories at Wichita State.

SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
Missouri State is 4-11 through the first month of the season. The Bears are hitting just .202 as a team with 7 home runs. Alex Boze hits a team-best .440 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI. Daphne Plummer hits .370 with 12 runs and 7 stolen bases. In the circle, Missouri State pitchers have a 6.34 ERA in 93.2 innings. Opponents are hitting .299 with 15 home runs. Steffany Dickerson has made 7 starts and is 3-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 38.1 innings.

SERIES HISTORY
Long-time members of the Missouri Valley Conference, Wichita State and Missouri State meet for the second straight year. Wichita State owns a slim 56-54 lead in the all time series that dates back to 1984. Wichita State has won six straight vs. the Bears and 11 of the last 12.

LAST MEETING WITH THE BEARS
Just a season ago, Wichita State and Missouri State played on March 11, 2021 in Wichita. The Shockers scored 10 runs in the second inning to run-rule the Bears, 13-2, in five innings. Wichita State hit four home runs in the contest, including a three-run Madison Perrigan home run and an Addison Barnard grand slam.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State went 2-2 in Lincoln, Neb., last weekend with a pair of wins over South Dakota State. The Shockers dropped both matchups with Nebraska (10-4, 12-4), but swept both contests with the Jackrabbits, 8-7 and 7-1. In the opening game against Nebraska, Wichita State jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Huskers scored 10 unanswered to pick up the win. Wichita State led South Dakota State 6-3, but the Jackrabbits scored four in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead entering the seventh inning. Wichita State would score the go-ahead runs on an SDSU error, and close it out in the bottom of the seventh. In the second meeting with Nebraska, the Huskers hit three home runs, including a grand slam to run-rule the Shockers in six innings, 12-4. To finish the weekend, Wichita State used a 7-run fifth inning to defeat South Dakota State, 7-1.

LUCAS GRABS SPOT ON HONOR ROLL
Sophomore Lauren Lucas was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on March 7. The Little Elm, Texas, native hit .455 (5-for-11) against Nebraska and SDSU with a double, two home runs, three walks, four runs and six RBI. Lucas homered in back-to-back games vs. Nebraska and South Dakota State. She recorded a career-high three hits and drove in a career-high three runs in the March 4 game vs. South Dakota State.

SPEED AND POWER
Sophomore Addison Barnard is in a league of her own when it comes to combining speed and power. Barnard is the only player in the NCAA to have at least 8 home runs and 10 or more stolen bases this season. Through 17 games in 2022 Barnard has 8 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 21 RBI.

HONOR ROLL
Junior Zoe Jones was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 28. Jones hit .400 in four games at the Niner Invitational, including three doubles and scoring seven runs.

A GRAND WEEKEND
Entering last weekend's Niner Invitational, Wichita State had hit 19 home runs on the season, but zero grand slams. That changed in a big way in Charlotte. The Shockers crushed three grand slams in three days - two of them belonging to Addison Barnard. The other came off the bat of freshman Cassie Passwaters. It was her first career home run.

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 was six more than the Shockers hit on opening weekend a year ago. Through 17 games Wichita State has 30 home runs. Addison Barnard leads with eight, followed by Sydney McKinney with five, Lauren Lucas with four, Zoe Jones, Neleigh Herring and Bailey Urban with three and Lauren Mills has two.

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 had 4 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. After the first four weekends of play Barnard ranks first in the nation with 20 steals. That is the second most in a season at Wichita State. The single season record is 25.

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 30 career home runs, placing her in a tie for seventh all time at Wichita State.

ELITE COMPANY
Junior Sydney McKinney has a career batting average of .403. That number places her among the elite in all of college softball. She ranks 18th on the active list for career batting average in NCAA DI. She is only seven percentage points from moving into the top 15.

RPI - WEEK ONE
Wichita State checked in at No. 31 in the initial RPI rankings on March 7. The Shockers have already faced seven teams in the Top 75, including No. 8 Charlotte, No. 33 Minnesota, No. 36 South Dakota, No. 37 Arkansas, No. 57 South Dakota State, No. 58 Illinois and No. 63 Nebraska. Wichita State still has games against No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 19 UCF, No. 44 Iowa, No. 52 South Florida and No. 90 Kansas.

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 AAC 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.

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.

STREAK SNAPPED
Sophomore Sydney McKinney had her streak of 141 consecutive starts come to an end on the final day of the Bearkat Classic. McKinney was sidelined for the final game vs. Sam Houston.

THE BRED-WINNER
Kristi Bredbenner is the second-longest tenured head coach in Wichita State softball history, which has resulted in more than 290 wins in 10 seasons. Bredbenner has the second-highest winning percentage in school history (.552) behind current Florida softball coach Tim Walton. She is just 17 wins away from becoming Wichita State's all-time wins leader.

UP NEXT
Wichita State faces Omaha on March 16 for a midweek matchup in Omaha at 4 p.m. The Shockers will then travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the OSU Mizuno Classic on March 18-19.