HOUSTON – Behind five home runs, including two from Addison Barnard, Wichita State completed the series sweep of Houston with a 7-6 win Saturday afternoon at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Wichita State (24-13, 7-2) has now swept two of its three conference series and completes its road trip with a four-game win streak.

Barnard belted two home runs, giving her 20 for the season. She is the first Shocker in school history with multiple 20+ home run seasons. Barnard also can add the first-ever 20-20 season in school history, becoming the first player with 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases in a single season.

Lauren Lucas added a home run, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Lainee Brown drove in two runs behind a home run. Zoe Jones added the fifth home run of the day and 11th of the season.

Wichita State needed three pitchers to hold off a feisty Cougar offense. Erin McDonald went only 1.0 inning in the start, allowing two runs on three hits. Alison Cooper threw 1.2 innings of relief, surrendering three runs on three hits. Caitlin Bingham recorded the win in 4.1 innings.

For the first time all series Houston scored first to start the game. An RBI single in the bottom of the first gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

Wichita State was able to briefly grab the lead in the top of the second on Brown's two-run home run, but Houston responded with two of its own to retake the lead, 3-2. Cooper was able to limit the damage to just two runs. The Cougars had runners on the corners with no outs, but Cooper struck out two in a row and finished the inning with a flyout.

In the very next inning, Barnard crushed a solo home run over the fence in left-center to tie the game at 3-3. Again, Houston had an answer. A two-run home run put the Cougars back in front, 5-3.

A Wylie Glover RBI groundout cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth.

After a scoreless home frame in the fourth, Wichita State grabbed the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to back-to-back-to-back home runs from Barnard, Lucas and Jones. It marked the second time this season Wichita State had homered three at bats in a row.

In the bottom of the seventh, Houston threatened with a solo home run to cut it to 7-6, but Bingham retired the final two hitters to preserve the win.

Up Next
Wichita State hosts Kansas for its final midweek game of the season on Wednesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.