Wichita State at East Carolina
Greenville, N.C. | ECU Softball Stadium
April 29-May 1 (4:00 PM/1:00 PM/10:00 AM) All times Central
Video: Friday-Saturday (ECUPirates.com) | Sunday (ESPN+)
Stats: Statbroadcast.com

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State prepares for its final regular season road trip with a visit to Greenville to face East Carolina, April 29 - May 1.
• Wichita State is riding an eight-game win streak, the 7th longest in the NCAA currently.
• Wichita State is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State is coming off a conference series sweep of Memphis where the Shockers outscored the Tigers 43-4 over the three-game series.
• Addison Barnard has 48 career home runs, placing her in 2nd on the Wichita State home run list.
• Barnard leads the nation in home runs, home runs per game, RBI,  RBI per game and total bases and is 2nd in slugging percentage and runs per game.
• Barnard's 26 home runs broke the single season record, which she set at 22 a season ago.
• Barnard is 29th in the country in stolen bases with 25. Her 25 steals already surpass her total from 2021.
• Barnard is the only player in the country with 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases.
• Barnard was the NFCA National Player of the Week on April 5 and again on April 26.
• Sydney McKinney ranks 1st in the NCAA in batting average, hits and runs per game and 7th in total bases.
• Neleigh Herring is in T-6th on the career home run list with 33.
• Wichita State has claimed five American Player of the Week honors in 2022: Addison Barnard (Feb. 14, Apr. 4, Apr. 25), Sydney McKinney (Feb. 21) and Lauren Lucas (Apr. 18). Erin McDonald was named Pitcher of the Week on Apr. 25. Zoe Jones (Feb. 28), Lauren Lucas (Mar. 7 & 21), Lauren Mills (Mar. 14)  and Alison Cooper (April 11) have been named to the weekly honor roll.
• Wichita State ranks in the Top 25 nationally in home runs per game (2nd), home runs (2nd), scoring (2nd), slugging percentage (2nd), batting average (3rd), on base percentage (3rd), doubles per game (16th) and doubles (23rd).
• Sydney McKinney cracked the top 10 hits list at Wichita State. With her 249 hits, she sits in 2nd all time. McKinney set the single season record a season ago with 87.
• Sydney McKinney is one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
• 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 picked by the league's coaches to repeat as American Athletic Conference Champions in the preseason coaches poll.
• 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 became Wichita State's all-time winningest coach on April 24, 2022 with the victory over Memphis. She surpassed Jim Maynard with 314 career wins.
• Bredbenner recorded her 300th career win at Wichita State on March 14 vs. Kansas.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina is 2-10 in league play and 20-29 overall entering the weekend. The Pirates sport just a .264 batting average as a team to go with 21 home runs. Jocelyn Alonso hits a team-high .348, while two Pirates lead with four home runs. Sydney Yoder has driven in 30 runs to go with three homers. The Pirates have divided our the innings evenly with five different pitchers throwing 51.1 innings or more. Madisyn Davis is 7-5 with a 3.45 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and East Carolina first met in March 1999 with the Shockers winning the first ever meeting. Since Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference in 2018, the Shockers are 7-3 against the Pirates. Wichita State leads the all time series, 8-3 and is 2-1 in Greenville. This will be the first trip to Greenville since 2018 and just second all time.

LAST MEETING WITH THE PIRATES
Wichita State won the season series a season ago, taking three of four from the Pirates in Wichita. The Shockers run-ruled the Pirates in games one and four, 16-1 and 10-2. Wichita State and ECU split the Saturday doubleheader after the Pirates scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to secure a shocking come from behind win.

LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State run-ruled Memphis in all three games of the weekend series at Wilkins Stadium. The Shockers won 10-1, 14-3 and 19-0, outscoring the Tigers, 43-4. Wichita State hit 11 home runs, including four by Addison Barnard. Erin McDonald threw her first solo no-hitter in Sunday's 19-0 win. She struck out six and allowed just two baserunners, both via walk. The 19 runs tied for the second most in school history. Wichita State has won eight straight games, the last four all coming in run-rule fashion.

NO HITTER
Senior Erin McDonald threw her first career solo no-hitter on Sunday, April 24, 2022 vs. Memphis. She struck out six and walked two in 5.0 innings due to the run-rule. McDonald combined for a no-hitter on March 10, 2019 vs. Nebraska. The no-no was the 19th in school history.

GOOD GRIEF GARCIA
Sophomore Jessica Garcia has been on a tear over her last seven games. During a seven-game hit streak, Garcia is hitting .600 (9-for-15) with four home runs and eight RBI. She has raised her season batting average to .365 with five home runs and 16 RBI.

.400
Wichita State is one of only three schools (Oklahoma, 4 and Arkansas, 3) in the country that have three or more players hitting .400 or better in the lineup. Sydney McKinney (.490), Addison Barnard (.414) and Lauren Lucas (.412) make up the .400 hitters for the Shockers.

BREDBENNER REACHES MILESTONES
Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner became the all-time wins leader at Wichita State on April 24, 2022. Bredbenner notched her 314 the win, surpassing Jim Maynard's 313. She recorded her 300th career win at Wichita State on Monday, March 14 vs. Kansas. She is just the second coach in program history to record 300 wins.

USA SOFTBALL POY TOP 25 FINALIST
Junior Sydney McKinney was named a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 finalist on April 20. 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. She is the first Shocker in program history to make the Top 25 for USA Softball POY.

ADDIE THE BADDIE
Addison Barnard is putting together a season for the history books... again.
• Speed & Power: Barnard is in a league of her own when it comes to combining speed and power. The Nebraska native is the only player in the NCAA to have at least 20 home runs and 20 or more stolen bases this season. Through 41 games in 2022 Barnard has 26 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 67 RBI.
• A Club of One: Barnard is the first Shocker in program history to record a 20-20 season of 20+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases.
• Active HR List: She needed only 54 career games to crack the top 10 home run list at Wichita State. Barnard now has 48 career home runs, placing her in 2nd all time at Wichita State. To put that in perspective, among active players in NCAA Softball, Barnard is already in the Top 15. She is one of just two sophomores (Tiare Jennings, Oklahoma) in the nation with at least 40 career home runs.
• Running to the Record Book: 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. She ranks second nationally in runs per game.
• Wanted for theft: Barnard stole a career-high three bases in the season 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. Barnard ranks 29th in the nation with 25 steals. That is tied for the most in a season at Wichita State.

ADDIE'S ACCOLADES
Addison Barnard has racked up quite a list of awards already this season, including two NFCA National Player of the Week awards. She is the first Shocker to earn one National POW honors, let alone two.
• Barnard joins  Oklahoma's Jocelyn Alo as the only players to earn multiple NFCA National Player of the Week awards this season.
• Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on April 26. In four games, she hit .667 (8-12) with a slugging pct. of 2.250, 6 home runs, 10 runs scored and 15 RBI.
• D1 Softball Player of the Week on April 26.
• American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on April 25.
• Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on April 5. In four games during the week of March 28-April 3, Barnard hit .500 with 5 home runs and 14 RBI.
• D1 Softball Player of the Week on April 5.
• American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on April 4.
• American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 14. She hit .500 (8-for-16) on opening weekend at the Bearkat Classic (Feb. 11-13). Barnard recorded 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 4 walks, 9 stolen bases and 11 runs.

MCKINNEY MILESTONE WATCH
• Sydney McKinney is just two hits away from becoming Wichita State's all-time hits leader. The record is currently 250 and McKinney sits at 249.
• McKinney has 160 career runs scored - the most in school history.
• McKinney is on pace to shatter her own single season record for batting average. She set it at .439 a season ago and is currently No. 5 in the nation at .490.
• McKinney has a career batting average of .416. That number places her among the elite in all of college softball. She ranks 17th on the active list for career batting average in NCAA DI. She is only 13 percentage points from moving into the top 10.
• With a career on base percentage of .470, McKinney currently holds the top spot in that category as well.
• She broke into the top 10 list on April 24 with her ninth career triple.
• With two more doubles she will crack the top 10 list on the career charts.

AN APRIL TO REMEMBER
Lauren Lucas has quietly put together a hitting clinic over the month of April. In 14 games, Lucas hit .476 - team high - with a home run, five doubles, six walks, six RBI and 10 runs scored. She's had multiple hits in five of her last seven games, including a pair of three-hit games. Her scalding month has raised her season batting average over the .400 mark and third on the team.

AMERICAN TABS LUCAS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lauren Lucas was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on April 18. The Little Elm, Texas, native hit .583 (7-for-12) with a home run, three doubles and four RBI. She had multiple hits in all three games at Houston, including a season-high tying three hits in the victory on April 15. In Saturday's (April 16) come-from-behind win, Lucas hit the middle homer of back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Wichita State obliterated the school record for home runs in a single season in 2021. The Shockers crushed 103 - a mark that ranked second nationally behind only the defending National Champion, Oklahoma Sooners. Wichita State graduated four seniors in the every day lineup from that record-breaking squad, including 44 of the team's 103 home runs.  Through 41 games in 2021, Wichita State had hit 79 home runs. Through 41 games in 2022... Wichita State is at 93 - 14 homers ahead of the record-breaking Shockers had at this point a year ago.

ALL WE DO IS HIT
In Wichita State's 16-2 win over Kansas City on March 18, the Shockers broke the single game school record for hits with 22. The bested the previous record of 21 which was set on April 20, 2016 at Missouri State. Sydney McKinney and Addison Barnard went a combined 8-for-8 in the game.

RPI - WEEK EIGHT
Wichita State checked in at No. 40 in the eighth RPI rankings on April 25. The Shockers have already faced 10 teams in the Top 75, including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 30 Nebraska, No. 34 Illinois, No. 36 Charlotte, No. 41 Minnesota, No. 42 South Florida, No. 44 South Dakota State and No. 71 Northern Iowa. Wichita State still has a three-game series against No. 15 UCF.

DOUBLE DIGIT HOMERS
Wichita State is one of only eight teams in the country that have at least four players with 10 or more home runs this season. Addison Barnard (26), Neleigh Herring (12), Sydney McKinney (11) and Zoe Jones (11) all have double digit homers, while Lauren Mills (9) and Lauren Lucas (8) are on the brink of hitting the double digit mark. Oklahoma, UNC Greensboro, Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona State, Miami (OH) and Missouri make up the other programs.

UP NEXT
Wichita State completes the regular season with a home series vs. UCF, April 29-May 1 at Wilkins Stadium.