The RoundHouse | 5/19/2022 12:28:00 PM
In February 2014,
Caitlin Bingham decided to play softball at a place with no conference titles and two NCAA regional appearances, most recently in 2005, on its resume.
More than eight years later, Bingham is a senior pitcher at Wichita State as the Shockers prepare to make their fourth NCAA appearance in that span, three with Bingham on the roster. On Sunday, the Shockers earned a regional spot in back-to-back seasons for the first time. They play Oregon (31-17) on Friday in the Fayetteville Regional (7:30 p.m. ESPN+).
When Bingham recalls her recruiting visit as a freshman in high school, she thinks about the way coach
Kristi Bredbenner described building the team. Bingham visited with catcher
Madison Perrigan, both from Oklahoma, and both committed soon after the trip. Perrigan, a year older, came to Wichita State for the 2017 season and departed as the career home run leader. Bingham arrived the next year.
"What really drew me here was Coach B," Bingham said. "She portrayed a program that was family-based. It was centered on 'We're going to be a team and we're going to win as a team.' They were up and coming. She delivered on all those things."
Sunday's NCAA selection show delivered for Wichita State. The Shockers grabbed an at-large bid that adds another level to the program's rise.
"Back-to-back is huge," Bredbenner said. "I think the kids are learning and understanding what it takes to be successful. Reputation has helped us this year in a big way, hitting the home runs that we have."
For the Shockers (33-16), the run of NCAA bids proves Wichita State can contend annually for NCAA spots. Consecutive bids – automatic in 2021 – shows the Shockers can deliver after the departure of foundational athletes such as Perrigan and pitcher
Bailey Lange.
Thirty-two teams earned at-large bids to the 64-team field. Thirty of those spots went to schools from the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Big 10 conferences. Wichita State and USF from the American Athletic Conference grabbed the remaining two spots.
"We all know that's the goal – to make it to a regional every year," senior first baseman
Neleigh Herring said. "To be able to do that two years in a row, we're still climbing."
Bredbenner takes the successes of 2016, 2018 and 2021 and adds in Wichita State's status as one of the nation's top hitting teams. She wants that brand – winning in NCAA play and power hitting – to give the Shockers an edge at selection time.
"That's the kind of reputation we want to have in the post-season – that Wichita State is synonymous with getting into the tournament," Bredbenner said. "It takes time. It takes culture. It takes your kids believing."
That belief starts with winning NCAA games and the Shockers delivered with wins over Tulsa, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. It helps playing in this part of the country where softball matters – the Women's College World Series is in Oklahoma City every spring. The roster is regional - Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Bingham and Herring are the Shockers who also played on the 2018 regional team. They defeated Oklahoma State twice in Fayetteville to become the first Shocker team to advance to a regional championship round. After a 32-24 record in 2019 and COVID-interrupted 2020, the Shockers swept the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament to return to NCAA play in 2021.
The 2022 team had to deal with the departure of several experienced players who started on the 2018 team. They broke out of the cycle of previous seasons in which an NCAA bid was followed by a winning season that didn't meet the at-large standard.
When the Shockers regrouped last fall for practices, they had two wins over Texas A&M and spirited efforts against eventual champion Oklahoma in the regional fresh on their minds. They considered themselves a regional team.
"It is the expectation," Bingham said. "We're not just trying to go to the conference tournament. We come in in August and we're like 'OK, we're making it to the NCAA post-season.' I don't think there's a doubt in anybody's mind."
Bingham, then a senior in high school, watched the Shockers defeat Tulsa in 2016 in Norman in NCAA play. Herring watched the Shockers on ESPN. For Oklahomans, playing on the Sooners' field and competing on that stage made an impression.
"You're right on the cusp of getting to campus and being part of it," Bingham said. "To see them go and compete in the Norman regional, I think, was a huge thing for me. It was 'Wow, I'm going to a school where I can go, and I can compete against these top teams. I'm going to compete in the post-season. I'm going to a big-time program that I can go and help."
The Shockers opened the 2016 regional with a 7-2 loss to Oklahoma, then topped Tulsa 2-1. A 4-0 loss to Mississippi ended their NCAA stay.
"It showed me that the program was going up and up," Herring said. "I knew it was moving in the right direction and they were doing all the right things. It was exciting just to be a part of that."
The Shockers earned the first at-large bid of Bredbenner's time in 2018. The benefits of playing a tough non-conference schedule and in the American showed up. The AAC grabbed two at-large spots in 2019 and 2021 and three in 2018. Last season, Wichita State, UCF and USF all played in the regional championship round. This season, all three returned to the NCAAs with UCF hosting as the No. 16 national seed after winning the regular season and tournament titles.
The Shockers add to their schedule strength by heading on the road early in the season. This year, they played NCAA teams such as Illinois, Minnesota, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in February and March. They played a mere 11 home games and won 67 percent of their games with four of those home games against NCAA regional hosts Oklahoma State and UCF.
"Road wins are bigger deals than home wins," Bredbenner said. "We took that motto and ran with it. Moving forward, we've got to stick with our philosophy of scheduling a lot of the good regional teams that we play – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, and they're all on our schedule for next year."
In August, the Shockers will return to campus and start the quest for a third consecutive NCAA spot. As always, the team will miss its seniors and newcomers will hear stories about how things are done. Each season, those stories reinforce the expectations that started years ago.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
