FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wichita State defeated Princeton, 5-4, in the first elimination game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, but was knocked out in the nightcap to No. 23 Oregon, 8-1.
Wichita State finished the season at 34-18, making the program's second straight NCAA appearance and sixth overall. All six of Wichita State's NCAA Tournament wins have come under head coach
Kristi Bredbenner, and they have won at least one regional game in four straight regional appearances.
It was another record-breaking season for Wichita State, both team and individually. Wichita State set team single season records in batting average, runs, hits home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage and on base percentage. Their 121 home runs surpassed last season's record-smashing total of 103. As it stands now, the 121 homers rank second in the NCAA in 2022.
Sydney McKinney broke her own single season marks in batting average and hits, while setting new school bests in runs and on base percentage.
Addison Barnard posted a historic sophomore campaign with 33 home runs and 84 RBI. Both totals lead the NCAA after this weekend. Her 33 round-trippers are the third-most in NCAA history.
Seniors
Caitlin Bingham,
Wylie Glover,
Neleigh Herring and
Erin McDonald played their final games in a Wichita State uniform. Bingham and Herring were freshmen on the 2018 NCAA team that appeared in the program's first-ever NCAA Regional final in Fayetteville.
Game 1 vs. Princeton
Erin McDonald made the start but couldn't get out of the first inning. She allowed two runs on a hit and a walk in only 0.1 inning.
Caitlin Bingham recorded her 13th win of the season in 6.2 innings of relief. She allowed two runs on five hits, while striking out three.
Lauren Mills was 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBI. McKinney had a pair of singles and
Neleigh Herring drove in two runs on a home run.
Princeton loaded the bases in the top of the first and turned it into a pair of runs on a two-out, two-run single up the middle.
Wichita State evened the score at 2-2 on Mills' towering two-run home run to dead center in the bottom of the second.
A wild sequence in the bottom of the fourth gave the Shockers their first lead at 3-2. What looked to be the final out of the inning, turned into a dropped infield popup, which allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Herring increased the margin to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth on her 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot to center. In the very next half inning, Princeton answered with a two-run home run of its own to cut the lead to one.
Princeton had one last chance in the seventh following a leadoff walk, but Bingham retired the next three Tigers to secure the win.
Game 2 vs. Oregon
Alison Cooper went 3.2 innings in the start. In her final appearance as a freshman, she allowed seven runs, five earned, on four hits and six walks. Bingham was solid in 3.1 innings of relief. The Ducks scored only one run on one hit and two walks against Bingham.
McKinney finished her superb junior season with a 4-for-4 night at the plate. She had four of the team's seven hits. Mills,
Lauren Lucas and
Zoe Jones all finished with a hit.
Oregon again jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first. A single followed by a stolen base, throwing error and wild pitch put the Ducks up 1-0. They would add a second run on an RBI groundout.
Wichita State cut the deficit in half behind a trio of singles from McKinney, Lucas and Jones. Jones roped an RBI single down the left field line to make it 2-1. That would be the lone run of the night.
The Ducks capitalized in the third on a two-out, two-run home run, pushing their lead to 4-1.
In the fourth, Oregon relied on two-out RBI's yet again. All three of its runs in the fourth came with two outs.
Oregon added its final run in the sixth on an RBI groundout.
