The RoundHouse | 5/26/2022 3:40:00 PM

 
A look through the Wichita State softball record book is a reminder of how the sport has changed from a pitcher-dominant game to one where offenses can thrive.
 
The 1989 Shockers threw 63 complete games in a 66-game season, 38 of them by Patty Bautista. The 1983 Shockers hit one home run, as did teams in 1986, 1987 and 1994.
 
Which leads us to 2022 Wichita State softball and its rewriting of the record book in a way that seemed unfathomable after the 2021 rewriting of the record book.
 
Shortstop Sydney McKinney, leading the nation with a .522 batting average, and right fielder Addison Barnard, leading the nation with 33 home runs and 84 runs batted in, are a big part, but not the only part, of the story.
 
The Shockers set team and individual marks with a deep lineup that benefited from, enhanced and protected McKinney and Barnard at the top of the order. School marks for batting average (.348), slugging percentage (.667), on-base percentage (.437), runs (415), runs batted in (387) and home runs (121) belong to the 2022 team.
 
The 2021 Shockers briefly owned slugging (.592), runs (374), RBI (353) and home runs (103). The 103 homers hit last season topped the previous mark of 59 set in 2018.

 

LoLo just wants to have fun 💃🪩 @GoShockersSB #RoadToWCWS x 🎥 @espnW pic.twitter.com/AYdlknJCXw

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 22, 2022

 
The NCAA record book will also add more Shocker numbers.
 
Most notably, Wichita State hit seven home runs in the second inning of a 24-1 win at ECU in April, most in an inning in NCAA history. Its 10 home runs total are tied for second-most in a game.
 
Lauren Mills hit two grand slams in a 22-0 win over Memphis in May, matching the NCAA record.
 
Should McKinney and Barnard hold on to their top spots in the season statistics through NCAA play, they would become the first Shockers to lead the nation in an individual stat since Sue Luttrell hit nine triples in 1982.
 
The Shockers finished the 2022 season with a 1-2 record in the Fayetteville Regional. The headline to the season is that Wichita State earned back-to-back regional trips for the first time and did it as one of two at-large teams not from one of the five conferences that typically dominate those lists (SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Big 10).
 
Wichita State went 34-18, the program's eighth straight winning season (not counting the abbreviated 2020). Coach Kristi Bredbenner took over the top spot on the school coaching wins list during 2022 and is 320-252-1 in her 11 seasons.
 
 

Trending up 📈@addieb30 crushes her 33rd home run of the season which places her third all-time in the DI record book for most home runs in a season!

💻 @ESPNPlus#RoadToWCWS x 🎥 @GoShockersSBpic.twitter.com/ORSZ1edMIB

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 21, 2022

A look at some of the records broken, updated and threatened during 2022:

Individual career

Batting average

1. McKinney (2019-22) .430
2. Lauren Lucas (2021-22) .369

Slugging percentage
      1. Barnard (2021-22) .895  
      3. Lauren Mills (2019-22) .662                                                                                                                                                 
      4. Zoe Jones (2022) .659
      5. Lucas (2021-22) .649

On-base percentage

1. McKinney (2019-22) .482
2. Neleigh Herring (2018-22) .469

Runs

1. McKinney (2019-22) 174

Hits

1. McKinney (2019-22) 275

Runs

1. McKinney (2019-22) 174

Home runs

2. Barnard (2021-22) 55

Runs batted in

3. Barnard (2021-22) 145

Total bases

1. McKinney (2019-22) 397

Hit by pitch

1. Herring (2018-22) 37

Individual game

Runs

1. Barnard 5 at Sam Houston State

Runs batted in

1. Mills 8 vs. Memphis

Doubles
       T1. 3 Jones vs. Sam Houston State

Home runs

1. Barnard (3) at East Carolina

Totals bases

1. Barnard (14) at East Carolina

Team game

Runs

1. 24 at East Carolina
2. 22 vs. Memphis

Hits

1. 23 at East Carolina
2. 22 vs. Kansas City

Runs batted in

1. 24 at East Carolina
2. 20 vs. Memphis

Home runs

1. 10 at East Carolina
2. 8 vs. Southeast Missouri State

Team season

Batting average

1. .348

Slugging percentage

1. .667

On-base percentage

1. .437

Hits

1. 498

Runs

1. 415

Home runs

1. 121

Total bases

1. 956 

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.