North Texas Invitational
Denton, Texas | Lovelace Stadium
Feb. 25: vs. Northwestern State (11 AM CT) | at RV/RV North Texas (1:30 PM CT)
Feb. 26: vs. Northwestern State (10 AM CT) | at RV/RV North Texas (3 PM CT)

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State is receiving votes in the NFCA Top 25.
• Wichita State is 7-3 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State has shut out five of its first 11 opponents. The 2022 Shockers had five all season.
• Wichita State has won nine of its last 10 season openers.
• After playing just 11 home games in 2022, Wichita State has 27 games at Wilkins Stadium in 2023.
• Wichita State will face 12 teams that made it to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
• Wichita State received three first place votes in the AAC Preseason Poll and was picked to finish 2nd, just one point behind first place UCF.
• Sydney McKinney and Lauren Howell swept the American Player and Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 20.
• McKinney was also named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 21.
• McKinney leads the country in batting average, hits and OBP.
• McKinney led the nation in hits and batting average in 2022.
• McKinney is the NCAA DI active leader in hits and ranks 6th in batting average.
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19, 2023 vs. FDU.
• McKinney has a 29-game hit streak, t-11th longest in NCAA history.
• McKinney is the program's all-time hits and batting average leader and also owns single season records for runs and OBP.
• Lauren Lucas was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 13.
• Lucas currently ranks 1st nationally in doubles.
• Addison Barnard has 56 career home runs, placing her in 2nd on the Wichita State home run list.
• Barnard finished the 2022 season leading the nation in home runs per game and RBI per game, and ranked second in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage.
• Barnard's 33 home runs broke her own single season record.
• Barnard became the first known player in NCAA history with 30+ home runs and 25+ stolen bases.
• Barnard ranks 4th among NCAA DI active players in career home runs. Barnard and Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings are the only non-seniors or grad students in the Top 25.
• McKinney and Barnard were named to the USA Softball Top 50 Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List.
• McKinney and Barnard are D1 Softball (First Team) and Softball America (Second Team) Preseason All-Americans.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN STATE
Northwestern State is 7-3 in 2023 after a 5-0 weekend at the Mardi Gras Mambo. The Demons hit .270 as a team with 2 home runs, 14 doubles and have scored 43 runs. Laney Roos hits a team-best .424, followed by Keely Dubois at .370. In the circle, Northwestern State has a team ERA of 1.59. They have 69 strikeouts to only 17 walks. Maggie Darr is 4-2 in 30.2 innings with a 1.37 ERA. She has 38 strikeouts and has walked only 4.

SERIES HISTORY
This weekend's meeting between Wichita State and Northwestern State marks just the second and third time the two programs will meet on the softball field. Wichita State won the only meeting all the way back in 2004.

LAST MEETING WITH THE DEMONS
The lone meeting with Northwestern State resulted in a 2-1 win for the Shockers in eight innings in 2004.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS
North Texas is 8-2 after dropping its last two games of the Tracy Beard College Classic. The Mean Green are receiving votes in both the NFCA and USA Softball Top 25 after starting the season ranked. An NCAA Tournament team from a season ago, UNT will provide a major challenge at the plate and in the circle. They hit .298 with 13 home runs. Cierra Simon hits .423 and Mikayla Smith has a team-high 3 homers and 8 RBI. The pitching staff is the strength of their team. They sport just a 0.97 team ERA in 65.0 innings. Ashley Peters has thrown a team-high 23.0 innings and is 3-2 with a 1.22 ERA. McKenzie Wagoner is 3-0  in 20.2 innings. Wagoner has a 0.34 ERA and has 24 strikeouts to her name, while opponents are hitting just .195 of off her.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and North Texas are familiar foes, having faced each other 18 times. The Shockers own a 12-6 advantage in the all-time series. The first ever meeting took place on Feb. 7, 2004. Wichita State won the first 10 games in the series before North Texas won the next four. The Shockers are 5-0 all-time against the Mean Green in Wichita.

LAST MEETING WITH THE MEAN GREEN
Wichita State run-ruled North Texas, 13-2, in six innings on March 6, 2021. Wichita State pounded out 14 hits and three home runs against the Mean Green at the Boerner Invitational in Arlington, Texas. Bailee Nickerson hit a home run and drove in four, while Madison Perrigan and Addison Barnard also homered. Bailey Lange allowed only two runs in the circle to record the win.

HIT STREAK
Sydney McKinney is in the midst of a career-long hitting streak that dates back to last season. McKinney has hit safely in 29 straight games after finishing the 2022 season with hits in her final 18 games. The streak started on April 14, 2022 at Houston. The 29-game hit streak is tied for the 11th longest in NCAA history. Only 10 players have ever had a 30-game hit streak or longer.

NFCA TABS MCKINNEY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
In addition to being named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week, Sydney McKinney also took home Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week honors on Feb. 21. It marks the first time in her career earning National Player of the Week honors. Addison Barnard earned the weekly award three times in 2022.

MCKINNEY, HOWELL SWEEP WEEKLY HONORS
Sydney McKinney and Lauren Howell swept the American Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week awards on Feb. 20. In six games McKinney hit .765/.789/1.353 with 13 hits, two triples, two home runs, three stolen bases, three RBI and scoring eight runs. Howell was 2-0 in San Diego and didn't allow a single run in 11.0 innings. She struck out 14, including a career-high seven in each outing.

NO-HITTER
Alison Cooper recorded the 20th no-hitter in school history on Feb. 18 vs. San Diego. The sophomore lefty struck out three in 5.0 innings, allowing only two walks against the Toreros.

LUCAS NAMED AMERICAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lauren Lucas took home the first American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor of the season on Feb. 13. Lucas started all five games, and finished with a slash line of .647/.684/1.176 and an OPS of 1.860. The Little Elm, Texas, native racked up a home run, six doubles, five runs scored, 12 RBI and 20 total bases.

SHOCKER SLUGGERS RETURN
Wichita State returns 100 of the 121 home runs hit from the 2022 team. Led by Addison Barnard (33), Wichita State brings back one of the nation's best offenses in 2023. Lauren Mills (16), Zoe Jones (15), Sydney McKinney (13), Lauren Lucas (10), Jessica Garcia (5), Lainee Brown (4), Bailey Urban (3) and Krystin Nelson (1) combined to hit the century mark in homers.

PITCHERS BEWARE
Wichita State obliterated the single season home run record for the second straight season in 2022. The Shockers crushed 103 in 2021, only to see the 2022 team set a new mark of 121. It only took 42 games for the 2022 team to match that number of 103. Wichita State has finished second nationally in home runs each of the last two seasons, behind only Oklahoma.

ALL HAIL THE HIT QUEEN
• Sydney McKinney is Wichita State's all-time hits leader with 302 in her career. She passed Britnee Barnett on April 29, 2022 vs. ECU with No. 251.
• McKinney has a career batting average of .447. That number places her among the elite in all of college softball. She ranks 6th on the active list for career batting average in NCAA DI.
• Her 302 career hits rank No. 1 among active NCAA DI players.
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19 vs. FDU. She is only 31 hits shy from etching her name in the NCAA record book for career hits.
• McKinney has 192 career runs scored - the most in school history.
• McKinney shattered her own single season record for batting average. She set it at .439 in 2021 and hit a nation-leading .522 in 2022.
• With a career OBP of .498, McKinney currently holds the top spot in that category as well at Wichita State.
• She is tied for second with 11 career triples
• Her 38 career doubles place her in T-7th on the school's all-time list.

ONE OF THREE
Wichita State is one of only three schools in the country, joining Oklahoma and Arkansas, to return multiple NFCA All-Americans from a season ago. The Shockers of course bring back NFCA Second Team All-Americans Addison Barnard and Sydney McKinney.

TOUGH SLEDDING
Wichita State has never shied away from playing a tough schedule, and that is no different in 2023. The Shockers will play eight teams either ranked or receiving votes in the Preseason NFCA Top 25. Three of those are top 10 matchups against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 Oklahoma State.

THE AMERICAN STANDARD
Since Wichita State entered the American Athletic Conference in 2018, the Shockers have been the league's top offensive team in the league. Not counting the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Wichita State has led the American in batting average (2021, 2022), slugging percentage (2018-22), on base percentage (2019-22), runs (2019-22), hits (2022), RBI (2019-22), doubles (2018, 2021-22), home runs (2018-22), total bases (2018-22) and walks (2019, 2021).

A PAIR OF PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Wichita State senior Sydney McKinney and junior Addison Barnard picked up a pair Preseason All-American honors. The duo were named First Team All-Americans by D1 Softball and Second Team All-Americans by Softball America.

PRESEASON TOP 100 LOVE
Junior Addison Barnard and senior Sydney McKinney were named to the D1 Softball Preseason Top 100 on Jan. 10. Barnard checked in as the No. 3 player in the country behind only Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings (No. 1) and Oklahoma State's Kelly Maxwell (No. 2). McKinney came in at No. 18, making Wichita State one of only two schools (Oklahoma) with multiple players in the top 20. The duo also made the Extra Elite 100 College Rankings with McKinney at No. 6 and Barnard at No. 27, and the Softball America Top 100 with McKinney at No. 18 and Barnard at No. 21.

HOME SWEET HOME
Just a season ago Wichita State took on the role of road warrior. The Shockers have 27 home games at Wilkins Stadium compared to only 11 in 2022. During the month of March Wichita State only leaves Wichita once. Seventeen of those 27 home games take place in the month of March, including matchups against 2022 NCAA Regional teams: Stanford, Nebraska, Missouri State, Arkansas, Minnesota and South Florida.

IN THE AMERICAN RECORD BOOKS
Wichita State is well-represented in the American Athletic Conference record books. Currently Sydney McKinney holds the single-season record for batting average, hits, on base percentage and runs. Addison Barnard is the single-season record holder for home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and total bases. On the career charts, McKinney already enters her final season holding the top spot in batting average, on base percentage and hits. She is 24 away from the most total bases in American history. Barnard needs four home runs and 44 RBI to surpass Wichita State's own Madison Perrigan for the most all-time in the American history.

BARNARD TABBED AAC PRESEASON POY
D1 Softball tabbed Addison Barnard as the preseason AAC Player of the Year on Feb. 2. The publication predicted Barnard to repeat as the conference's top player in 2023 after earning the honor in 2022. D1 Softball projected Wichita State to finish first in the American, followed by UCF and South Florida. Freshman Sami Hood was named the Freshman of the Year. D1 Softball released the top 20 players in the American Athletic Conference for 2023, and Wichita State led the way with five players in the top 10 - No. 1 Barnard, No. 3 Sydney McKinney, No. 4 Lauren Lucas, No. 7 Zoe Jones and No. 9 Lauren Mills.

UP NEXT
Wichita State welcomes Western Illinois and Bradley to Wilkins Stadium for home-opening weekend, March 4-5 for the Black & Yellow Challenge. The Shockers will play two games against both Western Illinois and Bradley.