Black & Yellow Challenge
Wichita, Kan. | Wilkins Stadium
March 4: vs. Western Illinois (2:15 PM/ESPN+) | vs. Bradley (4:30 PM/ESPN+)
March 5: vs. Bradley (1:15 PM) | Western Illinois (3:30 PM)

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State is ranked in three national polls: #23 in D1 Softball, #24 in Softball America and #25 in NFCA.
• Wichita State is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State has shut out five of its first 15 opponents. The 2022 Shockers had five all season.
• Wichita State is 6-4 in home openers under Kristi Bredbenner.
• 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 UCF.
• Sydney McKinney was named the Softball America Player of the Month for February.
• 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 hits and batting average.
• McKinney led the nation in hits and batting average in 2022.
• McKinney is the NCAA DI active leader in hits and batting average.
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19 vs. FDU.
• McKinney has a 33-game hit streak, 6th 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 AAC Player of the Week on Feb. 13.
• Lucas currently ranks 1st nationally in doubles.
• Addison Barnard has 57 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 WESTERN ILLINOIS
After three weeks Western Illinois is 6-7 in 2023. Western Illinois went 2-2 last weekend at the Lindenwood Invite. The Leathernecks have hit 8 home runs and sport a .265 batting average through 13 games. Gabriela Drager hits .412 with two doubles, while Savannah Rodriguez has hit a team-high 4 home runs and 10 RBI. Rodriguez has also logged a team-high 40.1 innings in the circle. She is 3-4 with a 4.69 ERA and 43 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Western Illinois are no strangers on the softball field. The two programs have met 35 times prior to this weekend with Wichita State holding a slim 19-16 lead in the all time series. Wichita State has won the last four meetings and is 11-9 vs. Western Illinois in Wichita.

LAST MEETING WITH THE LEATHERNECKS
The two teams met just one year ago on Feb. 19, 2022 in Fayetteville at the Razorback Invitational. Wichita State defeated WIU in 5.0 innings, 11-0. Sydney McKinney, Addison Barnard and Lauren Lucas all homered in the game, while Kenzie Schopfer through a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out 8.

SCOUTING BRADLEY
Coming off a 1-4 showing at the Knights Classic in Orlando, Bradley is 5-9 this season. The Braves are hitting just over .300 as a team behind Lauren DeRolf and Grace French who are both hitting better than .450 this season. DeRolf leads the way at .479, and has 3 doubles, a triple and 9 RBI. French has 2 home runs, 6 doubles and 9 RBI. Bailey Sample leads with 3 home runs and 13 RBI. The pitching staff has been roughed up through 14 games. In 86.0 innings, the Bradley staff has a 7.95 ERA and opponents are hitting .332 against them.

SERIES HISTORY
Former Missouri Valley Conference rivals, Wichita State and Bradley will face off for the 87th and 88th time this weekend in Wichita. Wichita State is 54-32 all-time vs. Bradley and 26-16 against the Braves in Wichita. This will be the first meeting since 2017. Bradley snapped a Wichita State four-game win streak in that final game as foes in the MVC.

LAST MEETING WITH THE BRAVES
Wichita State took 2-of-3 against Bradley, April 8-9, in 2017. It was the final weekend series between the two before Wichita State departed for the American. Wichita State won games 1 and 2, 7-5 and 10-1, but Bradley won the finale, 1-0. Wichita State mustered only one hit in that 1-0 shutout.

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 33 straight games after finishing the 2022 season with hits in her final 18 games. The streak started on April 14, 2022 at Houston. The 33-game hit streak is the 6th longest in NCAA history. McKinney became just the 11th player ever to record a hit in 30 straight games.
 

No.	Player, Team	Dates
43	Sara Graziano, Coastal Carolina	April 8, 1993-March 24, 1994
42	Cathy Frohnheiser, Furman	March 4-April 17, 1993
36	Stephanie Tofft, NIU	March 4-May 1, 2011
35	Kelly Kretschman, Alabama	Feb. 27-April 4, 1998
35	Robyn Yorke, Fresno State	Feb. 12-April 1, 1995
33	Sydney McKinney, Wichita State	April 14, 2022-Feb. 26, 2023

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.

LEADING OFF
Sydney McKinney leads the country in hits so far in 2023, and is at the top of the class in leadoff opportunities. McKinney has reached base in 20-of-24 leadoff chances, which is tops in the NCAA. Eighteen of those are hits.

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.

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 307 in her career. She passed Britnee Barnett on April 29, 2022 vs. ECU with No. 251.
• McKinney is the NCAA DI active career leader in hits (309) and batting average (.448). She ranks 2nd in at bats (688) and 3rd in runs scored (196) and total bases (444).
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19 vs. FDU. She is only 24 hits shy from etching her name in the NCAA record book for career hits.
• McKinney's 196 career runs scored are 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 .501, McKinney currently holds the top spot in that category as well at Wichita State.
• She is tied for second with 11 career triples
• Her 39 career doubles place her in 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. Four of those are top 10 matchups against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Arkansas and No. 8 Stanford.

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 16 away from the most total bases in American history. Barnard needs four home runs and 40 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 begins a tough stretch with a midweek contest against a top-10 ranked Stanford team on March 9 and then hosting Nebraska and Missouri State, March 10-11.