Omaha at #23 Wichita State
Wednesday, March 29 | 5:00 PM
Wichita, Kan. | Wilkins Stadium
ESPN+ 

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State is ranked in three polls: NFCA (#23), D1 Softball (#25) and Softball America (#25). The Shockers are receiving votes in the USA Softball Top 25.
• Wichita State's 26-7 record is the best 33-game start since 2021 when the Shockers started 28-5, which was the best in school history.
• Wichita State is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
• Wichita State defeated No. 9 Arkansas, its highest ranked win since defeating No. 6 Oklahoma State in 2021.
• Wichita State has seven shutouts through 33 games. The 2022 Shockers had five all season.
• After playing just 11 home games in 2022, Wichita State has 27 games at Wilkins Stadium in 2023.
• Wichita State received three first place votes in the AAC Preseason Poll and was picked to finish 2nd, just one point behind UCF.
• Zoe Jones was American Player of the Week on March 27.
• Alex Aguilar recorded her first career weekly honor on March 20 as the American Pitcher of the Week.
• Lauren Howell has been named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week twice (Feb. 20, March 6).
• Sydney McKinney was named the Softball America Player of the Month for February.
• 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 at bats.
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19 vs. FDU.
• McKinney is the program's all-time hits, batting average, runs and total bases leader, while also owning single season records for those categories.
• Lauren Lucas was named AAC Player of the Week on Feb. 13.
• Addison Barnard has 62 career home runs, the most all time 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.
• 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.

SERIES HISTORY VS. OMAHA
A series that dates all the way back to 1978, but the two programs have only met seven times. Wichita State and Omaha played in 1978 and 1979 before going 35 years without a game. The Mavericks won the first three meetings in the series, but Wichita State has won four in a row to lead the head-to-head matchup, 4-3.

LAST MEETING WITH THE MAVERICKS
Wichita State won a low-scoring affair just last season in Omaha, 3-1, on March 16, 2022. Omaha grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but home runs from Addison Barnard and Lauren Lucas proved to be the difference maker. Erin McDonald threw a complete game, allowing just one run on one hit.

JONES COLLECTS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS AFTER BIG WEEKEND
Zoe Jones picked up her first career Player of the Week honors on March 27. Jones was 6-for-11 at the plate in Orlando vs. UCF, including a double, two home runs, five runs scored and seven RBI. She smashed her first career grand slam in the finale on Sunday.

AAC NAMES AGUILAR PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Alex Aguilar was named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 20, her first career accolade. Aguilar appeared in two games, making one start and didn't allow an earned run in 9.0 innings. Opponents recorded just three hits against her and struck out seven times. She threw 3.0 innings of hitless, shutout relief against Northern Colorado on March 17 to go with five strikeouts. In the start against the Bears on Sunday, Aguilar threw a complete game and surrendered just one unearned run on three hits.

DON'T LET ADDIE GET HOT
One of the nation's premiere home run hitters got off to a slow start in 2023, but seems to be getting into a groove. In her first 21 games of the season, Addison Barnard had just three home runs. She has four in her last seven games, including her first multi-home run game of 2023 vs. Northern Colorado. On March 17 vs. Northern Colorado, Barnard became the school's all-time home run leader with her 59th career round-tripper, passing Madison Perrigan's previous mark of 58. That number also places her at the top of the list in American Athletic Conference history.

OH LOLO
Lauren Mills has been on a heater over her last 14 games. The senior power hitter is hitting .515 (17-33) with 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 RBI, 15 walks and an OBP of .673. The Topeka native is hitting a career-high .447 through 33 games this season. She is second on the team in home runs with 9.

HIT STREAK
Sydney McKinney saw her incredible hit streak come to an end on March 4 vs. Bradley. McKinney hit safely in 34 straight games after finishing the 2022 season with hits in her final 18 games. The streak started on April 14, 2022 at Houston. The 34-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
34	Sydney McKinney, Wichita State	April 14, 2022-March 4, 2023

RPI - WEEK FOUR
Wichita State checked in at No. 23 in the fourth RPI rankings on March 27. The Shockers have already faced 10 teams in the Top 75, including No. 4 Stanford, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 32 Nebraska, No. 37 Boise State, No. 42 UCF, No. 44 Minnesota, No. 45 San Diego State, No. 48 Texas State, No. 53 South Dakota State, No. 67 Kansas and No. 75 Villanova. Wichita State still has games against No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 49 South Florida and No. 67 Kansas.

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 337 in her career. She passed Britnee Barnett on April 29, 2022 vs. ECU with No. 251.
• McKinney's 337 hits place her 25th all time in NCAA history. Two more hits will move her into 23rd.
• McKinney is the NCAA DI active career leader in hits (337) and at bat (755). She ranks 2nd in batting average (.446), runs scored (213), 3rd in total bases (485) and 5th in triples (15).
• McKinney became the first Shocker with 300 career hits on Feb. 19 vs. FDU.
• McKinney's 213 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 .496, McKinney currently holds the top spot in that category as well at Wichita State.
• She ranks second with 15 career triples.
• Her 40 career doubles place her in a tie for 6th 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.

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).

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, runs, total bases and hits. Barnard is the all-time home run leader and needs 30 RBI to surpass Wichita State's own Madison Perrigan for the most all-time in American history.

UP NEXT
Wichita State continues its five-game homestand with another big conference series when the South Florida Bulls come to Wilkins Stadium this weekend, March 31-April 2.