STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 21 Wichita State saw one of the best seasons in school history come to a close one game shy of the NCAA Stillwater Regional final. The Shockers dropped games to No. 6 Oklahoma State (6-0) and Nebraska (9-8) in nine innings.
Wichita State (44-12) came up two wins shy of the school mark for victories set in 2005 with 46. The Shockers made their third straight NCAA regional appearance and were ranked inside the Top 20 for the first time in program history.
Seniors
Sydney McKinney,
Zoe Jones and
Lauren Mills played the final game of their collegiate careers. McKinney departs Wichita State as the greatest softball player to ever put on the Black & Yellow, and possibly one of the greatest hitters in NCAA history.
Game 1 vs. Oklahoma State
Krystin Nelson had two of Wichita State's five hits.
Zoe Jones,
Sami Hood and
Bailey Urban all had a hit apiece.
Alex Aguilar (15-3) allowed four runs on five hits in the start and
Alison Cooper came out of the bullpen to throw 2.0 innings of relief.
Oklahoma State manufactured a run on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first following a Rachel Becker leadoff double.
After scoreless second and third innings, Oklahoma State extended its lead in the fourth behind three runs on four hits.
Wichita State threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases on singles from Hood and Nelson and a
Taylor Sedlacek walk, but for the second time McKinney was robbed of a hit by the third baseman, snagging a screaming line drive to end the inning.
The Cowgirls tacked on an insurance run in the fifth and sixth to go up 6-0.
Game 2 vs. Nebraska
In what turned out to be the final game of McKinney's illustrious career, the All-American went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three runs scored.
Lauren Mills broke out of a slump with two home runs, a double and three RBI.
Lauren Lucas drove in a pair of runs to go with a double,
Krystin Nelson homered,
Addison Barnard had an RBI double and
Sami Hood singled to round out the Shocker hitters.
Following a McKinney leadoff double,
Addison Barnard sac bunt and a Nebraska wild pitch, Wichita State grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
In the top of the second, Mills unleashed a month and a half's worth of frustration on a 1-0 pitch. The senior crushed a solo home run over the batter's eye in center to put the Shockers in front, 2-0. Mills hadn't hit a home run since March 25 at UCF.
After Nebraska cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third behind a double and RBI single, Mills went back to work in the top of the fourth. She launched her second homer of the night, this one a laser to right.
Again, the Huskers came back with a run to make it 3-2 on an RBI groundout in the home half of the fourth. Just like Nebraska, Wichita State had its own response in the way of a leadoff solo home run from Nelson in the top of the fifth. It marked Nelson's first homer of the season and only second of her career.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, a solo home run cut it to 4-3. Looking for some insurance runs in the top of the seventh, Wichita State got two on Barnard's RBI double and Lucas' RBI groundout.
Needing only three outs, Wichita State went into the bottom of the seventh leading 6-3. Sandwiched in between two groundouts, a double kept the Huskers hopes alive. They would proceed to hit a two-run home run and an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6, sending the game to extras.
Both teams would put multiple baserunners on in the eighth, but neither team scored any runs.
The ninth inning would open with a McKinney single and immediately turn into a run on Lucas' RBI double down the left field line. After a Jones single, Mills put the Shockers up 8-6 on an RBI double.
Down to their final three outs, the Huskers punched back with a leadoff home run. Following a groundout, Nebraska tied the game at 8-8 after a single, walk and double. With two in scoring position, Katelyn Caneda walked it off on a grounder to second, as the runner on third beat the throw from Hood at second.
