Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | Nancy Almaraz Stadium
Feb. 14: vs. #8 Clemson (11:00 AM)
Feb. 14: vs. #25 Auburn (4:00 PM)
Feb. 15: vs. #20 South Carolina (5:00 PM)
Feb. 17: vs. UC Davis (12:30 PM)
Video: FloSoftball
Stats: Statbroadcast.com

QUICK HITS
• Three Top 25 teams await the Shockers south of the border at the 2024 Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
• Wichita State went 2-0 on opening weekend at the Bearkat Classic with the final three games rained out.
• Wichita State is 22-25 in season openers and 10-3 under Kristi Bredbenner.
• Wichita State has won 10 of its last 11 season openers.
• Wichita State is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
• The Shockers will face eight NCAA Regional teams from a season ago, three of those coming in consecutive days at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge (Clemson, South Carolina and Auburn).
• Wichita State won the 2023 American Athletic Conference regular season championship.
• Wichita State's 44 wins in 2023 were the second most in school history.
• It marked the third 40-win season in school history.
• In the circle, Wichita State returns its entire pitching staff that recorded wins: Lauren Howell (18), Alex Aguilar (15) and Alison Cooper (11).
• Softball America named Addison Barnard a Preseason First Team All-American.
• Softball America tabbed Barnard as the No. 17 player on the Preseason Top 100 list and the No. 3 outfielder.
• Barnard is one of 50 on the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List.
• Barnard has 71 career home runs, the most all time at Wichita State and in American Athletic Conference history.
• Barnard became the 6th player in NCAA history with 70 career home runs and 50 career stolen bases, and is the only active DI player with 70+ HR and 50+ SB.
• Barnard ranks 2nd among NCAA DI active players in career home runs with 71, just four behind Oklahoma's Tiare Jennings.
• Barnard became the first known player in NCAA history with 30+ home runs and 25+ stolen bases in a single season in 2022.
• Wichita State is the preseason favorite as voted on by the league's coaches in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Shockers received 8 first place votes and 80 total points. Charlotte and North Texas were picked No. 2 and No. 3.
• Wichita State had a top 10 offense once again in 2023, ranking 4th in triples per game, 6th in batting average and 7th in scoring and slugging percentage. The Shockers also had the 3rd-best fielding percentage in the NCAA at .984, which was a school record.

SCOUTING CLEMSON
Preseason ranked No. 5 in the NFCA Top 25, the Clemson Tigers are just in their fifth year of NCAA DI softball, but have already placed themselves on the national map. Led by the reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Valerie Cagle, Clemson has its sights set on another NCAA run. Cagle is a two-way star, both at the plate and in the circle. Through the first five games of 2024, she is 1-0 with a 0.70 ERA, 15 strikeouts, 0 walks in 10.0 innings. All four of her appearances have come in relief. At the plate she is hitting .412 in five starts.Brooke McCubbin is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 9.0 innings of work. Julia Knowler is pacing the offensive attack with 2 home runs, 7 RBI and a .438 average.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first-ever meeting between Wichita State and Clemson. Clemson is only in its fifth season with a DI softball program.

SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
Off to a 5-0 start, South Carolina enters the tournament ranked in all four polls. Riley Blampied had a scorching opening weekend at the plate, going 10-for-17 (.588) with 3 doubles, a triple, a home run and 6 RBI. Brooke Blankenship hit .429 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. As a team South Carolina hits .285 with 12 doubles, 2 home runs and 25 RBI. In the circle, South Carolina allowed only 9 runs over 5 games, sporting a 1.75 ERA. Jori Heard is 2-0 in 8.0 innings with a 0.88 ERA. Stanford transfer Alana Vawter is 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 9.0 innings.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and South Carolina face off for the third time ever. The Gamecocks are 2-0 all-time vs. the Shockers. Both of South Carolina's wins came via the run-rule in back-to-back seasons in 1991 and 1992.

LAST MEETING VS. THE GAMECOCKS
On March 28, 1992, South Carolina needed only 5.0 innings to take down Wichita State on a neutral field. The Gamecocks won 10-1.

SCOUTING AUBURN
Like Wichita State, Auburn had a portion of its opening weekend rained out. The Tigers went 1-1-1 with one of their matchups ending in a 6-6 tie in the 6th inning against Virginia Tech. Auburn is led by All-American and 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Year Maddie Penta. Penta suffered a loss in the season opener vs. No. 23 Virginia Tech. She has a 1.80 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks in 11.2 innings. Four of the seven runs scored off her are unearned. At the plate Chalea Clemmons sports a .429 average. The Tigers enter the tournament with 4 home runs, but only scored 10 total runs in their first three games.

SERIES HISTORY
Meeting No. 6 between Wichita State and Auburn takes place south of the border. Auburn has won all five of the previous meetings in a series that dates back to 2000. The Tigers have outscored the Shockers, 27-5, in the first five matchups. This will be the third time the two have squared off on a neutral field. The other three have come at Auburn.

LAST MEETING VS. THE TIGERS
In the 2018 season opener, 13th-ranked Auburn scored only two runs, but it was enough as the Tigers shut out Wichita State, 2-0. The two teams combined for only five hits. Auburn scored both of its runs in the first inning. Bailey Lange held the Tigers scoreless the rest of the way, but didn't get any run support. Wichita State went 2-2 at the Plainsman Invite with wins over Tennessee Tech and Marshall and losses to Auburn and Furman.

SCOUTING UC DAVIS
UC Davis is 2-2 with wins over Middle Tennessee and San Jose State, and losses to Saint Mary's and Sacramento State. The Aggies didn't get a ton of offensive production on opening weekend, scoring 11 runs with four extra base hits. Bella Holtz went 3-for-6 with a double, but didn't play in the Saint Mary's game. They hit .223 with 18 strikeouts as a team. Ashley Sawai leads the team in wins (1-0), ERA (1.75), innings (8.0) and strikeouts (7).

SERIES HISTORY
This also marks the first-ever meeting between Wichita State and UC Davis.

TOUGH SLEDDING
Wichita State has never shied away from playing a tough schedule, and that is no different in 2024. The Shockers will play seven teams ranked in the Preseason NFCA Top 25: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Clemson, No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 18 Nebraska, No. 19 Auburn and No. 23 South Carolina.

USA SOFTBALL TOP 50 WATCH LIST
Senior Addison Barnard was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List on Jan. 24. Barnard is the only student-athlete from outside the Power 5 conferences. The Beatrice, Neb. native makes it back-to-back seasons on the Top 50 Watch List.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN TIMES TWO
Softball America named Addison Barnard a Preseason First Team All-American, and D1 Softball tabbed Barnard a Second Team All-American. This is the second straight season earning Preseason All-America honors from the two publications.

PRESEASON TOP 100 LOVE
Addison Barnard was named to the Softball American Preseason Top 100 list on Jan. 22. Barnard checked in as the No. 17 player in the country, and was ranked the No. 3 outfielder, behind only Oklahoma's Jayda Coleman and Tennessee's Kiki Milloy. Barnard checked in at No. 32 on the DI Softball Preseason D100 Player Rankings.

NEW-LOOK LINEUP
Wichita State moves on after the graduation of three key pieces of the lineup in All-American Sydney McKinney and All-Conference standouts Zoe Jones and Lauren Mills. That trio made up the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 positions in the batting lineup and combined to hit .411 with 207 hits, 29 home runs, 25 doubles, 10 triples and 133 RBI in 2023. They accounted for 41.4% of the Shockers' home runs and 39.6% of their RBI.

UP NEXT
Wichita State's challenging schedule continues at the Razorback Invitational, Feb. 23-25. The Shockers will face Illinois State, No. 15 Arkansas and UT Arlington.