Softball | 3/9/2024 8:37:00 PM
By Paul Suellentrop
Krystin Nelson is an excellent infielder, so reliable on defense that her hitting is secondary.
Secondary, but not unimportant. Earlier this season, Wichita State coach
Kristi Bredbenner subbed her out midway through a game and then told her she wasn't going to do that again.
"Her and I chatted and said 'Look, you're not coming out of the game this year, so just keep taking your hacks,'" Bredbenner said. "Your defense has earned you a starting spot. Since then, I have felt like she's relaxed. She looks so much smoother up at the plate and has had some big hits at opportune moments."
Nelson, playing third base, came up big again on Saturday in a 6-4 win over Florida Atlantic at Wilkins Stadium. She drove in
Mila Seaton with her second-inning double and her solo home run in the sixth inning gave WSU (10-7, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) a 5-4 lead.
The win is Bredbenner's 700
th in a coaching career that includes one season Truman (Mo.) State, six at Emporia State and 13 with the Shockers. She is 374-271-1 at WSU.
The Owls (19-6, 1-1) won the opener 8-7 with center fielder Kam Jackson going 3 for 3 with a home run. Becca Jones singled in the winning run in the seventh inning after the Shockers rallied from down 5-0 with six runs in the third inning.
Nelson, who went 3 for 3 and scored a run as the No. 9 hitter, is hitting .244 with two home runs and two doubles. Since the reassurance from Bredbenner after an 8-1 win over Illinois State, Nelson is 10 for 19.
"Relaxed is the perfect word, just really settling in and taking one pitch at a time," Nelson said. "Having the coaches believe, in not only one side of my game, but both."
In the sixth, Nelson came up with one out in a tie game and smacked a 1-0 pitch to right field.
"I was looking for anything elevated and the middle half," she said. "I got it."
Nelson, who also doubled in the opener, got help from Seaton in powering the bottom of the order. Seaton, a freshman right fielder, hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to put WSU up 4-3. Seaton, hitting eighth, and Nelson combined to drive in five runs and score three.
Seaton went 0 for 4 in the day's first game with two strikeouts.
"Started out a little rough," she said. "I had to calm myself down in the box. My teammates picked me up the entire game with them being hot."
Seaton, in her 10 previous starts, produced seven singles. Home run No. 1 came in the conference-opening weekend and in her first games at Wilkins Stadium and she won't forget it.
"It was the best feeling ever," she said. "Super surreal."
FAU tied the game at 4-all in the sixth inning. Nelson's homer put the Shockers ahead in the bottom of the inning.
Addison Barnard blasted her seventh home run of the season to left field to give the Shockers a two-run lead.
The two teams finish the series with a single game at noon Sunday (ESPN+).
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
