Mackenzie Wright is part of the 2025 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted on Sat., Jan. 18.

Mackenzie Wright appreciated the moments before a softball game. She savored the routine, the excitement of putting on a jersey, tying cleats and grabbing a glove. The next two hours highlighted her day.

"You wake up that morning knowing you have a game," she said. I loved getting ready. It's the best feeling."

Wichita State coach Kristi Bredbenner appreciated Wright's love for the game. She played third base and catcher from 2015-18 and Bredbenner counted on maximum effort every pitch.

"When the game started, you knew there was always going to be one person on the field who was going to inspire everybody to love the game," Bredbenner said. "She played hard. She got big hits. She had fun."

Wright, a member of the 2025 class of the Wichita State Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame, earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors in 2018 and helped the Shockers to their first appearance in the finals of an NCAA regional.

As a freshman, she started at third and claimed All-Missouri Valley Conference honors. As a sophomore, she earned second-team All-MVC honors at catcher. She returned to third as a junior and senior with all-conference honors in both.

"She was always a gamer, loved softball," Bredbenner said. "If she could have majored in softball, she 100 percent would have."

Wright, from Midwest City, Okla., produced significant offensive statistics, often as a leadoff hitter. Defense, however, made her happiest. She attended camp at WSU as a high school athlete and Bredbenner's insistence on playing catch the right way told Wright she fit as a Shocker.

Defense matched her personality. Offense required a lot of waiting in the dugout for the next at-bat.

"When you're on defense you're in the action," she said. "You're involved in every pitch. I loved diving and getting dirty and rolling on the ground."

She regularly made highlight plays at third base, showing off her range, sure hands and accurate arm. Wichita State's social media accounts document a diving play against Tulsa, grabbing a line drive vs. UCF and snagging one with the bases loaded at ECU.

In 2016, she made a diving backhand stop and threw out a runner from her knees to end a 2-1 win at No. 23 Nebraska. That play, with the tying run on base, earned a spot on ESPN's Sports Center top 10 list.

"I woke up the next morning and it was on Sports Center," she said.

Wright hit .343 with 35 doubles, 14 home runs, 110 RBI and 53 steals in her 217 games. The Shockers won their first NCAA game in 2016, defeating Tulsa in Norman. In 2018, they beat Oklahoma State twice before falling to Arkansas in the final round of the Fayetteville Regional.

When her career ended, Wright ranked third on the career list for hits (230), on-base percentage (.439) and steals (53) and fourth in batting average (.334).

Bredbenner is also proud of Wright's maturation in the classroom. Coaches and academic advisors convinced her to take her academics seriously. They helped her get a diagnosis for attention deficit disorder as a sophomore and her time management and study habits improved.

"That diagnosis really helped me manage my life better," Wright said. "They told me I needed to get my act together. They knew how important softball was to me."

Wright's love of practices and games played a major role in helping launch the most successful era of Shocker softball. After the break-through regionals in 2016 and 2018, the Shockers returned to regional play in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

"I got lucky being around (talented teammates)," she said. "I'm grateful for that. It was nice to see the next generation skyrocketing and having these amazing players come to our university."

How much did the uniform mean? When her career ended in NCAA play in 2018, she kept her white jersey, black pants and black visor on for the bus ride home.