Softball | 11/1/2025 4:01:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
A coach or catcher might sugarcoat a pitch, a hitter might swing through it, or the pitch might feel perfect upon release.
 
That feedback can mislead a pitcher about the real and sustainable flight of the softball. Wichita State is using more technology and more cameras this fall to help its pitchers with multiple angles that show what is really happening.
 
Video doesn't lie.
 
"Now there's no fooling anyone," Wichita State pitcher Ava Sliger said. "I'm a very visual person, so I like to see exactly what I'm doing. It really helps to see yourself and what you're doing right or what you're doing wrong."
 

The Shockers continue their fall schedule at 2 p.m., Sunday vs. Hutchinson Community College at Wilkins Stadium. It wraps up next week against Murray State College (5 p.m., Wednesday) and Seminole State College (4 p.m., Thursday).
 
Trackman and TruMedia help the Shockers take video of pitchers and turn information into a strategy for improvement. Wichita State used some of those tools previously and jumped in full force this fall.
 
"Our game is starting to go much more in data and analytics," pitching coach Courtney Oliver-Elkins said. "It helps put together a plan on what we're going to work on the fall to be a complete pitcher. It's adding pitches, getting stronger in different zones that we didn't always have command of last season."
 
Oliver-Elkins is working with more data and more pitchers than last season, which she hopes translates to a deeper, more versatile group.
 
Sophomores Sliger and Ryley Nihart, the American's Co-Freshman of the Year last season, are the returners. Gabby Fakes, a transfer from Wisconsin, gives the staff the lefty it lacked in 2025. Janelle Wilson, a transfer from North Carolina, throws a drop, changeup and curve to add a pitcher who works around the bottom of the strike zone.
 
Jade Sanders, a transfer from NCAA Division II Rogers State, compiled a 2.40 ERA and a 16-8 record to earn second team All-MIAA honors. Over three seasons, she threw 31 complete games and 10 shutouts with a 2.19 ERA. Freshman Jenna Edwards completes the staff after earning NFCA third-team All-American honors at Carrollton (Mo.) High School.
 
"(Sanders) has a lot of experience, and she throws very hard," Oliver-Elkins said. "(Edwards) is a little lower velocity, more spinny. We've got six very different throwers."
 
Sliger and Nihart are taking full advantage of the technology to improve on strong freshman seasons. Nihart knows she rises on the scouting report for opponents after last spring. She spent the summer working out at Manvel (Texas) High School with her father, Dennis.
 
"We worked pretty hard over the summer, fine-tuning some things, making some things better," she said. "The weight room has helped a lot."

The new analytic tools, while ruthless, are also important to Nihart, who went 11-7 with a 2.80 ERA last spring.
 
"It bites you a little bit sometimes, but overall, it helps us a lot," Nihart said. "It's really revealed some things that are going to help me."
 
Oliver-Elkins is working with Nihart on the finer points of deception and location.
 
"Utilizing her changeup more," Oliver-Elkins said. "She's throwing three different speeds, rather than just her hard pitches and then a changeup. She's really focusing on getting that middle speed."
 
Sliger is also working on her changeup. She went 7-7 with a 4.86 ERA and her 1.30 walks per seven innings ranked 20^th nationally.
 
Data showed her how much throwing 50 mph, down 10 or 15 from her top speed, could confuse hitters. It takes time and repetition to learn how to use the same arm action while delivering the softball at a different speed. She spent most of her career trying to throw as hard as possible. Now it's time to give hitters different looks.
 
"In our brains, its zero to 100, and your body still has to be at 100, but the pitch is supposed to be 10-15 mph slower than your hard stuff," she said.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.