Boerner Invitational
Arlington, Texas | Allan Saxe Field
Feb. 20: vs. South Dakota (10:00 AM CT) | at UT Arlington (3:00 PM CT)
Feb. 21: vs. Creighton (10:30 AM CT | vs. Creighton (12:30 PM CT)
Feb. 22: vs. South Dakota (9:00 AM CT)
Video: WAC International (UTA Game Only; Free of charge, but must create an account)
Stats: Statbroadcast.com

QUICK HITS
• Wichita State got only three games in last weekend as weather rained out matchups with BYU and Texas State. The Shockers went 1-2 at the State's Up Invitational with both losses coming to ranked teams.
• The Shockers are 3-2 all time vs. South Dakota, 11-8 vs. UT Arlington and 32-51 vs. Creighton.
• Wichita State is 23-26 in season openers and 11-4 under Bredbenner.
• The Shockers have won 11 of their last 13 season openers. Wichita State had won seven straight until falling in extras vs. Mississippi State to open the season.
• After failing to hit a home run over the first 5 games, Wichita State hit 6 in the three games in San Marcos.
• Ava Sliger tossed a one-hit, complete game shutout vs. New Mexico in the final game of the Getterman Classic.
• Wichita State ranks 19th nationally in fielding percentage at .983. Wichita State has committed just four errors over its first eight games.
• Wichita State is scheduled to face eight NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago (Mississippi State, Arkansas, Clemson, Miami (OH), Oklahoma State, Florida Atlantic, South Florida, Oklahoma).
• Wichita State was picked to finish 3rd by the league's coaches in the 2026 American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Florida Atlantic received 8 first place votes and was picked to win the league. South Florida came in 2nd.
• Seven Shockers return in 2026, led by 2025 American Conference Co-Freshman of the Year, Ryley Nihart.
• Wichita State welcomes 14 newcomers into the fold in the way of seven transfers, two junior college transfers and five freshmen.
• A pair of highly decorated McLennan Community College transfers hope to follow in CC Wong's footsteps. Wong, a former Wichita State All-American, spent two seasons at McLennan and was the 2022 Co-National Player of the Year. This season Trinity Allen and Mickayla Tosch bring their talents to Wichita. Allen was the 2025 NJCAA National Player of the Year and two-time All-American. Tosch was also a two-time NJCAA All-American and two-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota enters the weekend on a five-game losing streak and 2-8 overall after the first two weekends of play. Robert Wagner is in his ninth season coaching the Coyotes with more than 200 career wins to his name. Through 10 games South Dakota is hitting .235 as a team with six home runs, 41 strikeouts and 31 walks. Brooke Carey is the lone starter in the lineup hitting over .300 at .414 with a pair of doubles, a home run an RBI and six runs scored. In the circle, South Dakota relies on Madison Evans, who has thrown 36.2 of the team's 61.1 innings. Evans is 2-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 40 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .235 against her, but well over .300 against the other three Coyote pitchers.

SERIES HISTORY
The series between Wichita State and South Dakota dates all the way back to 1989, but the two programs have only played five times. Wichita State won the first three meetings, but the Coyotes have won the last two. In Wichita State's three wins over South Dakota, the Shockers outscored the Coyotes, 30-8. Conversely, South Dakota has held the Shockers to just two total runs over the last two meetings.

LAST MEETING VS. THE COYOTES
The two teams met four years ago in Huntsville, Texas, and the Coyotes came out with a 3-0 shutout behind a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the 6th. Wichita State managed just five hits - all singles. Erin McDonald was strong in the circle until the home run, but she struck out seven and allowed only five singles up until the homer.

SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON
UT Arlington is 4-5 after two weeks of the season, which includes a pair of wins over American Conference member, Tulsa. The Mavericks defeated the Golden Hurricane by one run in each of the two matchups last weekend in Arlington. UTA has exceled at the plate through its first nine games, hitting .321 with 10 doubles and 14 home runs. Mia McNulty leads five starters hitting better than .300 at .441 with five home runs, two doubles and 14 RBIs. Marley Neises is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 14, while adding three homers of her own. The circle has been another story for the Mavericks. Opponents are hitting .369 with 82 runs, 43 walks, 17 doubles, 16 home runs and have only struck out 11 times. The pitching staff has an ERA of 8.42.

SERIES HISTORY
UT Arlington won the first meetings in the series before the Shockers rattled off five straight. Wichita State enters the weekend having won each of the last four matchups with the Mavericks. Fourteen of the 19 matchups all time have come on a neutral field, where Wichita State is just 6-8 against the Mavericks. However, Wichita State has never lost at UTA, going a perfect 5-0. UTA has never played in Wichita.

LAST MEETING VS. THE MAVERICKS
Two years ago the two teams squared off in Fayetteville, Ark. The Mavericks struck first on a top of the first RBI double, but would not score the rest of the way. Wichita State scored a run in each of the first three innings, another in the fifth and two more in the sixth to earn a 6-1 win. The top three in the batting order: CC Wong, Addison Barnard and Sami Hood combined to go 6-for-11 at the plate with two home runs, three doubles and five RBIs. Alison Cooper tossed 6.0 innings to earn the win, allowing just one run on seven hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
Creighton rounds out the teams in Arlington. The former MVC rivals are 3-7 to begin the 2026 season. After winning their first two games of the season, the Bluejays have dropped seven of their last eight games. Led by Zoey Greenwood's .375 batting average, Creighton hits .250 as a team. Greenwood also has three doubles and six RBIs to her name. A familiar face is in the Bluejay lineup in the way of Avery Barnard. Barnard played her freshman season with the Shockers along with her sister Addison. She is in her second season at Creighton and has started all 10 games. The pitching staff sports a 6.73 ERA and opponents are hitting .306 with 16 doubles and 10 home runs. Audrey Gilman is the ace of the staff, throwing 28.1 innings. She is 2-2 with a 4.45 ERA, 14 walks and 14 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State and Creighton have a long history dating back to 1981 and several years in the Missouri Valley Conference together. The two games this weekend will be the 84th and 85th meeting all time. Creighton won the first 11 meetings and hold a 51-32 lead in the series. The two programs played every year from 2000-14 until the Bluejays left for the BIG EAST. Since 2014, the two teams have only played five times with Wichita State winning four of those games.

LAST MEETING VS. THE BLUEJAYS
It has been five years since the two programs last met. The Bluejays came to Wichita for a three-game series at the end of February and left with three losses. Wichita State won two of the three games in run-rule fashion by scores of 14-2 and 13-3. In the finale, Wichita State shutout the Bluejays, 4-0. Bailey Lange tossed a complete game shutout in the final game, striking out eight with just one walk and four hits. Wichita State hit six home runs in the Game 2 run-rule, including two each from Addison Barnard and Madison Perrigan. For the weekend, Wichita State belted 13 home runs, which catapulted them into the national lead. That weekend was really the springboard for Wichita State's power surge for the next five seasons to become one of the nation's premiere power hitting programs.

TOUGH SLEDDING
Wichita State has never shied away from playing a tough schedule, and that is no different in 2026. The Shockers are scheduled to play six teams ranked or receiving votes in the Preseason NFCA Top 25: No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 13 Clemson, No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 24 Oklahoma State. Florida Atlantic received votes.

COLLECTING THE ACCOLADES
The Shockers had a First-Team All-Conference honoree for the 12th consecutive season in 2025. Lauren Lucas earned First Team All-Conference honors this season. The streak began in 2013 with Erin Carney.

SOMETHING TO CHEW ON
Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner started a new tradition in 2021 to reward players who hit home runs. Instead of a normal high-five for her players as they round the bases, Bredbenner began tossing a piece of Hi-Chew candy to her home run hitters. Former Shocker Madyson Espinosa should be credited for introducing the chewy candy to Coach B at the first tournament of the season down in Conroe, Texas, and thus a new tradition was born. The tradition enters season No. 5 in 2025, so be on the lookout for flying candy.

THE BRED-WINNER
Kristi Bredbenner is the longest tenured head coach in Wichita State softball history, which has resulted in 424 wins in 15 seasons. Bredbenner has the second-highest winning percentage in school history (.574) behind current Florida softball coach Tim Walton. She is Wichita State's all-time wins leader after surpassing Jim Maynard on April 24, 2022.

UP NEXT
Wichita State finishes up spring tournament play in Columbia, Mo. at the Mizzou Invitational, Feb. 27 - March 1.