Softball | 3/14/2026 9:22:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Softball players are taught to try hard, swing hard and hit the ball hard. That works, right up until the point they try too hard and swing too hard and, for all that effort, the ball lands in a glove.
On Friday, Wichita State defeated UAB 6-5 with a seventh-inning rally at Wilkins Stadium that ended with
Jodie Epperson driving in the winning run. The main characters in the rally hit the ball hard, to be sure, but talked as if they did that because they did not swing too hard or think too hard about the moment.
"I'm trying not to do too much, but do a lot at the same time," freshman
Kinzey Woody said. "Keep it simple. Trust your swing. Let it take care of what it can do."
The teams resume the series with a doubleheader at 4 p.m., today (Saturday).
That approach rescued the Shockers (12-10, 2-2 American) after trailing 4-0 in the third inning. Woody, the designated player, started the comeback with a three-run home run that tied the game. In the seventh, her double moved the winning run to third base with no outs.
Woody, from Westphalia, Mo., handled those moments by trusting her swing, one of the signs of progress coach
Kristi Bredbenner sees.
"She swings hard," Bredbenner said. "And she gets in the moment, sometimes, and makes it bigger and tries to put the whole team on her shoulders with one swing. Her competitive swing is exactly what we need. It's exactly what went out of the ballpark and hit a double."
Woody, who went 3 for 3 to raise her average to .268, went to the plate in the seventh ready to pounce on an inside pitch from UAB reliever Caitlin Russell.
"Gabby had just tied it with a bomb to left, so that told me she was throwing inside," Woody said. "I told myself that she throws inside first pitch I'm going to try to hammer it best I can. That's what she gave me."
Bredbenner's message is getting through to Woody. Friday's results continue a good trend that started with a solid series at ECU. On Tuesday, she singled and walked in the suspended game at Oklahoma State.
"My stats may not show it, but I can tell my swing has felt good," she said. "It makes me feel confident that that I could go up there and do what my team needs me to do, whatever the situation hands me."
After Woody's two-out homer in the third, UAB (12-14, 0-4) retook the lead in the fifth on a home run by AJ Kramer. Epperson, from center field, threw out a runner at the plate in the sixth to keep the deficit at one run. Her double play defused a bases-loaded, no-outs threat by the Blazers.
In the seventh, down 5-4, WSU's
Gabby Scott homered to left field to tie it again. After
Trinity Allen singled, Woody doubled on the first pitch. With one out, Epperson singled to left center to score pinch-runner
Morgan Lloyd and give the Shockers their third walk-off win this season.
"Just solid it up," Epperson said.
Scott, WSU's sophomore catcher, is hitting almost everything solidly. After hitting .214 in 35 starts last season, she is hitting .393 with three home runs, three doubles and 17 walks for a .538 on-base percentage.
Bredbenner started to see Scott's progress toward the end of last spring.
"A little more confidence in her swing and she picked up right where she left off," Bredbenner said. "I feel like she does sneaky extra work, where she's going in and working on her swing and she doesn't need a coach. It's really paying off."
Scott, like her teammates, went to the plate knowing she didn't need to swing extra-hard. Down 0-2, she turned on a pitch and blasted it out down the left-field line.
"I knew I was getting (an inside pitch), because that's what she was throwing all of us," Scott said. "Get your bat out front and make something happen. I was trying to be a base runner and be a leadoff hitter, get our team going."
From those modest goals, the Shockers came up with big hits on Friday night.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
