SB: 2023 in season news

[BAShocker]

This is awesome news. Can't hurt to keep one of the best all time hitters around the program. You can tell certain other players that pay attention to her hitting mechanics.

Grad assistant? Make her full-time…ok, well…maybe in time. The GOAT!

[WuDrWu]

Hardly a surprise.

[1972Shocker]

Grad assistant? Make her full-time…ok, well…maybe in time. The GOAT!

Once she finishes up her masters she will move on to law school. This is her 5th year at Wichita State. I am not sure whether or not she has her undergrad degree. So not sure how much time she will need to wrap up her Masters. At most I would expect her to be around 2 more years.

I am just thankful she hung around to finish up at Wichita State. Here is an article about that from last summer:

‘I’m finishing here’: All-American Sydney McKinney committed to Wichita State softball

https://www.aol.com/news/m-finishing-american-sydney-mckinney-110000573.html

Being one of the nation’s best players on a team in the American Athletic Conference has brought the inevitable question from the softball world McKinney’s way this summer: why stay at Wichita State when you could have your choice of team in the SEC, Big Ten, Pac 12 or Big 12?

She has been hounded this offseason, whether it through text messages, direct messages on social media or in person to consider the transfer portal for her final season, but McKinney shrugs it all off. There’s no changing her mind: she’s finishing her career at Wichita State for Kristi Bredbenner, the coach who believed in her before every program in the country would take her.

“People ask me about it and I’ve had coaches talk to me, but I tell them that Wichita is home,” McKinney said. “Wichita is where I grew myself as a person and as a player and everyone has always supported me, even when I didn’t have all of the accolades. They love me for who I am here. I’m definitely finishing here. I definitely want to continue to represent Wichita State.”

[1972Shocker]

I am thinking she probably will play professionally during the summers for whatever time she has left at Wichita State and perhaps even while she is in law school.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - McKinney Headlines Top 10 Finalists for USA Softball Player of the Year

WICHITA, Kan. - USA Softball trimmed the list from 25 finalists to 10 for the Collegiate Player of the Year Wednesday morning, and Wichita State senior shortstop Sydney McKinney made the cut.

A top 10 finalist a season ago, McKinney is once again the premiere hitter in college softball. The Norborne, Mo., native leads the country in batting average (.533) and hits (96), and ranks top 10 nationally in runs (71), triples (7), on base percentage (.573) and total bases (135). In 180 at bats this season, McKinney has struck out just seven times. She has logged 820 at bats and struck out a total of 50 times in her collegiate career.

McKinney has cracked the NCAA top 5 all-time hits list with 371 career hits. She is a three-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week and seeking to become the first player in NCAA history to repeat as both the batting average and hits champ. No player has ever accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons.

McKinney was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List prior to the season before making the cut at 25. Considered the most distinguished individual honor in Division I college softball, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female collegiate softball players from across the country.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: Podcast With Lauren Mills On Shocker Softball

Wichita State senior Lauren Mills talks about her slugging and command of the strike zone during her career as a Shocker. She talks about the pride she and her teammates feel about this era of softball and upgrades on the drawing board for Wilkins Stadium. We also discuss the importance of a good breakfast, animation trends in movies and the care and handling of a rabbit as a pet.

Mills, from Topeka, is hitting .376 with nine home runs and 42 RBI. She leads the Shockers with 36 walks and her on-base percentage of .511 is second on the team and second in the American Athletic Conference. She leads the AAC with an average of 0.71 walks a game.

Mills is a multiple time selection on the conference All-Academic team and earned all-conference honors in 2022, in addition to all-conference tournament honors in 2022 and 2021.

[SubGod22]

"A goat on a goat with a goat"

[Shockerman]

What is Syd's number at going into the conference tournament. Is it safe to say she has at least 4 games left?

[SubGod22]

What is Syd's number at going into the conference tournament. Is it safe to say she has at least 4 games left?

I believe she's at 372 and would assume she'd have at least four more games.

So finishing in 4th seems the likely outcome as there's a bit of a gap between 4th and 3rd that would require a few more games than one would anticipate.

Or she gets a hit in every remaining at bat she has and then she might have a shot at the top 3 spots.

[SubGod22]

[WstateU]

[WstateU]

[Stickboy46]

I want a picture of all the death glares they got from everyone else in the airport when they started screaming haha! (Not that I care that they were getting glares ..just I'm sure there were a few)

[1972Shocker]

Congratulations Sydney. Well deserved. Arguably the best all-around position player in the country. Not sure how that draft works but you would think that the top pitchers would go first followed by the position players. So to me this makes it even more impressive.

[1972Shocker]

AUX Softball
The league roster will consist of 42 players with each of the three teams carrying 14 players each. The three team captains will draft their respective team before the start of each series and after the series is complete, the top three players on the leaderboard will serve as the captains for the following series. Each of the three series consists of six games with the three teams playing the other two squads twice in the series. At the end of the season, the player at the top of the leaderboard is crowned champion.

This will be the second season of AUX Softball after it debuted in San Diego last summer. The 2023 campaign will take place at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill., from June 12-27.

Championship Season
The league roster will consist of 60 players with each of the four teams carrying 15 players each. The four team captains will draft their respective team before the start of each series and after the series is complete, the top four players on the leaderboard will serve as captains for the following series. Each of the five series consists of six games with each of the four teams playing the other three squads once. At the end of the season, the player at the top of the leaderboard is crowned champion.

This will be the fourth Athletes Unlimited Softball Championship Season and will take place at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill., from July 28-August 27.

Sydney McKinney Career Achievements:
Top 5 on the NCAA All-Time Hits List
34-Game Hit Streak - 6th Longest in NCAA History
2023 - USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist
2023 - USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist
2023 - Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (Feb. 21)
2023 - 3-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week
2023 - D1 Softball Preseason First Team All-American
2023 - Softball America Preseason Second Team All-American
2022 - NFCA Second Team All-American
2022 - Softball America Second Team All-American
2022 - D1 Softball Second Team All-American
2022 - NFCA All-Central Region Second Team
2022 - AAC All-Tournament Team
2022 - First Team All-Conference
2022 - USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist
2022 - USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist
2022- American Player of the Week
2022 - Softball America Preseason Third Team All-American
2021 - NFCA Third Team All-American
2021 - Softball America Third Team All-American
2021 - NFCA All-Central Region Second Team
2021 - AAC All-Tournament Team
2021 - American Player of the Year
2021 - First Team All-Conference
2021 - 2-time American Player of the Week
2019 - First Team All-Conference
2019 - All-Rookie Team
She is Wichita State's all-time leader in batting average, hits, runs scored, on base percentage and total bases, and recently cracked the top five on the NCAA's all-time hits list with 372 career hits. And an excellent defensive shortstop to top it off.