SB: 2023 in season news

[flyingMoose]

Games through 19 Mar

NFCA Rankings: 22 (from 23)

ESPN.com/USA Softball Rankings: RV26th (from RV29th)


RPI: 22 for the Shockers, 47 for UCF, 61 for USF

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: Defensive Skills Put Hood in the Lineup

Wichita State second baseman Sami Hood walked to the dugout after the biggest night of her freshman season and saw the text she expected from mom.

"OMG. Have a day. Boom!"

Moms know.

Tiffany Gleeson knew how to celebrate long distance with her daughter after Tuesday's 9-3 win over Kansas and how to pump her before the game. Hood endured a 1-for-17 stretch entering Tuesday. Coaches and teammates encouraged her, and superb defense kept her in the lineup.

Gleeson hit Hood with pure support from a parent.

"She told me to get out of my head and believe in myself, because I can be amazing and she knows I can be amazing," Hood said. "Moms always have good advice. She's always watching, and she is so happy for me when I have success."

Against Kansas, Hood helped bust open a close game with a two-run single off the wall and off the glove off center fielder Shayna Espy to make it 5-3 in the fifth inning. She homered in the sixth to complete a 2-for-3 night with three runs and three driven in.

No. 22 Wichita State (24-6) opens American Athletic Conference play at UCF (18-16) on Friday in Orlando in a matchup of the top two teams in the preseason coaches poll. UCF, the 2022 champion, grabbed four of the seven first-place votes. Wichita State, the 2021 champion, took the remaining three.

Hood's outburst against Kansas continues an encouraging trend for the Shockers, as the bottom of the order produces more consistently.

[flyingMoose]

Games through 26 Mar

NFCA Rankings: 23 (from 22)

ESPN.com/USA Softball Rankings: RV26th (from RV26th)


RPI: 22 for the Shockers, 44 for UCF, 54 for USF

[SubGod22]

AOL - Can Wichita State softball host an NCAA Regional? What Shockers likely need to do

The Shockers plan on submitting a bid to host an NCAA Regional, which is awarded to the top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament every year. Now that Wilkins Stadium is equipped with the proper lighting, electronic scoreboard and visiting dugout, WSU is eligible to host.

Now it’s up to the team to continue churning out wins to move up in the projections.

“We’re making a good case for ourselves to play in the postseason, but at the end of the day you’ve got to take things one game at a time,” WSU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We’re playing pretty well right now. We’ve just got to figure out a way to keep doing it every single weekend and during the mid-week games too.”

WSU has already taken five of six games against the two highest-rated teams in the AAC (UCF is ranked No. 43, while USF is No. 49), which leaves no resume-building wins remaining in conference play.

That’s what makes Tuesday’s 6 p.m. showdown against No. 2 Oklahoma State (32-2) at Wilkins Stadium so crucial. With eight top-50 RPI wins, WSU has done plenty to prove it’s a tournament team, but if the Shockers want to host an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, they almost certainly have to win at least once against Oklahoma State (WSU also plays the Cowgirls in Stillwater on April 18) or No. 1 Oklahoma (April 25 at Wilkins Stadium).

WSU has a standout win over Arkansas (RPI No. 17), but a win over OSU or OU would give the Shockers the marquee win they need to make a compelling case to the NCAA tournament selection committee when compared against power-conference teams with a stronger strength of schedule.

The ladies have a chance to put themselves in play to host, but it won't be easy. But it's great to see where this program is right now under Coach B and I don't see it declining anytime soon as there are some pretty good underclassmen and I'm sure the recruiting will continue at a high level. Hopefully this is the year, but it will happen eventually.

[SubGod22]

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Wichita State to Host 2024 Softball American Athletic Conference Championship

WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State softball and Wilkins Stadium will host the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championship, it was announced by the league Thursday afternoon.

Wichita State will have invested more than $2 million into renovations to Wilkins Stadium which includes new lights, batting cages, outfield turf and third base dugout. Turf is scheduled to be installed in the outfield and on the warning track, foul territory and apron areas at Wilkins Stadium this summer.

The tournament will come to Wichita for the first time as a member of the American. Wichita State hasn't hosted a conference tournament since 2015 when the Shockers were still in the Missouri Valley Conference.

It will only be the fifth time ever Wichita State softball has served as the host site for a conference championship.

"I am excited and grateful to host the AAC tournament in 2024," said head coach Kristi Bredbenner. "This is a testament to the investment that Wichita State University and the athletic department have made in the softball program. The improvements to Wilkins Stadium and the new hitting facility will allow us to run a first-class event."

This is big. And hopefully this announcement, along with continued strong play on the field will help increase donations to the additions and renovations planned for Wilkins and the softball program.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: "She Had To Fund Her Groove"

Zoe Jones and Addison Barnard are hitting partners who spend hours in the Wilkins Stadium batting cages watching each other hit, talking about hitting and thinking about hitting.

Put Zoe Jones on the short list of Barnard hitting experts. When Jones says Barnard looks like Barnard again – and the numbers back it up – pay attention.

"She knows how to hit the ball really, really well," Jones said. "She had to find her groove. Now she has her groove, and I don't see her stopping any time soon."

No. 23 Wichita State defeated USF 3-2 on Sunday to sweep a series against the team picked third in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll. Barnard, a junior left fielder, homered in all three wins and went 5 for 8 with three walks to produce seven runs and four batted in.

Wichita State wraps up its homestand against No. 2 Oklahoma State (32-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at sold-out Wilkins Stadium.

Entering the weekend, Barnard was hitting .348 with seven home runs, which are great numbers for almost everyone. Barnard hit 22 and 33 home runs in her first two seasons, so she spent this season first six weeks searching for something closer to her previous standard.

"This season, there's been a lot of ups and downs for me, in and outside of softball," Barnard said. "I've been up and down and not really feeling like myself."

On Friday, Barnard decided to return to a previous technique at the plate by starting with the bat pulled around her head in a more pronounced method. That change, she said, gives her more speed and power with the bat.

"I looked at my swing and said, 'I'm going to go back to what I know,'" she said. "As soon as we started batting practice on Friday, something felt like it clicked. This weekend, I felt like myself."

Having Addie back to her old self would only make an already dangerous team more so.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - McKinney Takes Home AAC Player of the Week Honors

WICHITA, Kan. - Another week, another honor for the two-time All-American, as Sydney McKinney was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for a second time this season.

The Norborne, Mo., native hit .571 in four games last week, racking up a home run, two doubles, four RBI and nine runs scored. McKinney had back-to-back games with three hits, and recorded her first career grand slam in Wichita State's 14-0 win vs. South Florida on Saturday. Over the weekend McKinney ran her career hit total to 345, moving into a tie for 18th all-time in the NCAA record book.

The American also named Alex Aguilar to the weekly honor roll. The freshman pitcher tossed her fourth complete game shutout in the Shockers' 14-0 run-rule of South Florida. She allowed only four hits, walking none and striking out two.

Wichita State prepares to host the 2nd-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls Tuesday night in front of a sellout crowd at Wilkins Stadium.

[flyingMoose]

From above:

On Friday, Barnard decided to return to a previous technique at the plate by starting with the bat pulled around her head in a more pronounced method. That change, she said, gives her more speed and power with the bat.

"I looked at my swing and said, 'I'm going to go back to what I know,'" she said. "As soon as we started batting practice on Friday, something felt like it clicked. This weekend, I felt like myself."


Which begs the question, what did she expect to achieve by changing what she knew?

[flyingMoose]

Games through 2 Apr

NFCA Rankings: 22 (from 23)

ESPN.com/USA Softball Rankings: 25 (from RV26th)


RPI: 21 for the Shockers, 35 for UCF, 56 for USF

[SubGod22]

Yahoo! - How a dream became a reality for Wichita State softball with win over No. 2 team in country

When Kristi Bredbenner took over the Wichita State softball team in 2011, she had a vision for where she wanted the program to be.

She hoped the Shockers would one day be nationally ranked in the top-25, contend to not only play in an NCAA Regional, but host one, to play in front of sold-out crowds in Wichita and to prove a mid-major program can take down the top power-conference teams in the country.

That “one day” is no longer off in the distant future. On Tuesday night, it became the new reality for Wichita State.

In front of a sold-out crowd with nearly 1,000 in attendance, the No. 22-ranked Shockers out-dueled No. 2 Oklahoma State in an 8-7 victory that marked the program’s highest-ranked win in school history.

“You hope there’s bigger ones to come, but this is a big one and we’re going to enjoy it,” said Bredbenner, the coach who has turned WSU into a perennial power. “We’ve got to move on and take care of business this weekend, but it’s a pretty big deal when you can beat the No. 2 team in the nation.”

Not only did WSU improve to 31-7 with its second top-10 win of the season, but the Shockers, ranked No. 21 in the RPI before Tuesday, collected the exact type of marquee victory (OSU was ranked No. 2 in RPI) needed to bolster their case to be selected as a top-16 seed and host an NCAA Regional.

Great article from Taylor. If you're not excited about this program, you have issues.

[SubGod22]

NCAA - Wichita State softball shocks No. 2 Oklahoma State

Wichita State lived up to its nickname on Tuesday, shocking the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in a monumental 8-7 midweek win.

The Shockers pinned 4 runs against the Cowgirls in the second inning and never looked back. Though Oklahoma would make it a closer contest by scoring 7 runs between the third and fifth innings, another 4-run inning from Wichita State in the 4th iced the win for the Shockers.

Sami Hood kicked off the scoring frenzy in the second inning for the Shockers, launching a solo homer that energized a Wichita State offense that put up 14 hits on the night.

[ShockerFever]

So our RPI didn’t move with the win?

[SubGod22]

So our RPI didn’t move with the win?

Someone posted in the game thread that it moved up to 17. At the time the article was written I don't think the RPI had been updated.

[flyingMoose]

Someone posted in the game thread that it moved up to 17. At the time the article was written I don't think the RPI had been updated.

RPIs after games of Tue 4 Apr