How Wichita State softball earned its first top 25 ranking with record-setting offense
For the first time in program history, the Wichita State softball team is ranked in the top 25.
After a four-game sweep of Houston at home, the Shockers earned a No. 25 ranking in the coaches’ poll released on Tuesday. WSU is 28-5 overall and in first place in the American Athletic Conference with an 11-1 record entering this weekend’s series at Central Florida.
WSU has achieved its success this season in record-setting fashion, as the Shockers’ 68 home runs in 33 games have already surpassed the school and conference single-season records. WSU’s offense is on pace to re-write almost every offensive record in both program and conference history.
“This is everything that I’ve wanted to do when I came to Wichita State,” said senior Madison Perrigan, who has hit 12 of those homers. “From the very beginning when I first got here, I told coach (Kristi) Bredbenner that I wanted to go to the College World Series. Whatever I had to do to get there was what I wanted to do.
“Now seeing us in the top 25 rankings and breaking records, I’m just really excited for the future. Little girls in Wichita can see that this success is possible. Coach always tells us, ‘Leave it better than you found it.’ I hope that’s exactly what me and my class are going to do for Wichita State.”
Last spring’s disappointing 11-16 campaign before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic didn’t exactly predict a national ranking and record-setting offense was coming this spring.
So what changed?
“I think bottom line our kids for two years now have not been able to finish a season on their own,” Bredbenner said, a reference to 2019, when weather canceled the conference tournament with WSU in the semifinals. “If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that anything can be taken away from us pretty quickly. So I think these girls are just motivated to make the most of every day. We knew the talent that we had and that we underachieved last spring, so they don’t want that feeling to happen again.”
Bredbenner said another reason why WSU’s hitting has vastly improved this season is an upgrade in technology to a video scouting system that significantly cuts down the time spent cutting up videos for the coaching staff and feeds the players more information.
While the power hitting will draw the headlines — and rightfully so because WSU has 26 more home runs than any other team in the conference — but equally as important, WSU leads the conference with 145 walks. The Shockers also rank first in batting average (.333), on-base percentage (.439), slugging percentage (.638) and runs scored (252).
“It’s insane because it can show you exactly what the pitchers are throwing and how many times she goes in a certain direction against right-handed batters and left-handed batters,” Perrigan said. “I’d say nine times out of 10, the scouting report is going to be 100% correct when you’re up at bat. It’s been awesome.”
Another reason for WSU becoming the most dangerous offense in the American? The team’s improved strength and conditioning program under Hannah Wilkinson, who is WSU’s lead coordinator for women’s basketball, softball and volleyball.
Bredbenner has been impressed by the detail in Wilkinson’s workouts.
“She’s willing to put in the time and she really challenges the girls,” Bredbenner said. “A lot of times teams will get into a season and you’ll cut back on that strength and conditioning piece. But if we have three or four days off, Hannah is using all of them. She’ll be doing something to get them better, bigger, stronger, faster and stretch out and be mobile.”
Wilkinson has earned the trust of the athletes because of her past as a Division I volleyball player.
“A big reason is that it’s a female working with females,” Perrigan said. “We know that she completely understands our bodies and being a former Division I athlete, she knows what it takes to play at this level.
“We have a team saying that ‘mass is gas.’ The more mass you have, the stronger you’re going to be. She actually had to tell us this past week in the weight room to cut down on the weight because we were wanting to go up so much. She’s very smart about how she wants us to get stronger and she does a great job with us.”
It’s not just one or two hitters who are leading the long ball parade for WSU. While Addison Barnard (16 homers, sixth-most) and Perrigan (12 homers, 18th-most) both chart among the nation’s leaders, WSU’s entire lineup has been going yard this season.
Neleigh Herring, who is hitting .451, and Lauren Mills both have eight homers, while Ryleigh Buck has seven, Sydney McKinney, who is hitting a team-best .462, has five long balls, Bailee Nickerson has hit four and Kaylee Huecker and Jessica Garcia have both hit three.
That’s a credit to WSU swing coach Elizabeth Economon, who was a college teammate of Bredbenner and has been with the staff for the last four seasons.
“She keeps it simple for the girls,” Bredbenner said. “She’s not one to micromanage a swing. She takes the swing that a girl brings with her to college and then creates a good plan for it and a path for them to have success.
“We came up the ranks together at the D2 level and I know first-hand that she’s willing to put in the time to be successful. She spends hour throwing (batting practice) to hitters and anybody who wants to get in extra cuts. Nothing is too small for her and that’s why she’s successful.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 12:46 PM.
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