Walk-off extends winning streak for Wichita State softball, moves Shockers up in rankings
A second straight unbeaten weekend for the Wichita State softball team was capped by a walk-off win in its home debut at Wilkins Stadium.
After sweeping Western Illinois and Bradley this past weekend, the Shockers (16-3) extended their winning streak to 11 games and moved up in the national rankings to No. 23 in D1Softball’s poll.
WSU is in the midst of 15 straight games at home and is approaching arguably its toughest of the season, as the Shockers will host three different nationally ranked opponents at Wilkins Stadium in a six-day span.
The Shockers host No. 5 Stanford in a standalone game at 3 p.m. Thursday, then play No. 24 Nebraska on Friday and Saturday, Missouri State on Saturday and Sunday, then No. 9 Arkansas at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, March 14. Single-game tickets for WSU softball games are still available through GoShockers.com.
“Hopefully fans will come out to Wilkins Stadium and see some really high-level softball,” WSU head coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “The buzz of softball season is starting.”
Pitching was the biggest question mark for the Shockers entering this season, but the rotation in the circle is off to a strong start. WSU used four different pitchers this past weekend with a staff ERA of 0.64 after allowing just two earned runs in 28 innings pitched.
WSU has found a solid 1-2 punch in starters Lauren Howell, an Arkansas transfer who is 7-1 this season with a 1.00 ERA in 42 innings, and sophomore left-hander Alison Cooper, who is 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA. Freshman Alex Aguilar has blossomed as a reliever with a minuscule 0.52 ERA in her last five appearances spanning 17-plus innings.
“Evolving is probably the best way that I would put it,” Bredbenner said about her young staff. “Lauren has already pitched twice the number of innings she pitched at Arkansas and she’s really finding her own confidence. (Cooper) is just a bulldog out there and she’s been excellent. Her biggest thing is just overthinking. She has to trust her stuff. And then to me, Alex as a freshman is just getting better every time she goes out there.
“I’m really happy with their performance and they’re sticking with their game plan, just like our hitters and just like our defense. There’s no doubt there’s some good things coming out of that circle this year.”
The only tinge of disappointment to come out of the weekend was the end of Sydney McKinney’s 34-game hitting streak, which was snapped with an 0-for-4 performance at the plate against Bradley this past Saturday. McKinney’s streak finished as the sixth-longest in NCAA history.
But McKinney came through for the Shockers when they were locked in a 1-1 game against Western Illinois in extra innings. The star senior shortstop led off the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff bunt single, then stole second and scored the game-winning run when Lauren Lucas blasted a line drive to the left-center gap for the walk-off win.
Senior Zoe Jones continued her early season surge at the plate, knocking two more out of the park this past weekend to bring her season total to eight home runs in 19 games. She finished with 15 homers in 52 games last season.
“Zoe is really starting to understand the pitches she can hit and she’s been looking good,” Bredbenner said. “For her, it’s really about just focusing and preparing to have success each and every week. It’s really great to see her stick with that plan. Hopefully that’s something she keeps throughout the season. She’s off to a really great start.”
Star slugger Addison Barnard missed this past weekend’s games due to injury and is considered “day-to-day” with hopes of being ready in time to play Stanford on Thursday.
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 11:43 AM.
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