It’s been more than 3 decades since Wichita State softball started a season like this
A 5-0 showing at the GCU Kickoff Classic has the Wichita State softball team off to the best start to a season in program history since 1994.
The Shockers, who were picked by coaches as the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference, completed a sweep of Colgate (6-0, then 9-1) on Sunday afternoon and registered wins over Northern Illinois (10-4), Grand Canyon (4-1) and Montana State (8-1) in the season-opening tournament.
And they did so in familiar fashion, smashing nine home runs in five games while outscoring opponents 37-7, despite head coach Kristi Bredbenner claiming before the season that this WSU team wouldn’t have the same kind of power as its predecessors.
In her return to play after missing last season with a shoulder injury, Lauren Lucas looked like she hadn’t missed a beat from her All-American form. She finished the weekend batting .600 with two home runs, eight runs and seven RBIs.
In fact, WSU’s entire outfield had a strong showing, as Lucas was joined by transfers in Ellee Eck (Stanford) and Jodie Epperson (North Texas). Eck collected six hits with three stolen bases, while Epperson homered twice in her debut game for the Shockers and scored seven runs.
Meanwhile, sophomore Chloe Barber affirmed her status as the staff ace and finished the weekend with a 2-0 record and no earned runs. She pitched 13⅔ innings with 18 strikeouts. Veteran Alex Aguilar picked up three victories (two in relief), while the freshmen trio of Ava Sliger, Erica Schertz and Ryley Nihart combined to allow one earned runs in 11⅓ innings pitched.
Another freshman who made a strong impression during opening weekend was Catelyn Beckerley, a catcher who finished with a .357 batting average, two home runs and five RBIs. Junior Taylor Sedlacek, who made the move to shortstop, finished with a .429 batting average and six hits for the weekend.
While WSU was heavily favored to win its other four games, the true gem of the weekend was the 4-1 win over host Grand Canyon. Although the Lopes are retooling, they are coming off a 50-win season, top-50 RPI finish and NCAA Regional final appearance. Not only did the Shockers avoid taking a bad loss, they picked up a resume-building win in the process.
Eck started the scoring with a two-RBI single in the top of the second inning against Grand Canyon. After the Lopes clawed one back on a defensive miscue in the third inning, WSU extended its lead in the fifth inning when Lucas doubled, Sedlacek walked, Sami Hood bunt singled and then Caroline Tallent delivered a two-RBI single to the left-center gap.
Barber was superb in the circle against GCU, throwing a complete game to pick up the victory without allowing an earned run. She limited GCU to four hits and struck out nine batters with only one walk. The Lopes didn’t reach second base in the final three innings and Barber finished the game in dominant fashion, striking out back-to-back hitters.
After a strong debut performance in Arizona, the Shockers will see a significant rise in competition in their next outing in the prestigious Clearwater Invitational in Florida this coming week. The field essentially includes nothing but NCAA Tournament teams, as WSU will play five straight opponents who are ranked or receiving votes in national polls over the span of three days: Kentucky (10 a.m.) and No. 8 Texas A&M (4 p.m.) on Thursday; San Diego State (4 p.m.) on Friday; and Liberty (2 p.m.) and No. 9 Florida State (6 p.m.) on Saturday.
This story was originally published February 9, 2025 at 12:15 PM.
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