Wichita State softball gains early lead in AAC championship race with series win at UCF

Five weekends still remain, but the Wichita State softball team has gained an early advantage in the race for the American Athletic Conference championship.

In a matchup between the two favorites in the conference, the Shockers took two of three in the AAC-opening series at UCF, highlighted by a 10-5 win on Sunday afternoon in Orlando, to edge the defending champions and preseason No. 1 team.

No. 22-ranked WSU improved to 26-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while UCF dropped to 19-18 overall and 1-2 in league.

“It’s a whole new season for us and to come away with a win in the series is a good start to what we’re trying to build in this season,” WSU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We just try to take it week by week. We knew we were playing the toughest team, the defending champs and a team that we’ve had some pretty significant battles with on their home turf. Our pitchers pitched well, the defense stepped up and the bats are alive and well.”

After losing the first game of the series, 3-1, the Shockers bounced back with a 6-0 victory on Saturday behind a complete-game shutout from starting pitcher Lauren Howell, who improved to 12-2 this season and lowered her season ERA to 1.90.

Zoe Jones started the scoring with a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning, then freshman Sami Hood delivered a RBI double in the same inning. Jones came through with another RBI hit the next inning, while Bailey Urban walked with the bases loaded. Lauren Mills finished off the scoring with a 2-run home run to left-center field in the seventh inning.

In the 10-5 win on Sunday, WSU’s bottom-half of the lineup once again delivered. The Shockers blew open the game with a seven-run second inning where all seven runs came with two outs, sparked by a walk by No. 8 hitter Lainee Brown and a RBI single by No. 9 hitter Krystin Nelson.

Once WSU got back to the top of the lineup, Sydney McKinney delivered a RBI double, Addison Barnard singled, Lauren Lucas walked with the bases loaded, Jones crushed a grand slam home run and Lauren Mills walked.

“Anytime our bottom four can get on base and turn the lineup over to our top five, that’s deadly,” Bredbenner said. “That’s the worst-case scenario for our opponent. A lot of our success the last couple of weeks has been that bottom four getting on base and making some things happen.”

Jones was the star of the weekend, finishing 6-for-11 at the plate with five runs scored and seven runs driven in.

WSU will host a mid-week game against Omaha at 5 p.m. Wednesday before hosting South Florida for its first home AAC series of the season against South Florida at Wilkins Stadium. The first game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday game and a noon Sunday finale.

Wichita State baseball finishes with dominant series sweep

After two mid-week losses to Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State dropped Wichita State’s season record to .500, the Shockers got back to their winning ways in a big way this past weekend at Eck Stadium.

The Shockers delivered three straight run-rule victories over Massachusetts by a combined score of 38-6 to improve their season record to 13-10. WSU’s offense finished with 43 hits in the series, as UMass dropped to 3-10 this season.

Chuck Ingram finished 8-for-13 at the plate with two home runs, five runs scored and five RBI. It was a strong showing from everyone at the top of WSU’s lineup, as Brock Rodden (six hits, five runs, four RBI), Garrett Pennington (five hits, six runs, four RBI), and Payton Tolle (five hits, three runs, four RBI) all had standout performances.

Freshman infielder Jack Little had five hits and five RBI, while junior outfielder Kyte McDonald collected four hits, scored four runs and drove in five runs.

Grant Adler, Jace Miner and Nate Snead combined to strike out 10 batters without a single walk in WSU’s 14-2 win on Friday. Tolle improved to 5-0 on the mound with six strikeouts in six innings in WSU’s 12-2 victory on Saturday, while Clark Candiotti struck out nine in six innings of work to pick up the win in WSU’s 12-2 win on Sunday.

Up next for the Shockers will be their annual game at Riverfront Stadium, where they will play Oklahoma at 6 p.m. Tuesday. WSU will open American Athletic Conference play with a road series at Cincinnati, beginning at 4 p.m. Friday, continuing at 1 p.m. Saturday and finishing 11 a.m. Sunday.