Hot hitting from opening tournament earns Wichita State’s Lauren Lucas AAC softball honor

Following a breakout year, Lauren Lucas picked up right where she left off in the season-opening tournament for the Wichita State softball team this past weekend.

Lucas, a native of Little Elm, Texas, thrived back in her home state, as the outfielder racked up 11 hits (seven for extra bases) and 12 runs batted in for the Shockers in a 4-1 showing at the Texas State tournament hosted in San Marcos.

After opening the season with a .647 batting average, .684 on-base percentage and 1.176 slugging percentage, Lucas was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

It was a strong start to her junior season after a breakthrough 2022 season that saw her hit .387 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs and become yet another threat in WSU’s lethal lineup after hardly playing as a freshman.

Lucas finished with at least one hit in all five games with multiple hits in four games, while she notched a career-high six RBIs in the season-opener against Villanova with a home run and two doubles.

Although she didn’t receive any recognition from the AAC honor roll, WSU All-American shortstop Sydney McKinney has a .778 batting average after the opening tournament of the season. Designated hitter Lauren Mills also had a strong start, batting .571 with three walks and five RBIs.

The most encouraging performance of the weekend belong to sophomore left-handed starting pitcher Alison Cooper, who registered two complete-game victories in the circle with a 1.00 earned run average. Her best showing came in a tense 3-2 win over Texas State, where Cooper navigated through nine hits and two walks to manufacture outs when she needed them. Cooper was named to the AAC honor roll in Monday’s announcement.

WSU swept two games against Villanova, 12-1 in five innings and 6-2, took care of Kent State in a 7-0 win and split its series against Texas State, winning the first game 3-2 and losing the second 7-4.

While the pair of wins over Villanova, the two-time defending Big East champions, will be nice on WSU’s postseason resume, the Wildcats aren’t expected to be ranked high in the RPI.

Picking up at least one win on the road over Texas State, a top-50 RPI team from last season that is expected to once again be strong this season, was considered a success for WSU’s opening weekend. In the 7-4 loss to Texas State, WSU never recovered from a disastrous third inning when it committed two errors and allowed Texas State to score all seven of its runs.

The Shockers head to California this week and will play a standalone game at San Diego State, another top-50 RPI team from last season, on Thursday before competing in the Torero Classic hosted by San Diego with five games in three days starting Friday. The top team in the field is likely Boise State, another top-50 RPI team from last season that won 40 games.

WSU plays Utah Tech at 9 a.m. Central time on Friday, then Boise State later in the day at 2 p.m. On Saturday, WSU plays a doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson at 2 p.m. and San Diego at 7 p.m. The finale on Sunday comes against Fairleigh Dickinson at 11 a.m.