Can Wichita State softball host an NCAA Regional? What Shockers likely need to do
Not only did the Wichita State softball team gain full control of the American Athletic Conference championship race with a three-game sweep of South Florida this past weekend, but the Shockers continued to build their case to potentially host an NCAA Regional.
WSU improved to 30-7 with three straight wins over a top-50 RPI team, which figures to improve the team’s current standing of No. 24 when the RPI is updated on Monday.
The Shockers plan on submitting a bid to host an NCAA Regional, which is awarded to the top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament every year. Now that Wilkins Stadium is equipped with the proper lighting, electronic scoreboard and visiting dugout, WSU is eligible to host.
Now it’s up to the team to continue churning out wins to move up in the projections.
“We’re making a good case for ourselves to play in the postseason, but at the end of the day you’ve got to take things one game at a time,” WSU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We’re playing pretty well right now. We’ve just got to figure out a way to keep doing it every single weekend and during the mid-week games too.”
WSU has already taken five of six games against the two highest-rated teams in the AAC (UCF is ranked No. 43, while USF is No. 49), which leaves no resume-building wins remaining in conference play.
That’s what makes Tuesday’s 6 p.m. showdown against No. 2 Oklahoma State (32-2) at Wilkins Stadium so crucial. With eight top-50 RPI wins, WSU has done plenty to prove it’s a tournament team, but if the Shockers want to host an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, they almost certainly have to win at least once against Oklahoma State (WSU also plays the Cowgirls in Stillwater on April 18) or No. 1 Oklahoma (April 25 at Wilkins Stadium).
WSU has a standout win over Arkansas (RPI No. 17), but a win over OSU or OU would give the Shockers the marquee win they need to make a compelling case to the NCAA tournament selection committee when compared against power-conference teams with a stronger strength of schedule.
“These girls have talked for years and years and years about putting themselves in a position to host a postseason event here at Wichita State,” Bredbenner said. “If we can get a midweek win against either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State and then take care of business in the conference, we’re going to make ourselves a pretty good resume to potentially do that.
“But you still have to take things one day at a time. And right now, we’re focused on our next game, which is Oklahoma State.”
After taking two of three games against a nationally-ranked Oklahoma State team in 2021, the Shockers lost all three times against the Cowgirls last season by a combined total of 22-3 and their offense was limited to six combined hits.
Only one of those OSU pitchers, Kelly Maxwell (11-0, 1.62 ERA), is back this season, but the Cowgirls also feature Lexi Kilfoyl (9-1, 1.35 ERA) and Kyra Aycock (7-0, 1.88 ERA) in their rotation.
“They’ve got some great pitching and they’re a very tough opponent,” Bredbenner said. “They’re definitely a team we enjoy playing against and last year we struggled against them in a big way. We’ve got to figure out a way to hit their pitching and contain their hitting.”
WSU once again returns its share of explosive hitting, as senior All-American Sydney McKinney leads NCAA Division I in batting average (.543) and is followed in the lineup by big bats in Addison Barnard (.370, 10 home runs), Lauren Lucas (.366, 45 RBI), Zoe Jones (.336, 12 home runs, 44 RBI) and Lauren Mills (.421, nine home runs, 33 RBI).
WSU is expecting a standing-room only crowd at Wilkins Stadium for Tuesday’s game, as tickets have long been sold out.
“Softball is a big deal in Wichita and this is a sports-loving community,” Bredbenner said. “It’s been awesome to see this community start to get behind Shocker softball and women’s sports. We’ve had great crowds this year and I think a lot of people will really enjoy watching these big midweek games we’ve got coming up.”
