Wichita State softball is trying to get back on a roll following the program’s best start in school history, 4-0. After the second tournament of the year the Shockers stood at 5-3.

Day one of the Unconquered Classic was a day of defense in both games. In the first game, WSU played the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the third inning, Brittany Fortner gave the Shockers their first lead with an RBI double, scoring Liz Broyles.

Cacy Williams was able to extend the Shocker lead to 3-1 with an RBI single that scored Melanie Jaegers.

Charleston Southern responded with three-straight singles, but only cut the WSU lead by one as the defense stiffened up.  Charleston threatened for the last time in the bottom of the seventh when they were able to load the bases with no outs.

Sloan Anderson found her pitches at the right time and struck out two batters in a row followed by a Buccaneer groundout to first to end the game and give WSU a 3-2 win.

“I was just trying to get pop-ups and easy out,” Anderson said. “It resulted in two strikeouts, which is lucky.”

Game two of the tournament for WSU was against UC Santa Barbara. The game was tied at one apiece until the fifth inning when UCSB’s Stacy Cavazos hit a solo shot to center field to take the 2-1 lead. The Shockers could not respond in the last two innings and lost 2-1.

On day two, the Shocker’s bats started hot as they played against Florida A&M and were able to win 12-9, scoring seven in the third inning.

Florida A&M threatened with two runs in the third, three runs in the fourth, and four in the fifth to get within two, but time ran out on the Rattlers.

Kelli Spring went a perfect 4-4 at the plate against Florida A&M.

“I used my triple-threat to my advantage,” Spring said. “I took it one at-bat at a time.”

In the second game of the day WSU had a rematch against Charleston Southern, but found themselves on the other side of the end score losing 3-2.

Behind Ari Tedesco’s two-run homer, Charleston Southern took a 3-1 lead in the seventh. WSU tried to rally behind two straight doubles scoring Ali Vandever and cutting the lead to one.

WSU loaded the bases when Williams singled and Spring was walked, but Broyles reaching on a fielder’s choice that resulted in an out. Fortner grounded out to end the game.

“The little things are getting better at times,” head coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “That’s showing a bit of our growth as a younger team. As we start to make fewer mistakes and start to look more confident at the plate, those are all things that are moving in the right direction.”

On Sunday, the Shocks were set to play host school No. 10 Florida State. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. The Unconquered Classic was conquered by rain, taking away WSU’s shot a taking down a top ten program.

“We were disappointed,” Spring said. “That’s why we came here; we wanted to see what a top ten team was all about.”

Softball is next in action against McNeese State in the Best Western/Courtyard Classic at noon on March 1 in Denton, Tex.