Designed by women volunteers during World War II, the P-40 Warhawk helped the Allied Powers win the war on the Pacific Front and played a major role in dogfights in Africa and China.

Warhawks used by the U.S. military had the widely recognizable shark mouth painted on the nose. The bombers were built tough, withstanding many blows at a time.

Those planes, and the people who crafted them, have come to redefine Wichita State’s softball team. For a program founded on grit, development and second chances, this season’s “Built Tough” mantra fits the bill.

The Shockers will even wear it on their sleeves. 

The shark mouth detail is strategically placed on batters’ protective equipment, a tasteful homage to hard work done in the past. It also signals that Wichita State is war-ready.

“We’re going to have to stick together,” coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “We’re going to take some lumps. We’ve got one of the hardest schedules that I’ve had, and that’s my jam. If we want to be the best, we’ve got to learn how to compete with the best. That’s the war that we’re going into.”

That identity will be put to the test Friday to Sunday when the Shockers travel to Waco, Texas, for the Getterman Classic at Baylor. Wichita State opens the tournament against No. 22/24 Mississippi State before it will face hosts, the Bears, in a Friday doubleheader.

This opening stretch should quickly align a team with 14 newcomers and seven returners with just a season spent in the program — five of which are sophomores. The Shockers will spend the first month of the season away from Wilkins Stadium with eight Power Conference matchups.

Their first home game is March 4 at 6 p.m. against Kansas.

With so many fresh faces and young returners, it only felt right to invent a motto. After last season’s shortcomings, the culture needed a minor facelift. And with many of the players sharing a common goal, it didn’t take long for it to take effect.

“There just seems to be more joy for each other this year,” Bredbenner said. “Which I think is always going to be a big part of our program, is seeing each other’s success and celebrating it. I didn’t see much of that last year. There was a bit of this me over we mentality with some of our kids, and I think that’s changed this year. You see them get excited for each other.”

Finding a ‘forever home’

Roster turnover has become a new norm within collegiate athletic programs over the last decade. The Shockers’ softball team was met with a mass exodus just last offseason when nine players entered the transfer portal and a handful exhausted eligibility.

In return, Wichita State matched the losses in the transfer portal with as many signings from either four-year or junior colleges. Five true freshmen round out the newcomers.

But Bredbenner, in her 15th season as head coach, has become a master at finding gems and offering often-overlooked players a second chance to blossom into the players they’d always dreamt of being. Ellee Eck, Sydney McKinney, CC Wong, Lauren Howell, Asia Webber and Riley Buck, among others, come to mind when thinking of the late bloomers the Shockers have welcomed with open arms.

 “The transfer portal’s been a blessing in a lot of ways,” Bredbenner said. “We’ve had some major impact players that have come into our program. You could name multiple … that ended up really being key players. We had a pretty mass exodus, and I think that is the world that we live in now, and we got to embrace it.”

And for high school juniors, the two years between then and their freshman season can change drastically — from coaching changes, to facility changes, to even changes at the university and administration level.

“Once a kid actually gets to that school, it’s a little bit more of that unknown factor,” Bredbenner said.

As was the case with sophomore Ausha Moore, who transferred from interconference foe North Texas. As soon as she and Bredbenner talked after Moore entered the transfer portal, the open arms at Wichita State and thoughts of the unofficial “Second-chance U” felt right.

“I really liked how inclusive the program is,” Moore said. “You can be who you want to be. I really got a personable feeling from the coaching staff, (the one) that I always knew that they had.

“I knew I wanted to make the right decision and I didn’t want to transfer again. I wanted to be somewhere I could call my forever home.”

“Forever home.” That’s what Bredbenner wants to offer. 

“You get yourself that opportunity to maybe get the kid that is a better fit, or that’s looking for rejuvenation,” Bredbenner said. “That’s looking for maybe a more educated, more mature decision the second time around. Like Ausha said, to try to find that forever home. I think we’ve got to embrace it, you know?”

But with so many new names, and players who have only been in the program a season, bringing them together was just as tasking as forming the roster.

Troubles with the curve

Sophomore pitcher Ryley Nihart, one of the seven returners, admitted with so many new faces this year that the team hit some rough patches when they were introduced in the fall. Getting everyone on the same page as one another was difficult.

Even so, she believes it will help the team out overall. They’ve been able to adapt and improve on locker room trends from a year ago.

Hence the “Built Tough” motto. A statement grounded in the sweat, hard work, and second chances the Shockers have been given. The start of a program writing its next chapter.

“It was so great for us to receive so many new people because we were able to turn things around from what it was last year,” Nihart said. “I think last year, we had a standard, and we had a way of doing things that wasn’t necessarily the right way. With how many new people we have this year, we were able to create our own way and our own culture, and a new way of doing things.”

For Moore, the new beginning was a refreshing change.

“Everybody’s been very welcoming with all the different types of personalities that we have,” she said. “They’ve always made me feel comfortable to come in and be myself since day one.”

Friday against a top-25 opponent will reveal how together the Shockers are from the jump. That’s what the tough games and bonding moments are all about. But, no matter what, Wichita State is “built tough” like the Warhawks that inspired the movement.

“We’re going to learn from our mistakes,” Bredbenner said. “We’re going to have some tough games, and we’re going to come together as a team and fight. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ve got that mentality that we’ve been battle tested enough that we can win this battle and win this war.”