The Wichita State softball team played their last conference series of the season thi past weekend against Tulsa. The Shockers won the series, but did not get a series sweep due to a loss on Sunday.

The Shockers finished the regular season with a 18-5-1 record in conference play. Their overall record is 37-10-1 heading into the end of the regular season. 

On Friday, the Shockers played a doubleheader for the first two games of the series. In game one, the Shockers won 11-1 by run-rule.  Junior designated hitter and first baseman Neleigh Herring hit an RBI double in the top of the 1st to start it off for the Shockers. Senior third baseman Ryleigh Buck then hit an RBI double to give the Shockers a 3-0 lead. 

WSU ended with five runs scored in the top of the 2nd to make it an 8-0 lead.  Senior catcher Madison Perrigan hit a homer to left field to open up the scoring for the Shockers in the top of the 2nd. 

In the top of the 3rd, freshman left fielder Bailey Urban hit the second homer of the game to right center. They scored one more run in the top of the 3rd, making the score 10-0. 

The Shockers last run of the game was scored in the top of the 4th. Tulsa got on the board once in the bottom of the 5th. 

Senior pitcher Bailey Lange got the start for the Shockers in the circle. Lange allowed four hits, zero runs, and zero walks in three innings. Junior pitcher Erin McDonald came in for two innings of relief and struck out four batters and allowed one run. 

In game two, the Shockers won a close game with a score of 7-6. Sophomore shortstop Sydney McKinney started off the Shockers with a homer straight to center field. However, Tulsa responded with four runs scored in the bottom of the 2nd, and one more in the bottom of the 3rd to put them in the lead 5-1. 

The 4th and 5th innings remained scoreless for both teams. The Shockers started to make a comeback in the top of the 6th with four runs scored. Buck hit an RBI double, leading senior center fielder Bailee Nickerson to score to start the comeback. Senior second baseman Kaylee Huecker hit a homer to left field. Two more runs were scored after Huecker’s homer. 

Tulsa added on one more run in the bottom of the 6th, but the Shockers continued to pull ahead. Junior pitcher Caitlin Bingham started in the circle for the Shockers in game two. Bingham allowed four runs on three hits in two innings. McDonald then came in to pitch for the Shockers. She allowed two runs, three hits, and walked two in 3.1 innings. Lange finished the game off by pitching 1.2 innings. 

The Shockers walked away with the win in game three with a 9-5 score on Saturday. Tulsa opened up the scoring this time with two runs scored in the bottom of the 1st, and one in the bottom of the 2nd. 

The Shockers tied the game in the top of the 3rd at three runs apiece. McKinney hit an RBI double, leading Huecker to score. Freshman right fielder Addison Barnard hit a homer to right field, leading McKinney to score. This was Barnard’s 20th home run this season and she is one of only five players in the country with 20 or more home runs. 

The Shockers tacked on another run in the top of the 4th. Tulsa then scored their last two runs of the game in the bottom of the 4th. The Shockers pulled away with two runs scored in the top of the 5th, and three runs scored in the top of the 7th. Perrigan hit a homer in the top of the 5th, and Huecker hit one in the top of the 7th. This gave Perrigan 17 single season home runs this season. 

Lange got the start in the circle in game three for the Shockers. However, Lange only pitched a little over one inning of play. She allowed three runs on two hits, and had two walks. McDonald came in for some relief. She allowed two runs on three hits, and one walk in a little over five innings. 

Despite the effort to make a comeback in game four of the series, the Shockers did not make a comeback. They lost to Tulsa 6-10 on Sunday. 

Tulsa opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 1st with one run scored. They then responded by scoring three more runs in the bottom of the 3rd. 

The Shockers started to make a comeback in the top of the 4th with a homer from Nickerson to center field. The Shockers then hit another homer in the top of the 5th to left field from Urban. Tulsa  put up five runs in the bottom of the 5th. 

The Shockers scored four more runs in the top of the 6th, but came up short. Tusla added on one more in the bottom of the 6th. 

Bingham started in the circle in game four, and pitched two innings. Lange allowed six runs on five hits in 2.1 innings. McDonald finished out the game by allowing one run and one hit in 1.2 innings. 

The Shockers are currently in the race for 1st place with USF in the American Athletic Conference. They will finish out their regular season play against No. 1 Oklahoma at Wilkins Stadium on Tuesday, May 4 at 6 p.m.