Sophomore Addison Barnard moved up on the list with eight home runs and over ten stolen bases so far this season .However,  from a team perspective, the women’s softball program swept South Dakota State but fell short to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska.  

The Shockers started off the week with a 4-10 loss to No. 6 Nebraska on Thursday. Sophomore Lauren Lucas homered again this week to open up the scoring for the Shockers. However, after the third inning, the Shockers struggled to put runs on the board. 

After a loss on Friday, the Shockers bounced back in a tight win against South Dakota. Freshman Jordyn Pipkin got the start in the circle. However, the Shockers cycled through the bullpen with freshman Kenzie Schopfer and senior Caitlin Bingham. Despite struggles in the circle, the Shockers produced offensively, with an 8-7 win. 

South Dakota scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth which meant WSU needed a significant inning of play at the plate in the seventh. Zoe Jones hit a ground ball to the opposing team’s shortstop that resulted in an error for South Dakota. This opened the scoring wide open for the Shockers to seal the win. 

The doubleheader on Friday though, resulted in another devastating performance to Nebraska. The Cornhuskers started hot right off the bat with seven runs scored in the second. They held the Shockers to only four runs scored on six hits to produce a whopping 4-12 final score. Freshman Alison Cooper got the start on the mound against another nationally ranked team. However, Erin McDonald took over to pitch the last four innings of the game. 

WSU finished out the week on a high note after a 7-1 win against South Dakota on Saturday. Bingham threw her third complete game of the season. WSU started to seal the game in the fifth with seven runs scored. 

Up next, women’s softball will play at Missouri on March 9 at 4 p.m. before heading to the Jayhawk Invitational two days later in Lawrence, Kansas