Making Wichita State history, junior shortstop Sydney McKinney will become the first softball player to represent WSU in the U.S. Women’s National Team.

On Wednesday evening, USA Softball announced the decision and McKinney’s place on the roster for the upcoming Japan All-Star Series.

From Aug. 6-9, McKinney and the team will go against the Japan National Team in Fukushima/Yokohama, Japan.

McKinney joined five other players that were added to the roster Wednesday night.

With 14 student-athletes and one former student-athlete on board, The Japan All-Star Series roster highlights five athletic conferences: Pac-12, Big 12, AAC, SEC and ACC.

Players come from nine different universities: four athletes from Oklahoma, three athletes from UCLA, and one player each from Arizona, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas, UCF, Washington and Wichita State.

The three-game series is set to kick off on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. (Japan Time). The next two matches will be the following Sunday and Monday at 7 p.m for both.

McKinney has become a force to be reckoned with during her collegiate career. The shortstop led the country with a batting average of .522 this last season and became the Shockers’ all-time leader in hits.

McKinney also recently earned All-American honors for the second time and is a top-10 finalist in the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. McKinney also won AAC Player of the Year in 2021.