The first home games Wichita State softball played in this year at the Shocker Invitational did not go the way the team wanted. The Shockers went 1-4 over the weekend with two run-rule losses.
The Shockers are now 10-9 on the season and 0-6 against ranked opponents. WSU lost to two ranked teams during its home tournament. Conference play is set to begin on Friday, March 7.
“We got to get better and find some ways to win,” WSU head coach Kristi Bredbenner said after the final game of the invitational. “I think right now, we’re just not clicking. I think some ding-dong made a pretty hard schedule for a group that’s fairly young.
“And that ding-dong is me.”
Thursday
No. 15 Oklahoma State
The Shockers were run-ruled by Oklahoma State University to start the Shocker Invitational, 11-2.
The Cowgirls put up a three-spot in the first inning, but WSU responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the frame. Those two runs would be the Shockers’ only runs of the game. In the next two innings, OSU put three more runs and in the fifth, the Cowgirls piled on five more.
Needing to score two runs to avoid the run rule in the fifth inning, the Shockers left the bases loaded without plating anyone.
Wichita State managed just three hits total in the game, two of which came from graduate student Ellee Eck.
Friday
Missouri
The Shockers were defeated by the University of Missouri, 10-1. Sophomore pitcher Chloe Barber threw two straight scoreless innings to start the game but gave up a lead-off home run to start the third, being tagged with the loss in the process.
With two outs in the fourth, the Tigers scored six runs with the help of two WSU errors and two walks with the bases juiced.
The Shockers’ only run came in the bottom of the fifth when junior Taylor Sedlacek hit a solo home run to center field.
Four different Shockers committed errors leading to five unearned runs in the loss. Wichita State has three games so far this year with three or more errors, which is already more than the two such games last season.
Saturday
South Dakota State
The Shockers won their first game of the Shocker Invitational against South Dakota State University, 5-4.
The Shockers scored first when Eck was walked with the bases loaded in the second inning. South Dakota State tied the game in the third and fourth innings, but Wichita State immediately answered in both frames to retake the lead.
In the seventh inning, down to their final two outs, the Jackrabbits once again tied the game with a two-run home run. In the bottom of the inning, Sedlacek was walked and then reached second on a sacrifice bunt. Junior Jodie Epperson stepped up to the plate and hit a walk-off double to left center field on the first pitch she saw.
“I actually love to be in those positions,” Epperson said. “No outs, runners on base. So I think that I saw the first pitch and I liked it.”
No. 16 Nebraska
Against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Shockers suffered their worst margin of defeat since 2021, 15-0. The Cornhuskers managed 14 hits, 12 walks and three errors during the game to lead them to the rout.
Sedlacek was the only Shocker to get a hit in the game. 12 of Nebraska’s 15 runs came in the fourth inning, when the team batted around and collected eight hits.
Sunday
South Dakota State
In the finale of the Shocker Invitational, WSU battled back from an early deficit to get the winning run to the plate but still fell short, 6-4.
“We’re fighting; we’re trying to find ways to get on,” Bredbenner said about the team’s resilience. “I’d like to see us have a little bit better at-bats in the middle of our lineup, but like I said it’s not that simple all the time.”
The Jackrabbits took an early 5-0 lead by the bottom of the third inning. In the Shockers’ turn of the third, the team loaded the bases and scored a run without getting a hit. Sedlacek was walked with the bases loaded to put Wichita State on the board.
“I went in there and I knew to just pass the bat to the next person, just have the process of getting on with two outs and just executed it,” Sedlacek said. “And thought about knowing my zone and staying in my zone.”
The Shockers inched closer when senior Camryn Compton hit a sac fly in the fourth inning.
In the Shockers’ last inning, freshman Brookelyn Livanec got on base with a pinch-hit leadoff double, then two Shockers were walked to load the bases. Sedlacek singled home one run and another came around on a wild pitch.
Beckerley came to the plate as the Shockers’ last hope, but she lined out to center field, ending the game.
Freshman Ryley Nihart shined on the mound, only giving up one run in 4.1 innings in relief.
Wichita State will travel to play the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday, March 5. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
