DALLAS – Wichita State softball learned its NCAA Regional aboard an airplane traveling back from the American Athletic Conference Championship Sunday night. The Shockers are headed to the Fayetteville Regional and will open vs. Oregon.
Wichita State (33-16) begins NCAA Tournament play on Friday, May 20, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. CT vs. Oregon on ESPN+. Arkansas is the No. 4 national seed and will face Princeton.
The Shockers are 1-4 all-time vs. Oregon but haven't met since 2009. Against the rest of the field, Wichita State is 4-10 against the Razorbacks and 1-0 vs. Princeton. Wichita State and Arkansas met in early February this season – a 7-4 win for Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Oregon is 31-17 this season after going 10-14 in the Pac-12.
Wichita State last played in the Fayetteville Regional in 2018 when the Shockers defeated Oklahoma State twice to advance to the program's first Regional Final, before falling to the Razorbacks.
The Shockers are making their sixth NCAA Regional appearance and second straight. Wichita State received an at-large bid for just the third time in school history. This also marks the first time in program history Wichita State has made it to consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Four of the six NCAA appearances have come during the
Kristi Bredbenner era.
Wichita State finished second in the American Athletic Conference with a 14-4 record. They are led by All-American candidates
Sydney McKinney and
Addison Barnard. McKinney, a Top 10 finalist for the USA Collegiate Player of the Year, leads the nation in batting average (.511) and hits (90), while Barnard is the NCAA leader in home runs (32), RBI (82) and total bases (168).
Friday's winners will square off in the first of three games Saturday, while Friday's losing teams will face off in an elimination game for game two of Saturday's tripleheader. The loser of Saturday's first game will take on the winner of the day's second game in an elimination game later Saturday night. The winner of Saturday's final game will take on the winner of the day's first game on Sunday with an if-necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday.
The winner of this weekend's regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Seattle Regional, hosted by Washington. The goal is to reach the 2022 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Wichita State is joined in the NCAA field by fellow American Athletic Conference teams, UCF and South Florida.
