Wichita State softball, Sydney McKinney dominate American Athletic Conference awards
After winning the American Athletic Conference championship, the Wichita State softball team was also the big winner from the conference end-of-season awards announced Wednesday.
Sydney McKinney was named the AAC Player of the Year for the second time in her career, freshman Sami Hood was Defensive Co-Player of the Year, freshman pitcher Alex Aguilar was Rookie of the Year and Kristi Bredbenner, Elizabeth Economon and Presley Bell were named the Coaching Staff of the Year. Voting is done by the league’s coaches.
The Shockers finished the regular season with a 43-9 overall record and won their second AAC title in the last three seasons with a 16-2 league record. WSU is the No. 1 seed and received a first-round bye at this week’s conference tournament in Tampa, Florida, and will play the winner between Houston and Tulsa in Friday’s semifinal at 11 a.m. broadcast on ESPNU.
McKinney currently leads the country in batting average (.527) and hits (97) and is a top-10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. She is the first player in program history to finish her career as a four-time first team all-conference player. WSU has taken home the league MVP — Addison Barnard won the award in 2022 — in three straight seasons.
WSU had four players named first team all-conference in McKinney, Barnard, senior infielder Zoe Jones and junior outfielder Lauren Lucas. Aguilar, Hood, junior starter Lauren Howell and sophomore catcher Lainee Brown earned second team all-conference honors. Aguilar, Hood and Taylor Sedlacek were named to the all-rookie team, as well.
Hood has impressed in her debut season with the Shockers with a reliable glove at second base. She has a .972 fielding percentage with just five errors in 180 chances.
Aguilar was the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year after finishing with a perfect 8-0 record in league play with a 1.54 ERA in 50 innings.
Among the veterans to receive recognition, Barnard added her third straight first team all-conference selection with eight home runs and a .429 batting average in league play, while Lucas ranks top-10 nationally in RBI (58) and has a career-high batting average of .393 and Jones is second on the team with her 13 home runs and 53 RBI. Howell, an Arkansas transfer, is 18-3 this season with a 2.35 ERA and 10 complete games. Her catcher, Brown, has started every game this season and is hitting a career-high .271 with six home runs and 21 RBI.
