Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Soro at Wichita State University strategic communications. Today's guests are Wichita State Softball pitching Coach Presley Bell and pitcher Lauren Howell. We're gonna talk softball in advance of this weekend's black and yellow challenge at Wilkins Stadium. Shockers will play two games each against Western Illinois and Bradley on Saturday and Sunday to hope in their home schedule. Wichita State is 12 and three. The shockers moved into the national rankings this week as high as number 23 in one of the polls after winning seven in a row. And the pitching staff is off to a strong start, 2.25 e r a nine complete games, and five shutouts. Lauren Howell is a junior. She's from Jefferson City, Missouri, a transfer from Arkansas. She's five and one with a 1.35 e r a. So Lauren, you're at the famous Central Dairy in Jefferson City, Missouri. What's your go-to order?
Speaker 2 00:01:06 <laugh>? I'm a pretty plain person, so I typically just get like chocolate chip ice cream. But
Speaker 1 00:01:12 Describe central dairy for people who have not been there. I've been there. It's fabulous. Why is it such a well known place? In Jeff City?
Speaker 2 00:01:18 They have great service and you, when you go in there, you don't really see ice cream being $2 and for the amount that you get, it's kind of crazy. But yeah, you get in there and you get out and the ice cream's pretty good.
Speaker 1 00:01:29 Okay. If you're ever in mid-Missouri, you owe yourself, you stop at central dairy. Definitely. The shockers are ranked a, as we said. So Pressley, what's it like in, uh, Wilkins Stadium when those poles hit the hit the Twitter machine, is it a big deal? Does it mean a lot for perception, recruiting, excitement? Or is it just just another day?
Speaker 3 00:01:48 Yeah, no, it's exciting. I think we were all pretty excited to see those numbers come out this past week. Um, we did have a really good weekend down in Denton, Texas. Um, two wins against North Texas. A pretty good post-season. North Texas team is a good win for us. Um, so I was pretty excited, especially knowing we opened up at home this weekend. So kind of having those numbers come out, you know, Twitter is great, um, to get the information out to love our fans, but to really pack the crowd this weekend. So I think it's a good start for us opening up at home and having three weekends here in March to get the home crowd behind us.
Speaker 1 00:02:21 Okay. Preston, let's go back to the fall. So you showed up, uh, knowing the staff had to replace two real experienced pitchers, Caitlin Bingham and Aaron McDonald. How did you start the process of, of taking this largely new group or inexperienced group and and getting it ready to compete?
Speaker 3 00:02:36 Yeah, I mean Kate and Aaron were fifth year seniors. They had been here before. They had experienced all of it. Um, Kenzie and Allie, they were sophomores, so they had experienced a little bit their freshman year but didn't get a ton. Um, so at least they were coming back with a little bit of how this all worked. Um, I had two freshmen coming in, Alex and Sarah, so they were brand new. Um, Lauren transferred into us, so she was brand new into our staff, into our little program. So I think I was kind of able to really make this group a little bit of my own, you know, all and Kins were my first ones, my first year as a pitching coach. Everyone else was new. So I think kind of just like railing them in a little bit, kind of giving them on the same page of what I want our staff to look like, how we're gonna work towards this, how we're gonna work together as a staff and kind of develop um, you know, our work ethic that way.
Speaker 3 00:03:18 We really worked hard in the fall, did a lot of pitching, conditioning, worked at our bullpens, talked a lot. I like to talk through things. I think if we're on the same page we can kind of get to where we want to want to go, um, in a successful way. So I think just kind of like having a fresh set of girls with me, you know, kind of like as my first year them all being mine was pretty helpful and like a breath of fresh air almost to kind of get them to where I want to go and how we wanna move forward this year.
Speaker 1 00:03:44 Lauren, so you come into a, a new school, new classes, new teammates, all of that. How do you go about adjusting, getting comfortable with these surroundings?
Speaker 2 00:03:52 Yeah, I was a little nervous for sure, but I knew that I was gonna have to come in and work my butt off and I knew that um, it wasn't gonna be easy and I was gonna have to adjust in a way that I haven't in the past. And yeah, they've all made it pretty welcoming here and I just think I was comfortable and felt at home being here and being around all the, like all my teammates.
Speaker 1 00:04:13 Tell us about how you chose Wichita Stadiums.
Speaker 2 00:04:15 When I entered the portal, I didn't really have an intention of playing softball and I kind of just was keeping an open mind and some of the coaches that reached out to me, I was like, wow, these are really good college coaches and talked to a few of them. Um, coach B being one of them and um, she just had a lot of confidence in me and talking to her on the phone just made me feel like comfortable again and she just brought me in and I just really loved it here.
Speaker 1 00:04:44 So you mentioned entering the portal. Maybe it'd be helpful for people to understand the process cause I know fans now are, they're totally clued into the transfer portal that exists is a big thing. As an athlete, what are the steps? How do you enter the portal?
Speaker 2 00:04:58 Yeah, so when you wanna enter the portal, you just go to some one-on-one compliance and they'll walk you through the process. But I had a lot of teammates that were transfers, so I reached out to them just to see what it was kind of like. I knew it was kind of overwhelming. Um, but yeah, you just get the email and basically just send all your stuff in and it just goes straight into the portal and then you're in there and all the co coaches can reach out to you whenever they want.
Speaker 1 00:05:23 Okay. Presley, uh, for fans who are gonna get out and see the shockers this weekend, give 'em a description of the pitchers, the pitching staff and, and how they go about doing their jobs.
Speaker 3 00:05:33 Yeah, I mean if you look at our stats you can tell that you know, Lauren, Allie and Alex kind of hold the heavier amount of innings for us a little bit. Um, Kenzie has seen a couple of in endings and stuff like that, but we're really just trying to hit the ground running. You know, we'll get a good start from either Allie, Lauren or Alex. They can all really work as starters. But then Alex has done a pretty good job coming in in late games this year, you know, kind of shutting the door for us a little bit. Um, we're just ready to get after it. You know, it might be a little bit chilly this weekend, but I think this weekend's another good weekend for us to really get some innings under our belt, work on attacking hitters, attacking spots, stuff like that. Just continuing to build some confidence within, you know, those three starters if you will. But just kind of all five of my girls as a staff.
Speaker 1 00:06:14 So I know we talked in the, before the season started about uh, using people in different situations, complimenting each other with pitching styles. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, tell us a little bit about that. How these pitchers kind of mesh together and, and and and help each
Speaker 3 00:06:26 Other. Yeah. Um, Lauren definitely throws the hardest of the five, um, which is good. We haven't had, you know, a lot of speed really in the past couple years. Um, so that's good. She can work up in the zone, down in the zone. She has a really good off speed and a change up stuff like that. Allie's a lefty, so it's a little bit funky just from the get go cause it's coming from the different side. Um, she can work a little bit east to west. She does have a good drop ball and a really good change up. Um, Alex has rise ball, good screw ball. She's working her, her curve and everything on the outside corner. Um, her screw ball and her rise ball are really, really effective. You know, she really has the ability to go inside hard on hitters, which is big.
Speaker 3 00:07:04 Um, Kenzie, same kind of deal. She has a rise. She's really good whenever she can hone in and really effectively hit the knees. You know, she has really good natural spin. And then I have Sarah who's another lefty who throws the slowest of the group, but that's not always a bad thing, you know, it's really hard to sit and wait on something like that. And she has a really good change up. She kind of has three different speeds that's a little bit tough, so they all compliment each other in a different way, in a really good way. Um, so like I said, we were able, you know, Lauren started that last North Texas game. We were able to bring in Alex, you know, she closed the door, so just, it's a different kind of look. Um, they are similar in certain ways, but they all have their own presence, you know, they're all an individual to say the least. Um, so they're not all mediocre or they don't all look the same. They help each other a lot, um, which is you need that now, you know, you need a staff, you need that, all those different parts.
Speaker 1 00:07:53 So that would be one piece of it. Then having pictures who compliment each other and have variety. How big a role does video scout reports preparation then play in figuring out the
Speaker 3 00:08:04 Plan? Oh, it's huge. I mean, there's so much technology out there nowadays, you know, it's really kind of transformed our game and so why not take advantage? So I mean, I watch film coach b watch watches, film. We've really, um, gotten the girls watching film this year in the past, coach Coachee's really done a good job with our hitters, you know, scouting, watching film every single day. It's part of practice. So as a pitching staff, we've kind of incorporated that into our daily routine. Um, so the girls watch film, I have them fill out notes about what they see about the hitter, you know, what is their barrel path, tell you how they stayed on the box when they attack like an account, stuff like that. So that's three sets of eyes, you know, watching fail before we play an opponent, which I think's helped us a lot as you're writing notes down and you see a girl once they step in the box like, oh, I've already pitched you twice, even though you haven't, but you feel more comfortable, you feel more confident in how we're going to attack that hitter. So I think that's helped us quite a bit.
Speaker 1 00:08:52 So Lauren, what's most helpful for you when you do the, the video study?
Speaker 2 00:08:56 Yeah, I think I like to see where players stand in the box for me cuz it just shows like which side I need to work the most and just looking at their bat path too. Like I like to see if they're like roll over the ball, get underneath it just for certain pitches that I throw because I have a rise and a drop. So knowing that helps me a lot, um, with their swing.
Speaker 1 00:09:18 So Lauren, you were wearing number two here at Wichita State. Is there a story behind your selection of that number?
Speaker 2 00:09:23 Um, through travel ball and like high school ball. I've always had different numbers, so I'm not really partial towards any specific number. At Arkansas, I was five but I just kind of wanted to change it up a little bit and I've been two and travel ball so I just decided to go with two here.
Speaker 1 00:09:36 So Lauren, tell us about growing up. Uh, was softball always your number one sport? Did you play other sports
Speaker 2 00:09:41 In high school? Yes. Uh, I only played softball in high school, but in grade school I played basketball and volleyball and stuff like that. And I enjoyed all, all the sports that I played. I liked basketball probably the second best after softball, but um, I was always very competitive as a kid and growing up around, um, my family, like they're always, they're very competitive as well, so, but softball's just like number one in my family.
Speaker 1 00:10:05 What about softball grabbed you?
Speaker 2 00:10:08 Uh, so my grandpa was actually a men's fast pitch pitcher and my dad played baseball and so I just grew up kind of around that aspect and I just, I've seen videos of him pitching, I've seen pictures and it just kind of took an interest in what I wanted to do and pitching was just kind of in my blood.
Speaker 1 00:10:25 So Presley, you're checking the transfer portal and you see a pitcher pop up. What's the recruiting pitch from Wichita State Softball?
Speaker 3 00:10:33 I mean the name of the game for us, we've always been really, really offensive heavy. You know, we've been able to produce, we've always just kind of lacked a little bit in the circle. So anytime we see a picture of the transfer portal, you know, we want to get you on campus, especially if we know that you're someone that can compete and has good tools that can really help us. Um, we need you, you know, we need all the arms that we can get. We know that we're gonna produce runs, but we've always just kind of lacked that competitive drive, that shutdown kind of demeanor in the circle. So whenever we see a pitcher pop up that we know that can compete, that we can make better here, we really want to get after it.
Speaker 1 00:11:08 Lauren, was that attractive to you Wichita State's history with offense and the people that had coming back knowing you were, you're probably gonna get pretty good run support on most game
Speaker 2 00:11:16 Days? Yes, I knew their offense was very good and I knew they had some good pitching as well and I knew that I could come in here and that this team could really help me and that I could help this team as well. Just getting my confidence back and um, I think our staff has done such a good job of like welcoming me in and we all just worked together so well.
Speaker 1 00:11:35 So Lauren described preparing for this spring because it was gonna be different. You were gonna throw a lot more than you did the previous two seasons. How did you go about getting, getting ready
Speaker 2 00:11:44 For this? Yeah, I just knew I had to get my mind right. I knew that I've always been a competitor and playing in travel ball that that was me. Like I was pretty much the horse, the bulldog, you know, so I had to get that mentality back and um, work my butt off in the winter to get to where I am right now.
Speaker 1 00:12:02 So 15 games in. Was there a point a game where Presley you really began to feel good about the the pitching staff?
Speaker 3 00:12:10 Yeah, I think, you know, early on we got tested pretty well. You know, we went to Texas State and Texas state's a really good team and that first game we won three to two. You know, like if you look in the past, not many times were we winning games, you know, three to two or like kind of low scoring games that we're coming out on top. So I was like, we're we're really holding people, you know, we're not scoring 12 runs but we're getting a dub at the end of the day. So I think that was kind of huge, just really kind of showed that like, you know, we are a little bit more mature in the circle and we are able to kind of get the job done even if our offense hasn't shown up like we're used to it, we can still rely on our circle to, you know, execute pitches, get effective out, stuff like that, work quick to get us back in the dugout, but we can hold teams to just two runs, which is kind of huge.
Speaker 1 00:12:52 Lauren, how about you? Has there been a little bit of a light bulb moment this early in the season where you thought, boy, things are are going well at this point?
Speaker 2 00:12:59 Yeah, I think we're all, I think it's getting there. I think, uh, our last game we showed a lot of heart and this team's gritty. Like we, we got it I think. And um, pitching and offense, we just need to click all together and we're gonna be pretty stellar.
Speaker 1 00:13:13 So Lauren, when you are using this, uh, I guess complimentary style of managing the bullpen, managing the staff, like we've talked about, I guess when you're the starter you've gotta have, uh, confidence in your teammate. You've gotta say, well I'd love to finish this off, but it's better for someone else to come in. How do you get mentally to that point where you're confident in, in handing somebody else to the
Speaker 2 00:13:34 Softball? Yeah, I think in that North Texas game, like I was pitching a pretty good game, but I knew that I had gone through that lineup, uh, quite a few times and then bringing Alex in, I had a lot of confidence in her. She's come in and done really well in situations and I had no doubt in my mind that she was gonna finish that game and I was super proud of her. Seeing her do that as a freshman is pretty huge and honestly, I think any one of our pitchers can do that because we're not overpowering by no means, but we're gonna give it all we got when we go out there every single time.
Speaker 1 00:14:04 So we're 15 games in shockers are 12 and three things are gonna get tougher, uh, with the non-conference schedule, get some great teams coming into Wilkins Stadium. Uh, conference play is always challenging. So Pressley, how does the message change now that we're into, into March and the season begins to turn a little bit?
Speaker 3 00:14:19 Yeah, I think the message pretty much stays the same, you know, when I want them to go out there and compete and always, you know, if I, I always tell them, I was like, if you need to think you're throwing to our hitters, do it. You know, we have one of the best offenses in the country and that only, that's only gonna make them better. You know, they threw against our team quite a bit in January leading up to our season. I think the biggest thing is just how game light can I make their bullpens for them, you know, moving forward, you know, how much pressure can I add on them into their bullpen so that whenever they get into the game, into these tougher opponents leading into conference stuff like that, they feel like they've already been there. So it calms them down down a little bit. They're able to still hit their spots. They don't really hit, you know, a freak out mode or anything like that. They're not trying too hard. So I think that's the biggest thing, just kind of applying pressure during practice in their bullpens, stuff like that. Get them used to it that way whenever we got into the game it's easier for them to perform.
Speaker 1 00:15:08 So long, long road trips are always a part of college athletics. Uh, Lauren, you've been here, you are been on three long trips. Tell us about your go-to strategies for, for surviving the long bus ride or the airplane ride. Do you have a neck pillow? Do you bring snacks? Netflix? How do you, how, how do you kill time on those trips?
Speaker 2 00:15:25 I definitely bring some snacks. We also have a snack bag too in case I don't bring something, but I always like to have like a pillow for the longer trips and a blanket as well. Um, but yeah, I, I, sorry, let me restart <laugh>. Um, but yeah, so a blanket, some snacks. I don't have a neck pillow, but I typically rely on doing quite a bit of homework. I'm a business major so I don't have as much homework as some of the girls on the team, but I do have some and I do that and also with outer banks coming out, I've been watching some of those episodes as well on the buses, on the bus rides. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:16:01 Thanks. You anticipated my next question, which is going to be, what was your recommendation for, uh, for Netflix? Who brings the best snacks on the team?
Speaker 2 00:16:09 Zoe for sure. <laugh>, I would say Zoe brings the best snacks. She goes to Trader Joe's almost before every trip, so yeah, she has the best snacks.
Speaker 1 00:16:17 Presley, how about you? What's your tips for surviving road trips?
Speaker 3 00:16:20 Um, yeah, they can be pretty long. I always have a pillow and a blanket. I don't typically bring snacks just cuz we eat so much on the road anyway. Um, I like to take a nap on the bus. Um, on our longer trips I'll watch some film, you know, stuff like that. Just some last minute preparation type stuff. Um, a lot of times I'm watching Coachee and Coach B play their switch. If she has her Apple tv, they'll put it on the screams, like on the bus. So we'll watch them play Mario, we'll watch softball, stuff like that. Coach B'S really good about bringing her Apple tv, so we always have something going on on the bus, so it makes it a little bit more bearable.
Speaker 1 00:16:56 Okay. You're gonna have to explain Swift
Speaker 3 00:16:58 <laugh>, the Nintendo Switch. So like half our team has one. Yeah, I feel like, but Coach B and Coachee, they get after it on theirs, so So
Speaker 1 00:17:06 It's a video
Speaker 3 00:17:07 Game? It is a video game. Handheld video game. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:17:09 Who's, what games do they play and who wins?
Speaker 3 00:17:12 Um,
Speaker 2 00:17:13 I know, I don't
Speaker 3 00:17:14 Know if they actually play each other, but like, they're really big into Animal Crossing right now. Yeah, that's the latest one. And then anything kind of Mario, stuff like that, but
Speaker 2 00:17:23 Pretty mindless games. <laugh> they like to play.
Speaker 3 00:17:25 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:17:26 Who gets to choose, uh, the movie or the softball game? How, what? How's the hierarchy on the bus with, oh,
Speaker 3 00:17:32 Coach B, coach B. But a lot of times we like to watch the softball games. Like, we'll kind of ask like, oh, can you put so and so on? If we know that they're playing something like that, we'll watch people in our conference, you know, if there's a good tournament going on, we'll watch that team. Um, a lot of times, or last year we watched season two of Ted Lasso while we were on the bus, kind of like, cuz we were trialing the first six, six weekends of the season, so we were able to watch Ted Lasso last year.
Speaker 1 00:17:57 Ted Lasso resonates a lot with this softball team. Why is that? What, what is it about Ted Lasso that really grabbed this
Speaker 3 00:18:02 Group? You know, I think it's just the whole message of this show. If you haven't watched it, you definitely need to watch it. But it's all about, you know, believing in yourself, believing in each other. You know, no one's better than anyone else in the room or on the team. You have to work together. You know, the biggest thing is like, we always go back to how they treat, you know, their manager Nate, you know, in the beginning before Ted gets there, they're like, oh, he's just the equipment guy, he's the towel, whatever, whatever. But then they start to realize like, wow, he has a really big part of this team. He's just as important as us, you know? So then he becomes part of the team and I think it's just huge with our group, you know, the kind of culture that we try to have. The real family aspect of our program really resonates a lot with Ted Lasso. And I think that's the biggest thing that's kind of like driven our program in the past couple years. We even got like a canvas that says believe in our locker room, like they have in their locker room above the door. So I think it's just huge. It's a really great message. It's so heartwarming, it's so funny and we just love it. I think season three is coming up pretty soon, so we'll be watching that soon.
Speaker 1 00:19:01 Lauren, I'll let you wrap it up. As we mentioned, really good schedule at home. From here on out, uh, there's Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, uh, the conference teams. If you're going to advise a fan come out for, for one game or one weekend series, what would you, what would your advice be for a fan to come out and check out the shockers and check out softball?
Speaker 2 00:19:22 I think any one of those teams that we play would be a good one to come out for, but obviously <laugh>, if I had to choose one, I would say Arkansas, come to the Arkansas game.
Speaker 4 00:19:42 Hi, this is Rick Yuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chacar Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 5 00:20:11 Great insight as always. Thanks for listening to the Roundhouse podcast. Courtesy of Wichita State University's strategic communications, we encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can always find more roundhouse
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Speaker 6 00:20:28 They let him pass it up court and then it gets ticked off along. Three by Pango. No good. One second. It's over. Its over. And Wichita State has beaten the number one team in the nation to go crazy Wichita, I know
Speaker 0 00:20:44 You are.
