[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Thank you very much for listening. We appreciate your time as always. Our guest today is sophomore infielder Asha Moore. She leads the Wichita State softball team with a.399 batting average, 22 home runs.
There's a.942 slugging percentage and a.576 on base percentage. And those numbers are also at the top of the American Conference. Asha is from Del City, Oklahoma. She attended Carl Albert High School. She was a first team All American conference pick earlier this week. Her mark of 22 home runs is tied for third most in program history. And if you followed shocker softball over the last five or ten years, you know they've had a lot of people that have hit a lot of home runs.
Wichita State is 35 and 16. They wrapped up a share of the conference title on Saturday. They are the number two seed in the conference tournament and will play their first game 2:30pm on Friday in Greenville, North Carolina. We are recording this on Wednesday, so we don't know the opponent. That opponent will be determined Thursday afternoon.
Asha, tell us about softball. How did you choose that as your main sport?
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Okay, so believe it or not, I played basketball a lot when I was younger and until my freshman year of high school I was probably 5 5, so I was pretty short compared to where I am now. So I wasn't very tall, I wasn't very fast, I was kind of chubby. So I didn't really make that good of a basketball player.
So my dad, he took me, I think he saw it from a young age too. So he took me out in the front yard, he bought me a little wiffle ball bat, you know, from Walmart and we started having bp. And he claims that I was hitting it over the street into the neighbors yards across the street.
And you know, he tries to take credit and say that that was my origin story.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: So that's a good one. How tall are you now? Just to give people an idea?
[00:02:07] Speaker B: 5:9.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: 5:9. So you've sprouted up a few inches. Okay, tell me about dad. How much of an influence was he on your softball career?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Oh, quite a bit in every facet.
You know, he used to be my coach and I don't know if you've ever been coached by your father, but you know, it's not really a good recipe for success with that relationship. But when he stopped being my coach and I mat lot, he's my best friend and anytime I'm going Through something good or bad, he's the first person that I call. And every trial and tribulation, every win, every award that I've gotten, I always give him the plaque or the credit for that, because without him, then probably wouldn't be here at the level that I'm at right now.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Does he have a baseball softball background?
[00:02:53] Speaker B: He does. He claims that he was a switch hitter, you know, when he was in school, but he didn't play. He didn't play in college or anything like that, but he claims that's where I get my athleticism from.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: And I'm furiously trying to look up your dad's first name. We should name him. You can probably beat me to it.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: It's okay. Jeffrey.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: Jeffrey.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: Jeffrey. Yep.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: Thank you. So good job, Jeffrey. Been a big. Been a big influence.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: So you played basketball? Any other sports, or was it those two?
[00:03:19] Speaker B: I played tennis in middle school, so I was pretty good at that. You know, the first practice, I was hitting them too hard. I was hitting them out of the courts. You know, probably a little immature right there, but I played tennis. I played volleyball in middle school as well, but mainly just softball and basketball.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Why did you choose Wichita State?
[00:03:40] Speaker B: Ooh.
Well, they recruited me out of high school, and I said no, obviously. I went to North Texas first my freshman year.
But when they called me back, that meant a lot to me because, you know, I know how legendary of a program this has been, and for them to come back around showed me, you know, the type of people that they were. But I think after really just talking to the coaches and seeing the innovations that they've made in the past couple years, you know, with the indoor and everything like that, I was pretty sold. You know, I wanted to really develop as a hitter. And if you look at Kochi's resume, she's got a lot of really developed professional. Cc will probably be an Olympian. So she's. She's.
She's developed a lot of talent, and so I just. I took her word for it and I came here.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: So you mentioned the indoor. For people who have not been on campus lately, Wichita State opened, I guess in the. Early. In the spring or last fall. Last fall, yeah. So fairly recently, within the last year, an indoor hitting fielding facility right next to Wilkins Stadium. Really nice. They have now broken ground on the new locker room, offices, team room, all those kind of things which will connect to the indoors. So a lot of facilities going up around Wilkins Stadium. You wear number 81. Tell us the story with wearing number 81.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So my number for sure was zero. My favorite basketball player was Russell Westbrook when he played for the Thunder. So I WORE Just singular zero for a long time, and then I chose 81 because both of my parents are actually born in 1981, and so I feel like that was a good way to honor the both of them.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Okay, nice story. Tell us about Russell Westbrook. Why do you enjoy him so much?
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Oh, I was. Obviously, still am a big basketball fan, and he's so.
He's very passionate, and, you know, the fact that he played for the Thunder for so long and kind of put them on the map. He was just one of my favorite athletes. I think he's probably one of the best athletes of all time. So that's why.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Who is the first person you text or call after a good game?
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Ooh, probably our family group chat. So it's called more fam3 because, like, there's three of us. I'm an only child, so we call it more fam3. So I'll text the group chat, and, you know, they'll give me their thoughts on the game, but I probably call my dad first.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: So you hit five home runs as a freshman. You mentioned you transferred to Wichita State from North Texas. So you're up 17 this season.
How'd that happen?
[00:06:06] Speaker B: I give all my credit to the coaches.
You know, sometimes Coach B can get overshadowed in the hitting aspect. But I think what really meant, I guess, to answer your question, confidence, for the most part, I think, for me, learning how to use my body. But, you know, at the beginning of the year, I wasn't hitting as well as I had expected to or wanted to. And I was. It might sound crazy, but I was really surprised that she kept me in the top three in the lineup or that I continued to play every day. And so I think Coach B really, like, she never said anything to me about it, but I think she just kind of showed me how much confidence that she had in me. And then, you know, I've worked with Coach E since the first day that we got here, and she's kind of taught me how to use my body, but she still enforces confidence into me. And so I think just the mental aspect of the game really helped me, and that's why I've had such so much growth in such a short amount of time.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: And Coach B is Christy Breadbenner, the head coach. Coach E is Elizabeth Economen, who is the associate head coach. Works a lot with the hitters. Yeah. And we hear a lot about both of them working with hitters helping hitters. Give us a specific example. How has Elizabeth or Christie changed something in your swing? Or you mentioned confidence. Give us a good example about how they've helped.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: I think for me, it was in the fall, probably towards the middle of the fall, maybe kind of before we started playing games. But I think I was having a rough time with my swing and making it as efficient as possible. And I think coachee could really tell that I was very frustrated. And so she pulled me into her office one day and just told me to ask her to trust her and to not lose sight of the bigger goal and to understand that it's going to take me a minute to kind of accommodate to the growth that I needed to make.
And so I put all of my faith in her hands. And, you know, I trusted her, every good swing, every bad swing.
And I think in that moment, you know, like I said, I really put into her hands. And I think that that's when we took the huge step of, like, moving forward.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: I think every story I've done about hitters and their relationship with the coaches, they've talked about either the coaches say we had to learn how that person learned, learns, you know, visual, you know, what kind of feedback do you want? That kind of thing. Was that helpful in your case? Was that part of the process was them learning how to best give you information?
[00:08:31] Speaker B: For sure. And I think that that's something that Kochi takes a lot into consideration, is that everybody's different, everybody's swing is going to be different, but we have to do some of the same things to be successful. And so I think, you know, they kind of.
I think they kind of know that I, like all of us, we pretty much know what we're doing wrong. But I think in my case, she just.
She allows me to ask her for help. You know, she doesn't kind of spit it at me usually. I usually seek out her help. And that's how I best learn, is to be able to maybe calm down first or kind of think about the questions that I want to ask first. And then she allows me to feel safe enough to come to her and to ask her any questions. So I think that's how our relationship kind of works.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: So we talked last fall, and you described yourself as not content with how practices were going, but you were happy. And then you said I wasn't barreling up balls that I know I should be. When did you start barreling up balls at a better rate?
[00:09:33] Speaker B: I would say the last weekend of February was at Mizzou. And I think that that was kind of when I started to show and prove to myself that I could be a dangerous hitter that weekend. I think I hit like.800 for the weekend, and I maybe had, I think, two or three home runs and a couple of doubles.
And so I think that last weekend of February is kind of when everything clicked for me going into conference play. So I would say that for the most part.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: So you set the Wichita state record with 46 walks this season. Describe patience at the plate and developing a knowledge of the strikes.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think even my freshman year, I walked a lot in North Texas. I think I had high 30s, I think, maybe.
But I also had a high number of strikeouts. I think I had 30 strikeouts as well.
So I think my understanding of the zone was a little bit too cookie cutter probably my freshman year, not really fouling off a lot of close pitches.
But I think this year, again, Cochise really sat down with me and talked to me about being patient, and that was something that I really had to do because at one point in time, I was just kind of getting myself out, not being very competitive.
And so I think I just had to trust myself, but also trust my teammates even more, you know, knowing that people like Woody and Trinity and anybody else in our lineup, if I don't get the chance to hit and they do that, they're going to come through for our team. So I think just playing a little bit more selfless and understanding that it's a team sport and I don't have to do it by myself.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: We talked about this, I guess, after one of the Memphis games. Take us through kind of the mental gymnastics of I really want to hit the softball, but yet I know they're not going to give me very many good pitches. How do you develop the right approach in those situations?
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Ooh, it's hard. It's hard because you know how hard you worked perform when it's game time, and sometimes when you're not given that opportunity, it can be very frustrating.
I think what helps me a lot is if they give me something early in the zone to swing at that one instead of, you know, maybe allowing them to kind of nibble.
But, you know, sometimes they don't give you a choice, but I think just kind of maturing and just waiting for my pitch. But it can be hard, but I think as the year has gone on, I've learned to be okay with it, so.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: The Shockers won 14 straight conference games that culminated with the sweep of Memphis over the weekend. You really played the second half of the conference season with no margin of error. If you were going to keep up for South Florida, that's who Wichita State ended up tying for the conference conference title with.
Really difficult thing to do to win. You can be a really good softball team and go 12, 2 in that stretch. Wichita State went 14, 0. Why was this team able to maintain that edge for so long?
[00:12:22] Speaker B: I think we're very young, and we're very stubborn. And when Coach B kind of presented to us what we needed to do, I think instead of being nervous or being scared, I think we just kind of took it and ran with it. And I think we started playing how we probably should have been playing the entire year. But I think, you know, because we kind of had a shaky start, it allowed us to understand what we needed to work on.
And, I mean, I don't know, it was. It was really crazy to be a part of. And it was really cool to see our team play at such a high level for such a period of time. You know what I mean?
I guess I can't really give you a specific thing. I think we just.
We got hot and we stayed hot until the very end, and it was really impressive.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: So that would have been two wins over Tulsa and then four sweeps.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Right. Am I doing the math correctly?
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Four sweeps. Not an easy thing to do. How did Christy Redbenner approach it? I'm sure she did not say, all right, we just need to win the next 14, and then we'll be good.
How did she address the urgency of the situation without overloading you or putting too much pressure on the team?
[00:13:29] Speaker B: I think she just. In a roundabout way, I think she knows that we all know. You know, we all look at the standings and, you know, we know kind of where we sit. So I guess I can't really give you a point in time that she was like, here is what needs to be done. But I think in a roundabout way, through her actions and just through the way that, you know, she speaks confidence into us. She just challenged us, and we just kind of took it. And halfway through, I think that stretch, we kind of realized the type of streak that we were on and what we continued to. Needed to do to be number one in the conference. But I think she never lets us feel satisfied. Even, you know, when we were sweeping Charlotte and we swept North Texas, it was like, okay, let's keep going. You know what I mean? And I think that that's something that's really important.
And so, you know, she's constantly challenging Us as a team and I think we constantly respond.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Did it get frustrating watching Scoreboard, watching South Florida and they just didn't ever want to lose either?
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Yes, but we also knew that they were probably feeling the same way about us. And so, you know, you, when you think of a team like South Florida, you know, you know that they're probably not going to lose very often. You know, they do a good job of taking care of business, but you know, they can be beat and they've shown that with their record and we've shown that with ours. You know, they dropped a couple games that maybe they shouldn't have and so did we. So I think that more than anything we were, we wanted to win the entire conference, obviously, but I think we wouldn't have wanted to share with anybody else.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: South Florida had a fabulous year, really good pitching staff. They are the number one seed in the, in the conference tournament. We got a lot of candidates for turning point of the season, so I'll let you weigh in.
Some people have thought Wichita State lost two of three at ECU in early March. Then they came back and beat Oklahoma State on March 10th to start an eight game win streak.
And then they lost the opener 11:10 to Tulsa on April 2nd at home. And that started the.
What ended up being what, a 12 game win streak, 14 in the conference. What's your choice? Was there a light bulb moment?
[00:15:33] Speaker B: I like to highlight the East Carolina series as well because, you know, I don't want to say we underestimated how hard this conference is because I know because I played in it. But we have a lot of freshmen in our lineup as well and a lot of people who have never played in this conference. And so I think that first year, I mean that first conference at East Carolina, like that's a tough trip to make. And obviously, you know, not. They're kind of in the middle of the pack in the standings. Like they're not bad, but I think that we kind of underestimated them a little bit.
And so I think just, I think the Oklahoma State game kind of proved to us that we can respond and we kind of took that and we ran with it. But I like to say the East Carolina series, I think that kind of haunts us as a team as well.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: And the Pirates are hosting the conference tournament. They also have a very strong pitching staff and are a potential opponent for Wichita State on Friday in the semifinals. We talked during the Memphis series about freshman third baseman Kinsey Woody. You said she deserves to be freshman of the year and Player of the year in the conference.
That's how it went when conference honors were announced earlier this week.
What made Kinsey Woody such a productive freshman?
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Oh, I always touch on her confidence. You know, she's a very confident individual, and I think when you play a sport of failure, you need to be that way.
And, you know, she expects to hit 1,000. You know, that might be delusional, but she expects to. And so I think, you know, she.
She's just. I mean, it's kind of nothing that I guess I've seen, especially, you know, when I reflect on my own freshman year. But I think that she is just.
She believes that she can do it, and I think that that's half the battle. And so she's extraordinary. And, you know, she deserved every accolade that she received, and she earned that for sure.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: She definitely had a great freshman year. I talked to a couple of her teammates, and they mentioned the confidence. And then I think one or both of them mentioned just the way she walks to the plate. And somebody used the word swag, which is a pretty good word to use, especially for a freshman. So she definitely has that vibe about her.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: Yeah, she's a dude for sure.
Have you heard that?
[00:17:46] Speaker A: A dude.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: That slang. It's like, when you're a dude, you know, you're like. You're that. You know what I mean?
[00:17:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: You can start saying that. That's like, I put you on some slang. Okay, so, like, when somebody's, like, really good, you know, you're like, they're a dude.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: So the way we have talked about it often is you can be a guy or you can be just a guy.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Okay, so she's a guy. Okay. Okay.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: The difference being. Yeah. Star versus somebody who's just kind of average.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: Right? Exactly. Okay. Just a guy.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Okay. Got it.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Okay. You can throw that one around in the locker room and see what reaction you get. Who is the player on this team that is a bit out of the spotlight that people should know more about?
[00:18:25] Speaker B: Oh, that's a great question, because say
[00:18:27] Speaker A: something nice about your teammates day here.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: I know. I wish I could say something nice about all of them.
I would say.
I would say probably Johnna Schrader or Trinity Allen. Yeah.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: Okay. Tell us a little bit more about each of them.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Me and John have actually gotten pretty close this year. And, you know, she's very mature. You know, she came from Stanford, and she's very smart, and she works really hard. And I think, you know, she provides a good look from the left side with Rooney and I think that over this past year, you know, this is one of her. This is her first year playing, like, pretty consistently without injury and stuff like that. Knock on wood. But I think, you know, in terms of playing time, like she's a freshman, you know what I mean? Like, she's not used to that. And I think that she's done a great job and she watches a lot of films. She works with Ko Chi a lot. And I think over the back half of the conference season, she's. I mean, she's kind of emerged and she's very good. I think Trinity is another one. You know, she got honorable mention this week. You know, she's been on a tear, but I think after moving from that leadoff spot back down to the floor hole, I think she's a lot more comfortable.
And I think, you know, maybe with myself or Woody and maybe Riley, those people get overlooked from our team. But I think that those two are two that continue to really impress me.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: And Jonna, you mentioned plays right field. She's hitting.319 for the Shockers, five home runs. Trinity Allen has been at first base most of the season. She is hitting.360 with eight home runs.
Let's say Carl Albert High School calls Asha Moore and says, come on back. We want you to talk to our young athletes about the college process, about getting recruited, about getting. Choosing a college. What's your advice for the youngsters?
[00:20:19] Speaker B: I would encourage them to take their time.
And I don't say that. I mean, I committed to North Texas. I think probably a week after the first. And I don't regret going to North Texas. I think that going there and meeting the people that I did and going through the things that I did, I think I wouldn't be the same person or player without those trials and tribulations. But I think I wish I would have, like, taken my visit to WSU or taken a couple more visits to really compare and really take my time and figuring out what would have been best for me. But I think understanding that it's not a race and that your path can be different from everybody else's.
So I would probably just say just take your time. You know, it's not a rush, and just stay true to yourself as well.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: So college athletes are on the road a lot. What's your favorite travel snack?
[00:21:14] Speaker B: Ooh, my favorite travel snack would probably.
Can I say a drink?
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Okay. I would probably say any carbonated drink. You know, Coach B doesn't really enjoy when we drink the energy drinks, but you Know, I'm gonna say that I be taking energy drinks on the bus sometimes. So I would probably say that gets me through the road trip for sure.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Okay. Coach B. I would say all of us parents are suspicious of energy.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: As she should be. Yeah.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Rather you be drinking water or something like that. So I will stand in solidarity with Coach Breadbenner on that one.
As I just revealed, college athletes travel a lot. What are you listening to? Reading. What are you watching when you're on the road that you would recommend to people?
[00:22:01] Speaker B: So we have, you know, on the buses they have the little mini TVs.
So the coaches, they usually put softball on the TVs. So I'm always constantly watching softball. I would say I'm always listening to music. I think my teammates can concur that I always have my headphones in. So I would say probably a lot of R and B. I listen to a lot of Marvin Gaye, a lot of Stevie Wonder, Sade, a lot of old school stuff. For sure.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say that old school was the first words that came to mind. Where did you get that influence?
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Definitely my mom. You know, definitely my mom and her side of the family. You know, those were things that were always playing at the cookouts and in the kitchen on holidays. And I just think it kind of reminds me of my childhood, so I enjoy it.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: And your mom's name?
[00:22:46] Speaker B: Audrey.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Very good.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: What's the softball team that you really enjoy watching?
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Ooh, besides us.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Besides, what shall I say? Of course.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Yes, I would say really any high level team. So any, you know, SEC teams, any American Conference teams. You know, especially now in the post season, it's getting really fun to kind of watch who wins and stuff like that. But I guess not any particular team, but any, any good softball that's on. I enjoy watching the shockers play at
[00:23:18] Speaker A: 2:30pm Friday in the American Conference Championship semifinals. They will need two wins to earn the automatic spot, spot in an NCAA regional. You can watch that game on ESPN Plus. The semifinal winners play at 11am Saturday. That game is on ESPN2. Asha Moore, thank you for your time.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] driven to center and well struck. And Lucas is there. She's got it. And that is the ball game. And look at the celebration for Wichita State as they have ended the Cowgirls 14 game. Winning streak in a dandy from Wilkins Stadium, 8 to 7.
