Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the round house podcast. This is Paul Saul, Trop of Wichita state university strategic communications. Today, we're going to talk with Christy bed, better softball coach at Wichita state. She recently won career game number 300 for the shockers, a nine to win over Kansas. Christie is now three oh three, two hundred and forty three and one in 11 seasons. Do you remember the tie?
Speaker 2 00:00:36 Oh yeah. Central Florida.
Speaker 1 00:00:37 Central Florida last year. Okay. Okay. Uh, including 17 and nine record. This season, Christie is 11 wins away from passing Jim Maynard as the program's winningest coach. So we're going to take a little walk down memory lane, kind of talk about Christie's tenure here and bring up some good memories. So you came to Wichita state from Emporia state 2011 before the 2012 season. What do you remember about first order of business, getting things up and running the way you wanted to at Wichita state
Speaker 2 00:01:08 One was all about culture, changing the culture and creating a, you know, a hard work blue collar culture of, of young women that wanted to push themselves and, and win championships. You know, that was something that was, um, you know, a big slogan at the time with, with us being in the Missouri valley. And just especially just talking to Becky Endicott, who was a big part of the hiring process, uh, for me was, you know, which does state, we win championships. And, and that's what they were looking for is somebody that could come in and, and kind of bring a different perspective. Um, you know, obviously they had had some success under Tim Walton and, uh, you know, and just kinda lost their way a little bit. And so for me, it was culture and, uh, hired Samantha Sheeley, Samantha Ricketts, um, and just between the three of us, we hit the recruiting trail pretty hard in our number one kind of goal was to try to find student athletes that had had a lot of success in some way, shape or form.
Speaker 2 00:02:06 We knew we weren't going to get that top blue chip athlete right away. We were going to have to find, um, the role players, the impact players that, you know, were maybe third or fourth best on the team, but on teams that were really good. And, uh, you know, first pick up for us was, was Brittany Fortner. And I think that was just a really quick turn around. I mean, she ended up coming in and in 20 12, 20 13 season and, and immediately made that little bit of an impact. And, you know, at this time that transfer portal wasn't really, you know, something that anybody really looked to. Um, you know, we ended up picking up, I think Laura Vickers in that next class who transferred in from Kansas. And so we had a few that could really kind of make the impact, but we had some talented kids on the current team and it was just getting them to buy in and believe and understand what it takes to, you know, elevate your game and play under pressure, but enjoy it at the same time.
Speaker 2 00:03:02 And so we had some tough practices. I mean, you know, I remember by the end of year one, we weren't very good. I think we finished the season 15 and 40. If I remember correctly, 11 players, I mean, we had so many fluke things happen. We had a torn ACL. We had someone pulled a shopping cart, like a rack of cards or folding chairs into the back of their heel and severed their Achilles tendon. We had one girl break her foot, um, doing a warmup game when we were at St. Louis U um, one girl had a massive concussion. I mean, so by the end of the year, I just remember thinking, oh my goodness, we have 11 or 12 healthy players. And they were still playing hard. And, you know, we started it to turn the tide a little bit. And then we had quite a bit of, um, you know, a couple of kids decided not to come back and, and year two was just as tough as your year one.
Speaker 2 00:03:58 I mean, when it came to wins and losses, but the culture was starting to change. We didn't necessarily have the talent that we needed from top to bottom in the lineup. Um, but they wanted to win more. They were competing at a higher level. We were losing games closer than we were losing games in, in year one. And so you could start to see the tie change a little bit. Um, you know, and then obviously in 20 20 13, 20 14 season, we brought in eight freshmen and I think two or three transfers. And that was the difference maker for us. It took a little time. Um, but those that came back and really stuck through it, I think that they appreciated it. They loved it. They, they saw that there was differences. They were starting to enjoy the game a little bit more. And we were out there competing and, and losing some Heartbreakers.
Speaker 2 00:04:45 I mean, one series that really stands out in my head, uh, was the Illinois state series my first year. And I feel like we lost quite a few of those games. We are winning late in the game and ended up losing it late, you know, probably six, seventh inning and Illinois state might've won the league that year. I mean, it was, uh, they were a top program and we went to Illinois state and, and that's where several of the injuries ended up happening as on that road trip between slew and Illinois state for spring break. And we kind of, to me turned a corner there from a culture, you know, I thought that we definitely started competing and, and enjoying, you know, what we can compete with the top in this league. We've just got to get a few of these missing pieces, uh, you know, throughout the lineup that can make a difference.
Speaker 2 00:05:34 And, and so to me, I think that was like, okay, that was, I can do this. You know, it was tough. Um, you know, we, when I left Emporio we had one, I think 38 or 40 games every year at some year. I mean, 1 62 my first year, you know? And so then all of a sudden you're losing 40 games. You're thinking to yourself, even what have I gotten myself into here, but they believed in the staff believed and they worked hard. And we figured out how to get the kids that, you know, could take us to that next level and how to get the kids that wanted to, to stick with us because it was totally different how we could make them better. And I think that they all bought in, did a good job.
Speaker 1 00:06:13 And we talked a lot about athletes, you know, they're going through a slump, who do they talk to? What do they read to, you know, to help themselves? What did you do those first couple of years? Did you have somebody that you leaned on?
Speaker 2 00:06:24 Yeah. You know, I think me personally, I just, you know, I was always a big talker to my dad and he's somebody that, you know, could bounce some ideas off of. And my parents have always been really invested in my career and phone the games. And, you know, it was just about, Hey, you got to continue to keep moving forward and, and look for the positives. If you focused only on the negatives, you would have drowned, but we would look at what positive things happened and some of the losses, or, Hey, this, this was a big win for our program and, and kind of build ourselves on that. And I think that made a big difference for us. We read a series of books throughout that whole time, too, as a team, we did some different stuff with Jeff Jansen who does a lot of team building and culture type stuff.
Speaker 2 00:07:07 Um, John Gordon books, I mean, I know we we've done the energy bus and the carpenter, no excuses. And you win in the locker room, just different books that have made an impact within our program and, and get you to kind of change your mindset on, like I said, you got to focus on that positive and, and, and build around that versus just constantly looking at what you could have done or the negatives or the errors you made or things like that. And so I think that's kind of what kept you level headed a little bit.
Speaker 1 00:07:35 You mentioned Becky Endicott, who was a long time, uh, senior women's administrator here. She played softball, also a catcher, if I'm remembering right at Emporia state, uh, she's kind of top of mind because of the women's basketball tournament coming big, big deal for women's athletics. Tell me about her role in, in hiring you and getting the softball program up and up and going.
Speaker 2 00:07:56 Yeah, just a funny story. You know, something I'll never forget, you know, I was at, in Emporia, uh, it was towards the end of the season. We were leaving for a big trip to go to Nebraska Omaha and Nebraska Omaha had just entered our conference that year. And, uh, this was before obviously they transitioned to division one and their travel partner was Missouri Western. And, uh, for whatever reason that trip, I was just riding in a vehicle with somebody to Topeka and my, uh, I think volunteer assistant needed to drop her car off. And so the bus had taken off and I was kind of waiting with her and we were meeting wherever for lunch to grab something and dropping her car off and a car rolled in to trust their sports complex. And a lady gets out and she says, Hey, Christie, I'm so-and-so.
Speaker 2 00:08:43 And, um, I played here and I said, oh, and she goes, I was wondering if I could take a quick tour. I just was driving through, I thought, maybe I'd catch you. And I was like, yeah, we gotta leave here in a little bit, but I've probably got five minutes. I can show you around a little bit. And, uh, we had had a new locker room put in, in 2000 and I think seven, and, and so she hadn't seen it yet wanted to take a peak. And so her and I are walking around trust or sports complex, and she said, Hey, you know, I live in Wichita. And I said, oh yeah. And she said, would you ever consider, um, making the leap to division one? And I said, you know what? I've had some opportunities here in Emporia state and we've had success. And, you know, I love it here.
Speaker 2 00:09:25 It's a great culture and great department. I had an awesome recruiting class coming in that next year. I said, I don't know. I mean, I'd always look at, see if it's an opportunity for me to continue to grow, but I said, I'm pretty happy here. So it'd have to be a really good fit. And she goes, well, I was kind of sent here to gauge your interest, to see if you'd be interested in a job. That's about 80 miles from here. And I kind of looked at her and you know, me at the time I was so aloof. I was like, whoa, Kansas city is longer than that. You know? And then I kind of figured it out and I kept it to myself. I didn't really say a whole lot. I've talked to my parents, I think about it. And then sure enough, as soon as our season it emporiums state ended, um, you know, Becky had reached out to me and Eric sex then came right up to, to, to Imperia took me out for lunch at briefs and, and basically said, Hey, we we'd like to offer you this job.
Speaker 2 00:10:20 We've been following your career. And obviously Becky had an invested interest in Emporia state apparently had come and watched us play several times that season did just kind of take a peek at how I coached. And, um, you know, and so it's kind of endearing to see that, you know, they felt that taking that division two to division one late would be a big part of it. Um, I think Darren Boatwright at the time was our, uh, associate athletic director and had reached out to Patrick Murphy who was like, you've got somebody in your state that could probably do a pretty piece of job. And so, you know, all the stars aligned and, you know, I think a week later I was on campus doing, uh, an interview and offered the job and took it. You know, it, it was a big, big jump for me, but an awesome one. And, you know, I, I'm thankful every day to, to Eric and Becky for giving me a chance. And I knew it was going to be a challenge. And, you know, I think, you know, it was something new and fresh for me to, to really focus in on. And, you know, here I am 11 years later,
Speaker 1 00:11:23 So Becky sent a, an Emissary.
Speaker 2 00:11:25 Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:11:26 Very good working, working behind the scenes. I liked that, uh, briefs that's the employers, that's the boreal landmark downtown, right, right by the civic arena.
Speaker 2 00:11:36 Oh, that's, you're probably thinking of Bobby D's briefs is right on the side of 35. It's kind of a tin building that sits by the hotels. Bobby. These barbecue is the, probably the landmark right over there from a, from a restaurant standpoint, that's pretty good by their arena.
Speaker 1 00:11:52 I think breasts to be downtown. I have to check my Korea trivia. Cause I think I've eaten there when it was, when it was downtown. Did you have a timeline for, you know, landmark marks? You wanted to sit, set any kind of timeline in your mind when you started?
Speaker 2 00:12:09 Not really. I think the ultimate goal was to try to be in the top half of the conference by year three, where we felt like we were bringing in, um, you know, a bigger chunk of our recruits. You know, we, we, we were a little late to the game in that 13 class, 12, 13 class. And so we didn't feel like we, you know, had as big of an opportunity to evaluate and convince kids to take a chance on us. And so we felt like year three was the time period for us to say, okay, we, we are no longer ninth or eighth. We should be in that top half and then continue to keep progressing.
Speaker 1 00:12:46 Casey Williams joined the team for the 2014 season. I would mark her as maybe one of the more pivotal recruits. She ended up winning valley player of the year twice. I think she left. She was a home run leader, probably the RBI leader seemed to just bring a real talent and physical presence to this program. Describe her impact on the, on the program.
Speaker 2 00:13:06 Yeah, huge. Um, you know, I had recruited Casey to Emporio state and obviously she played, there was the freshman of the year, I believe, uh, in her freshman year and then had suffered an injury your sophomore year and ended up red shirting. And, um, you know, I'd heard kind of rumors that she was unhappy and ended up leaving the team. And then she reached out and we didn't have much to offer her that first year, which, you know, I'm so thankful that we had a little bit off for her and convinced her to come. But I mean, an immediate impact player, I think just the energy that she plays with the love of the game, that was what we were missing, you know, was, was that energy that, um, you know, like gritty, determined, um, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take the biggest hack in the world.
Speaker 2 00:13:52 And if I run into it, you better look out because it's going to be leaving the ballpark quick. And, um, you know, I think she was one that was a big part of it, but a lot of that class was very much like that. And I think we always laugh at reference, but you know, in that particular year, the girls had, had a little bit of a powwow in, in, in the early part of, of coming back from Chris or from a summer. And it was the eight freshmen. And, you know, I'm trying to think of it. Liz Broyles came in, which was a good, good pickup for us. And I, I don't remember if it was two or, or three transfers in that particular year, but they ended up being, um, a group that got together early had this barbecue and some of our returners are like, yeah, we're not very good.
Speaker 2 00:14:40 You know, like coach B wants us to be good, which is we haven't been able to be very good in that freshmen class said, look, here's the deal. We're going to be good. Like we're going to change. We we've all won. We want to be the difference makers here. And, and kind of, you know, you know, you look at it and you could have gone to two different ways. There could have been some infighting between our returners in that big class, but instead I think it rejuvenated our returners and they were like, okay, I can jump on this confidence and, and be a part of this. And, and so people like Sloan Anderson and Melanie Jaegers and Erin Carney and Laney Greenley, and, you know, those kids that, you know, their freshmen and sophomore years, maybe weren't what they were wanting them to be ended up becoming a little bit more rejuvenated and fired up with this crew that had this confidence.
Speaker 2 00:15:30 And, and they did it. You know, you, you look at people like Paige Llewellyn who had a great freshman campaign Kelly spring, fantastic freshmen campaign. And you can't not talk about the pitching. You know, Katie Armagosa and slum are basically our own pit. Our only pictures in 2012, 2013. And then all of a sudden Katie graduates Sloan comes back and you've got Jenny Brooks, you've got KA Katie Malone, who was a late add, was actually committed to Butler county and had reached out and worked out great for us to kind of sneak her in. But you know, that crew was, was talented and they were fun to watch. Um, Macklin hits was a kid that had a lot of potential and came in and worked hard. And, you know, so it was little things here and there that I think made impacts, but it was that specific big glass and 20 13, 20 14 that had the confidence to come in and want to change the culture to a more winning culture than just a, Hey, here we are, we're shockers.
Speaker 1 00:16:31 So that 2014 team went 34 and 21 went 21 and six one Wichita state's first to MVC title. And then also that was a lot of the roster that went to the NCAA regional in 2016. Uh, what kind of defined that, that team in that group on the field, what made them click,
Speaker 2 00:16:50 They had great team chemistry. I'm such a big believer in chemistry over talent sometimes to get you to that next level. And, um, you know, the talent was there. That was what we were, you know, we were lacking in certain areas and it finally, it was consistent one through nine in the lineup, but, um, they worked hard. They wanted to be champions. They wanted to make softball relevant here, which does state. Because at that time, when you looked around, baseball was strong, volleyball was strong track and field tennis, golf. Everybody was winning the valley championships and softball wasn't and, you know, that's what they wanted to change. They looked at that motto of we win championships and they wanted to be a part of it. And I think that that crew really took that to heart worked hard. I mean, we think now, and I look back and, you know, at the time I ran all of our conditioning, you know, we, we kind of bounced around a little bit with strength coaches because, um, we were really understaffed in that area at the time compared to now.
Speaker 2 00:17:53 Um, and so I ran all the conditioning and I'll tell you what we were in the best shape ever at that time. I mean, they, they ran a bunch and, and probably to, I wouldn't say to their detriment, but it ran off the people that didn't want to work hard and it made them understand how much hard work that they've put into this, the blood, sweat, and tears the hard days. And I think that motivated them at the end to really bond as a group, but also to not give up and believe in themselves that they were prepared. And, um, you know, after 2014, Samantha Ricketts left and, and left and went to Mississippi state and, you know, we were fortunate enough to pick up Nicole Hudson and set the time and, um, you know, another great hitter with a great pitting perspective. And, you know, I think we were just able to continue to grow and, and become an offensive minded program. And the pitching at the time was good enough to really keep us into games and, and, and really win some big wins for us. And they were just a fun group to be a part of. I think they knew they were changing the tide and they took a lot of pride in, it,
Speaker 1 00:18:57 Went down to Norman, beat Tulsa for the program's first NCAA regional victory. How has your coaching philosophy, your, your techniques, how have they changed during your time here at Wichita state?
Speaker 2 00:19:10 Well, if you ask the girls that were on the 14 and 16 team, uh, even Lorianne Derika who played in 18 and 19, I've gotten a little softer, you know, um, I think you have to always evolve. You know, I think student athletes change every year and there's more distractions. There's more, um, you know, opportunities for them. I mean, you look between 20, 20 14 and in this 2021 team that we had last year, I mean, analyze become a part of it. Social media is become a bigger deal. Phones are everywhere. You know, there's so many things technology has grown. And so I think I've probably gotten a little bit softer, but I also think that, you know, there there's, you have to understand your student athletes and understand what they need. And, um, you know, I'm still the same fiery coach. That's going to yell at the empires and, you know, take the warning when I need it.
Speaker 2 00:20:02 And, um, let them know, you know, that I'm fighting for them to give them that confidence that they're doing something well. Um, I'm still the same coach that I've been since I was at Emporia where I'd take them down the line to try to motivate them a little bit. Sometimes it's a raw motivation, and sometimes it's a getting your rear end a little bit because we're not playing well motivation. Um, and it's just finding balance. You know, I think, you know, as we get older, that energy level has to be channeled in different ways. And sometimes you can wear yourself out being, being the person that has to provide the energy all the time. And I think that's the thing with our culture that has been important is this for a long time, I had to provide a lot of the energy on the field and at practice and Hey, you know, get them to try to step up and have that same level of energy.
Speaker 2 00:20:50 Now they know that that energy matters that it made a difference. And so they bring a lot of the energy. I don't have to bring that all the time. I can calm down and maybe take a couple extra years of my life later on to, to not wear myself out a little bit too much, but you know, you have to evolve. I think that's the sport that's, you know, working with young, um, student athletes, young women, they're all going through different things and there's always different, uh, buzzwords and, and social, um, you know, problems and things like that that everybody's dealing with. And, and as we continue to grow, you just have to evolve as a coach to figure out the best way to motivate and, and mold young minds. I mean, I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to coach the sport I love, but at the same time, I get to help these young women be ready for life after college and to be strong young women, to stand up for themselves and, um, have a voice. And I think we've done that more in the last couple of years, then maybe we had to do it in the first couple of years.
Speaker 1 00:21:53 How about recruiting? How has that changed over your time here?
Speaker 2 00:21:56 Uh, recruiting is probably the hardest, you know, I think that that's something that's, that's definitely been the biggest challenge for us is that, you know, the Midwest was a gold mine and it still is a gold mine. And for a lot of years, um, the power five schools recruited Florida, Texas, California, and really stayed away from the Midwest. And then all of a sudden teams in the Midwest started getting better and better and better. And I think you started seeing more power, five schools start moving into the Midwest for recruiting and finding those. I like to say blue collar, hardworking kids who have a bigger ceiling than maybe some that have, you know, that are playing outside 365 days of the year. And, um, you know, maybe have less little less burnout and things like that. And so recruiting become more difficult. Um, you know, obviously the little things matter when it comes to the power five carat and the facilities and, you know, just the, the strength of the program and who you play and things like that.
Speaker 2 00:22:59 So we've benefited. We always play a tough schedule. We always get to play some big teams and things like that. The move from the Missouri valley to the American has helped the recruiting quite a bit because it's opened the doors a little bit more nationwide versus just kind of in our nook that, you know, the valley that everybody knew the valley. Um, but I think the biggest challenge for us is now that we've expanded a little bit more and we've tried to go after big recruits, we still lose a lot of those recruits to power five schools because we don't dangle the biggest carrot out there, which is the status of playing in a power five institution. And so we still have to go out there and find the kids that want to work hard that have a high ceiling, the Addie Barnard's of the world that are from Beatrice, Nebraska, and maybe kind of got looked past because they don't necessarily stand out.
Speaker 2 00:23:49 Their travel ball team didn't necessarily stand out specifically in her recruiting time, but she was a phenomenal athlete and you looked at her and you're like, Ooh, that kid's got some things that, you know, we can do something with. And, and obviously the transfer portal, his completely changed recruiting. I think there's a lot of schools that aren't recruiting as much incoming freshmen type money, and they're saving money to try to just recruit the portal. And so, you know, we've had some, some amazing transfers in our time. I mean, you talked about Casey Liz broils, Bailey Lang was a transfer. Sid McKinney is a transfer. Um, Riley buck was a mid-year transfer, you know, so you start looking, we've benefited in a big way from the portals. Zoe Jones is having a wonderful year. This year, transferring from tech. Obviously Ariel ended up transferring, but getting her injured and, you know, hopefully we can get her back next year.
Speaker 2 00:24:43 And so, you know, we've benefited in that area as well. And I think that's a philosophy that we've taken on too, because one of the things I learned at a very young age and coaching is that you should never, ever be upset with a kid for choosing another school over at you. You know, you might be upset when you get off the phone, but you should wish that kid the best of luck you should tell them that you hope the best for them. And then you slide in that if it doesn't work out, you know where to find me. And I think that that's something that sometimes comes full circle is that it doesn't always work out for every kid. And, you know, when they get into a program where they're going so far away from home, or, you know, there's some, some things that cause them to not work out and I've learned to always keep an eye on some of the kids we've gone after and kind of track their career in hopes that if maybe it doesn't work out for them, they would get Wichita state, another chance.
Speaker 2 00:25:39 And that came full circle area. And Zoe, both kids on our campus. And I think 2015, somewhere in there, they both picked other schools and now they're playing for us. And, um, you know, I think that that's part of the recruiting process is, you know, you gotta take, um, you know, we all take negative, negative feedback or denials or what, however you want to call it. You gotta take it with, um, you know, some pride and just say, look, here's the deal. If it doesn't work out, you look me up. We'd love to have you again. And you never know when that kid's going to come back and end up being an impact player for you.
Speaker 1 00:26:17 So if a lot of the power five schools are going to really hit the transfer portal hard, then does that open up a market inefficiency that schools such as Wichita state could take advantage of with high school athletes who maybe are not getting recruited like they might have?
Speaker 2 00:26:32 I think so, but I think the is also a trickle down effect. You see, you know, power, five schools dropping kids from their roster to add a kid from another, you know, somebody else's roster. And so it's kind of full cycle, you know, that that's where we're ending up seeing. Whereas maybe, you know, we might be recruiting a kid who is going to, you know, a power five school in the big 12. And I in my head know, okay, that kid's not going to play everyday for them. I played, we've played them for 10 years now. And I can tell you right now that kid's going to be third off the bench, or second off the bench or, or the fourth pitcher. They're not going to like their playing time unless they get a lot better and some do, but some don't, you know, and, and, and so you keep an eye on that kid because that kid who might be the fourth pitcher could be a number two for us, or it could be a five hole hit or six hole hit, or somewhere in there, or even bigger, because obviously there's some power, five programs whose, whose bench is stellar.
Speaker 2 00:27:34 You know, I would take a lot of kids off of bench and think they can make a pretty big impact into our program. So that's the way you kind of have to look at it. I don't, I don't know that I think it's opening up more doors for, for freshmen. I just think that it's, it's a trickle down effect in a big way where they're creating roster openings so that they can get transfers and those roster openings could end up being impact players on our program.
Speaker 1 00:28:01 You mentioned Bailey Lang who I would regard as pretty pivotal recruit. Uh, she came here from Northern Iowa in 2018 and she had pitched there and had good numbers, but did she end up exceeding your expectations in the, in the circle?
Speaker 2 00:28:16 She was great. I mean, left the arm for, for one thing right off the bat was a game changer for us. Um, just a competitor, somebody that wanted to win and thrived within her second chance. And I think that's the one thing that when you take a transfer, you know, a lot of them are looking for a second chance. They're looking for the opportunity to either play more or just be in a different culture. And I think she thrived in both. I thought her 2018 season was remarkable. I mean, she'd beat Oklahoma state several times and once a big games for us, obviously, um, you know, going down to the last weekend in the conference for our first year in the American, we could have won the American, you know, and, um, I can't remember if it's 2018 or 2019, but you know, we almost, we, you know, I look back at some of my worst decisions that I ever made.
Speaker 2 00:29:06 One of them was, oh, you and we were winning six to nothing. I took her out of the game when she walked the first two batters and put Kate in and put Kate in a tough situation. We ended up losing that game. It was the sixth inning and we were up seven nothing. And then, um, you know, for whatever reason, I just allowed myself to get talked out of not starting Bailey Lang against south Florida in game two, down in Tampa, where if we won game two, we tie to win the American. It's a tie between us and south Florida. But if they win the series, then we, we ended up in fourth place or something. It was so close and we knew we weren't going to get Georgina and game two, we knew we'd get her in game three. And so for whatever reason, I let myself not throw her.
Speaker 2 00:29:53 And so, you know, two big decisions that I think really had a big impact on our program in a negative way. If I would've just stuck with Bailey, I think we would have won. And, and, you know, I think that shows the amount of impact that she had in our program. I mean, uh, she didn't have a, uh, obviously in 2019 got hurt at Louisiana tech and didn't have a great start in 2020, but I thought last year, just really focused in, on, on being her best and getting everything we could out of her, uh, being a super-duper senior,
Speaker 1 00:30:25 Take us through some of the, the winds that really are top of mind when you think about important moments for this program.
Speaker 2 00:30:32 Oh man, I'll tell you what, some of the best games that I was a part of where the Oklahoma state games that we played, um, 2018 and their regional down in Oklahoma, stayed with Madison Paragon hitting the, the two home runs. And, um, you know, just being able to jump on them in the first game. I mean, those were, I think program building wins because it proved that, Hey, this is a, a great program that we're playing against. This is only our second regional, uh, you know, win second, third regional wins. And they were big ones. And get into that championship game against Arkansas. I would say the same about Texas a and M a team that you respect. Who's got a, a legacy of making it to the world series and, and beating them this past year. Um, you know, winning the first valley regular season I thought was, was huge.
Speaker 2 00:31:21 That was at Illinois state. We ended up sweeping that weekend and, uh, clenching the, the valley for us in 2014, which I think was the first time that we had ever won the regular season. And in 2016 Clinton, the valley here against Carbondale. And then when in the conference tournament was huge, I think, um, that was kind of a monkey off of our back. Um, but you know, the wins you look back and, you know, I can probably rattle off a bunch of them, but it's just the excitement that you see in the players, the fight, the fire, the, the confidence, the, um, the desire to change. I mean, last year when the conference tournament against central Florida was huge. And I thought that that was, um, you know, uh, a tough game, you know, we had played them already four times, uh, you know, because of COVID.
Speaker 2 00:32:14 And like you said, that last game went 12 innings, one to one or zero to zero ball game tie. And so you knew central Florida wanted to win. They were upset that we had to call the game because of time and go to the airport. Cause they had a runner at third with one out, you know, and you look at all the missed opportunities in that particular game for them. They had a lead off triple in the sixth inning that didn't score. She got thrown out at third because she thought she left early and went back to the base and then took a lead and it was a mess. And, you know, so you knew that they had it out for us in that particular game and just no secrets between our teams. And I thought our kids played hard and had fun. We got down early and ended up coming back and the long ball, you know, watching the home runs and the high chews and, you know, just, I think last year was a special year because 2020 was just terrible. I mean, we didn't play well. And then you get hit with COVID and you don't know, is everybody going to get their year of eligibility back? And it took us a little while to kind of develop that chemistry again, of having our kids back and understanding the adversity that COVID was going to bring with mask and social gatherings and things like that. And so you look at 2021 and all the adversity that we worked through, I think that was probably one of the most special years in this program's history.
Speaker 1 00:33:37 So there've been some significant gains with UCF won the games that I stand out in my memory, the double header, uh, on a Friday to open the series and Wichita state won both games on walk-off home runs
Speaker 2 00:33:50 By Paige Llewellyn,
Speaker 1 00:33:51 Paige loyal, and had won and Laurie Derrick Or no Bailey Lang the first one Homer to win the game one, nine to eight, and then Lori Derika Homer to win the second game five to four.
Speaker 2 00:34:03 Okay. You're right. You're right. Yeah. Central Florida has always been a true competitor. Definitely a big rival, I think with us just because there's a lot of similarities between our teams. I mean, scrappy, um, good pitching, um, but maybe not what they were known for now. I think they're known, they've gotten their pitching is really elevated since Cindy ball's gotten there, but just scrappy and, um, you know, I don't know, it was just, there was just something about them that I felt like it was this great rivalry. Um, a lot of energy, a lot of talk, a lot of cheering. I mean, just, um, to the end, especially I remember that series, it was cold and we were so thankful that it was cold because here they were coming up from Orlando and they're freezing. And, uh, you know, we worked through, they had one of the best pitchers we've ever faced a Leo white, you know, a great competitor.
Speaker 2 00:34:56 And I believe that was her sophomore, maybe freshman year, she finished up last year. Um, but just a lot of good competitive games against her in the valley or in the, in the American. And you know, that's the difference in the American is that, you know, you look at some of those teams, Georgina, Cora is phenomenal. I mean, probably could be top five pitcher in the country. And, you know, single handedly is, is putting south Florida in the top 25. And, um, you know, they're fun to play against and there, you know, you gotta figure out ways to every single weekend to, to beat some really tough teams in this conference.
Speaker 1 00:35:37 We'll be back at Wilken stadium this season. That's the last last series of the regular season may starting May 6th. Okay. The shockers we'll talk about this season. There are 17 and nine they're number 46 in the RPI off this weekend. And then they play at number one, Oklahoma on Tuesday, and then open the home schedule on next Friday against Tulsa. Uh, how do you gauge this? Team's play over the first six weeks,
Speaker 2 00:36:02 All over the place. We're fighting some pretty big adversity, some injuries you've got to out with ACL tears and then one out with a shoulder. Um, you know, we've had a few here and there, there was some bumps and bruises, I think, you know, just we're as consistent as the weather has been lately. You know, one day we can look phenomenal and the next day we can struggle a little bit, but, uh, you know, I, I think, and I hope we're starting to turn a corner with some consistency. I think the biggest thing for us to continue to have success is gonna really be figured out in the circle. We struggle up in the circle quite a bit. I thought we pitched fantastic against Kansas and Southeast Missouri state in Iowa. And then again against Nebraska Omaha. And then I thought we pitched terrible this past weekend at the Oklahoma state tournament.
Speaker 2 00:36:50 And it was totally two different teams. You look at the stat line, I mean, walks getting behind in counts. Things like that were very apparent this past weekend. Whereas when we were at KGU, we really worked ahead, we were efficient. And so it's going to be the make or break of our season, I think is if we can find that consistency in the circle, I think we're hitting great. We're, we're kind of numbers wise. We're ahead of where we were last year. I think we've hit 52 home runs. Our batting average is almost a, was three 40. Um, you know, we're doing the things that we need to offensively and then, you know, defensively, we're, we're there, we're getting more balls put in play. So you're seeing our fielding percentage maybe be a little bit less than it was, but it's in the 1970s, which is, is pretty good.
Speaker 2 00:37:35 And I, you know, we, we've had some costly errors that we've got to clean up a little bit, but I feel good about this team. They've got the talent, we've got to find the confidence in the circle and we need to, in our, our pitchers minds need to understand we're going to score runs. You know, we're going to, we're going to do the job offensively and we're going to do the job defensively, you know, 99% of the time, in my opinion, or 97% of the time, I guess you could say, um, you know, if they can do their job and work ahead and counts and, and minimize some of the walks, which is what ends up leading to the biggest issues, then we can have some success and, you know, they're working hard at it. They obviously don't want that type of outcome. And so we just got to figure those things out and I think we can, we can have a good, good second half of the season.
Speaker 1 00:38:23 Who's been the most pleasant surprise.
Speaker 2 00:38:26 Oh man. Um, I think, you know, for us, Alison Cooper in the circle has been a pleasant surprise. I think when she's on, she's very good. She's got some big wins against Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota. She kind of is the big 10 when we look to, when she throws against the big 10, didn't have the best game against Nebraska, but they weren't technically a great match up for her. Um, you know, I think one of the biggest surprises is for me is Addie Barnard having another great year. It's really easy to get the sophomore slump and to have that pressure of after a freshman after freshman year and having such a great year to replicate it. And you're seeing that with Sid and Addie, I mean, and so that's showing their athleticism and their, their just pure skill. They're both great athletes and really work hard at it and get it. And I think they're not making it as big of a deal as they, that some could with the numbers and the accolades. And, you know, I mean every other day on Twitter, you know, there's something out there about one of them that that's an awesome stat. And sometimes that can make you a little nervous and I think they've handled their success really well, which has been awesome to see.
Speaker 3 00:39:48 Hi, this is Rick niyama president of Wichita state university. Check out the latest episode of the forward together podcast. Each episode, I sit down with different guests from Shakur nations and celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita state university. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 00:40:17 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university, strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google play. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 4 00:40:38 And they let him pass it up court. And then it gets picked off a long three by PENGOS. No good. One second. It's over. It is over and what your task has beaten. The number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16, go crazy. What Utah.
