Good morning! It’s time to get loosey-goosey like our guy Peyton Tolle because Friday is here. A big weekend on the diamond, and around all of WSU, as conference championships and final home stands are all taking place. We hope you got your coffee ready, because this one’s going to be good.

What else are we tossing into today’s Brew?

🥎 All-American Syd
👟 Record Momentum
​🌾 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Championship Tennis. Service! Both men’s and women’s tennis teams headed to Orlando to take part in the AAC Championships this weekend.

The women got things started off on Thursday against Tulsa with a Harriet Hamilton and Theodora Chantava win in doubles to put the Shockers up one. Ultimately, Tulsa took the doubles point, as well as the advantage on the singles side of things to take the match and eliminate WSU from the tournament. All-in-all, the Shockers completed the season strong, finishing fourth in AAC standings and with a winning record of 12-9.

As for the men, they will compete against Tulane in the quarterfinals today at 11:00am CT for a shot at the semi-finals. It will be the Shockers’ first matchup of the season against the Green Wave. However, they’ll be riding a 4-3 neutral site win from last year to hopefully propel them into the win column. Orel Ovil, the lone player remaining from the 2021 NCAA tournament team, will look to lead the charge and set the tone for the day.

Follow along to all the championship action here to see if our tennis team can Shock the Green Wave back home.

🔼 The All-American Syd. Sydney McKinney, is one of the best softball players in the nation, and now has the accolades to back up that statement.

McKinney was named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. It’s no surprise she was one of the few selected with her NCAA leading batting average (.544) and hits (86). As if that wasn’t enough, she also cracked the NCAA top-10 all-time hits list with 361 career hits, has her three-time AAC Conference Player of the Week awards, and even a one-time NFCA National Player of the Week honor.

The top 25 will be narrowed down to 10 on May 3rd followed by the Top 3 on May 17th. As the only member of the AAC to be selected for collegiate softball’s highest honor, it’s safe to say she owns the American Conference. Now, go win the whole darn thing Sydney!

🔼 Our Fresh Princes. Shockers golf is headed to Belleair, Florida to compete in the AAC Championship this weekend in a three round tournament to decide the best in the conference.

Blake Lorenz looks to feed off his T-3 finish at the Hawkeye Invitational after shooting a stellar eight under par. The Shockers as a team are coming off a solid three over par showing in Iowa, and golfers Aston Castillo and Dawson Lewis are ready for the challenge after a couple of frustrating rounds from last weekend.

The competition tees off today at the Pelican Golf Club and will go through the weekend to decide both the individual and team champions. Follow along with your Shockers on golfstat.com with shot by shot results all weekend long.

🔼 Record Momentum. All runners, jumpers, and throwers will be heading to Emporia, Kansas to take part in the Midwest Classic this Sunday.

Stud high-jumper Brady Palen will look to improve his No. 3 mark in Shocker history in his event this weekend at 7’2.25 feet (that’s 2.19 meters for you metric odd-balls out there). Fellow jumper Destiny Masters set a record of her own by improving her mark to No. 2 in WSU history with a 6’0 jump on the dot in her last meet. Both are hoping to improve those numbers and climb jump up the record book even higher.

The women’s 4×800 relay team comes in with yet another record, this time, a school best 9:11.53 from Abeba Sullivan, Lea Jerkovic, Maria Romero, and Farrah Miller from the KU Relays earlier this month. With still a couple of meets to go until the AAC and NCAA championships, the Shockers will use all the practice and prep they can get.

🔼 A Fight For First. A pivotal series this weekend is coming to Wichita this weekend as the Shockers prepare to take on the seventh ranked program in the country: East Carolina. Last season, the Pirates took the series on their home turf, but the Shockers are coming off their offensive explosion of a performance from Tuesday’s win in Manhattan.

Each coming of their 2-HR games, Garrett Pennington and Brock Rodden come into the series with double-digits homers on the season and will look to get to the ECU pitchers early. Do we need to remind you of their power?

With as good of performances as they had, pitchers Jace Miner and Nate Snead might have had better ones. Miner came in for relief and finished off 12 batters in a row while Snead closed out the game and left three runners stranded in a high pressure situation.

East Carolina has a couple of good throwers of their own. ECU comes in with the ninth best collective ERA in the nation, but with a showing like Tuesday, Clayton Kershaw himself wouldn’t be able to stop our guys from getting on base.

First place in the AAC is on the line this weekend, and the Shockers, with a series win, can end the weekend at the top of the standings and perhaps, a spot in the top-25 polls. Catch all the action on ESPN+, or watch the game in person and get your tickets here.

🤔 SHOCKER TRIVIA

Historic Dingers. The Shockers hit a total of six home runs in Wednesday’s win against Kansas State, and it turns out, that’s a lot of dingers in one game. It’s not every day you see something like that, but who’s to say that won’t be the last time we see it?

The question today — Do you know the last time a WSU team hit six or more home runs in a single game?

Think you got it? Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🌾 ONE BIG THING

Paul Mills, the recently added men’s basketball coach, brought on his own assistant coaches Quincy Acy and Chris Hollender because of the relationships they had formed throughout the intersecting of their coaching careers.

In the latest Roundhouse Podcast, both Acy and Hollender dive into why they decided to join Mills at Wichita State and their careers leading up until this point. Check out this compelling conversation with the newest coaches here and give it a listen!

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Shocker Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every weekday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

📅 THE WEEKEND AHEAD

Friday 4/21

⛳️ Men’s Golf @ The American Championship in Belleair, FL

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Tulane @ American Athletic Conference Championship in Orlando, FL

🥎 Softball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita, KS | ESPN+ | Tickets

⚾️ Baseball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita, KS | ESPN+ | Tickets

Saturday 4/22

⛳️ Men’s Golf @ The American Championship in Belleair, FL

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. TBA @ American Athletic Conference Championship in Orlando, FL

🥎 Softball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita Kansas | ESPN+ | Tickets

⚾️ Baseball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita, KS | ESPN+ | Tickets

Sunday 4/23

⛳️ Men’s Golf @ The American Championship in Belleair, FL

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. TBA @ American Athletic Conference Championship in Orlando, FL

🥎 Softball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita Kansas | ESPN+ | Tickets

👟 Track and Field @ Midwest Classic in Emporia, KS

⚾️ Baseball vs. East Carolina @ Wichita, KS | ESPN+ | Tickets

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 1998!

On April 26, 1998, the Shockers blasted six home runs en route to a 25-12 victory against Indiana State. Here’s to hoping for more scores like that in the series this weekend.

Have a great weekend, y’all!