American Tabs Barnard Player of the Year, Highlighting Regular Season Awards

Via GoShockers.com  

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Sophomore Addison Barnard has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.

The American released its regular season awards, highlighted by the second straight Shocker to earn Player of the Year honors after Sydney McKinney won the award in 2021. Wichita State placed eight on the all-conference teams, tied for the most of any school with UCF.

The Beatrice, Neb., was a menace for opposing pitchers in conference play. Barnard hit .435 with 15 home runs, five doubles, 26 runs and 38 RBI to go with a slugging percentage of 1.242. At one point, Barnard homered in six straight games, tied for the second longest in NCAA history. She tied the single game school record with three home runs in a 24-1 win at East Carolina. Barnard enters postseason play leading the nation in home runs (30), RBI (77) and total bases (160) to go with a .409 average and 25 stolen bases. She is the only player in the country with at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Barnard is the third Shocker to earn American Player of the Year honors, joining McKinney (2021) and Mackenzie Wright (2018). She also became a two-time First Team All-Conference selection.

Joining Barnard on the All-Conference First Team were McKinney (unanimous), Neleigh Herring, Lauren Lucas and Lauren Mills. The five First Team selections tied for the most with UCF. Erin McDonald, Jessica Garcia and Zoe Jones were named to the Second Team, while Alison Cooper was a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie Team.

McKinney joins a select group of Shockers to earn three First Team All-Conference selections. Only five other players in school history have been selected to the first team three times. McKinney leads the nation in batting average (.497), hits (83) and runs per game to go with five triples, 12 doubles, 13 home runs, 37 RBI and 65 runs scored. She is just five hits away from breaking her own single season hits record, which she set just a season ago. Earlier this season McKinney became the all-time hits leader at Wichita State.

Herring makes it two straight seasons on the First Team. In her senior campaign, Herring is hitting .344 with 14 home runs and 40 RBI. She is one of six Shockers with 10 or more home runs this season. In conference play, Herring hit .420 with six home runs and 21 RBI.

A breakout sophomore campaign saw Lucas rewarded with her first All-Conference selection. In league play Lucas led all players in The American with a .491 average. For the season, she is hitting .409 with 10 home runs, 12 doubles, 36 RBI and 39 runs. 

Mills is also a first-time All-Conference pick. The Topeka native hit .306 with seven home runs and 20 RBI in conference play and is hitting .277 overall with 12 home runs and 39 RBI. Both her home run and RBI totals are career highs.

McDonald became a two-time All-Conference Second Team member after doing it in 2019. The Norman, Okla., native is 9-8 in the circle this season with a team-high 82 strikeouts. She saved her best for conference play where she went 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA, which included a no-hitter vs. Memphis.

Behind a career-best 10-game hit streak, Garcia came alive in league action. Four of her five home runs and 11 of her 16 RBI came in conference to go with a .357 batting average.

The Texas Tech transfer, Jones, settled in nicely in her first season as a Shocker. Behind a .331 average, Jones is second on the team in doubles (11), home runs (15) and RBI (49). Her nine home runs and 26 RBI in conference games also ranked second on the team. At Texas Tech she had never had more than seven home runs and 26 RBI in a single season. Jones has thrived under the direction of the Wichita State coaching staff.

Maybe no player has improved as much over the course of the season as the freshman lefty pitcher, Cooper. Cooper was a perfect 5-0 in the circle with a 2.46 ERA in AAC play, while logging three complete games. For the season, Cooper has a team-best 3.24 ERA to go with an 8-2 record in the circle. Her stellar pitching started in a 2-1 win in the series finale at South Florida where she allowed just the one run on only four hits.

Wichita State opens the 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday as the No. 2 seed against 7th-seeded Memphis at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.