10 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — On top of winning the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season championship, Wichita State University (WSU) softball was well-represented with conference regular season awards on Monday.
Sydney McKinney, for the second time in her career, was tabbed the AAC Player of the Year. Freshman Sami Hood, with a .972 fielding percentage during the season, earned Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman Alex Aguilar was given Rookie of the Year, and the coaching staff collectively won the Coaching Staff of the Year award.
McKinney becomes the third straight Shocker to take home the Player of the Year trophy and was the first player in conference history to win it multiple times. Her four First Team All-Conference selections are the most in school history by one player.
Four Shockers were on the All-Conference First Team: McKinney, Zoe Jones, Addison Barnard and Lauren Lucas. Four more were on the All-Conference Second Team in Aguilar, Hood, Lauren Howell and Lainee Brown.
Hood is the second Shocker to earn the Defensive Player of the Year award. The freshman was a starter from the first game of the season and only committed five errors in 52 games.
The Shockers finished the season with a record of 43-9 overall and a 16-2 record in conference play. The team is scheduled to play next in the AAC conference tournament on Friday in Tampa, Florida, at 11 a.m.