Shocker softball wins seventh straight game

DENTON, Texas (KAKE) - Wichita State wrapped up the North Texas Invitational on Sunday with two more wins, defeating Northwestern State, 5-2, and North Texas, 5-3.
Wichita State (12-3) was a perfect 4-0 in Denton, including a pair of wins over a North Texas team that started the season ranked in the Top 25.
Sydney McKinney extended her hitting streak to 33 games, the sixth longest in NCAA history.
Game 1 vs. Northwestern State
McKinney and Addison Barnard both recorded multi-hit games, going 2-for-3. Barnard doubled and drove in a run. Zoe Jones and Lainee Brown homered and Lauren Mills added a double.
Alison Cooper earned a no-decision in 3.0 innings. She allowed two runs on five hits and a walk. Alex Aguilar (3-1) was lights out in relief. She allowed just one hit and struck out a season-high seven.
Aguilar struck out the side in her first inning of work.
Northwestern State turned a leadoff hit by pitch into a run in the top of the first. The Lady Demons used a sac bunt and a fielder's choice to move her into scoring position until a two-out RBI single put NSU on the board.
Wichita State tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the second on Jones' leadoff solo home run, but Northwestern State would immediately take the lead back in the top of the third. Three singles led to the go-ahead RBI, putting NSU in front, 2-1.
In the bottom of the third Wichita State grabbed its first lead after Krystin Nelson led off with a walk and a McKinney single. Barnard laced an RBI double into the gap to tie the game at 2, and then Jones made it 3-2 on a sac fly.
Insurance runs in the form of a two-run home run by Brown extended the Shockers' lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Game 2 vs. North Texas
McKinney added two more singles to her weekend tally and an RBI. Jones had just one hit, but it was a big home run. Brown was 2-for-3 and Bailey Urban and Taylor Sedlaceck added singles.
Lauren Howell won her fifth game of the season behind 6.0 innings of four-hit ball. She allowed two runs, four walks and struck out four.
Jones pounced on a 2-0 pitch in the top of the first with a three-run home run to center, putting Wichita State in front, 3-0.
An inning later Wichita State added two more to its lead behind three straight singles from Bailey Urban, Brown and McKinney. McKinney's single and a throwing error brought in both runners.
North Texas cut into the lead in the bottom of the third on a two-out solo home run.
After scoreless innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth from both teams, North Texas made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh. Head Coach Kristi Bredbenner went to the bullpen after a leadoff single started a rally.
Aguilar came in looking to shut it down, but North Texas strung together a walk and back-to-back singles, cutting it to 5-2. A sac fly in the next at bat made it 5-3 with only one out and runners on 1st and 2nd. With the game-tying run on 1st, Aguilar was able to induce a game-ending 5-3 double play to secure the win.