Syd McKinney

Career Honors:
Wichita State Single Season Batting Average Record Holder – .522
Wichita State Single Season Hits Record Holder – 97
Wichita State Single Season Runs Record Holder – 69
2022 – NFCA Second Team All-American
2022 – Softball America Second Team All-American
2022 – D1 Softball Second Team All-American
2022 – NFCA All-Central Region Second Team
2022 – AAC All-Tournament Team
2022 – First Team All-Conference
2022 – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist
2022 – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist
2022 – Softball America Preseason Third Team All-American
2021 – NFCA Third Team All-American
2021 – Softball America Third Team All-American
2021 – NFCA All-Central Region Second Team
2021 – AAC All-Tournament Team
2021 – American Player of the Year
2021 – First Team All-Conference
2021 – 2x American Player of the Week
2019 – First Team All-Conference
2019 – All-Rookie Team

JUNIOR (2022)
Named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll… NFCA Second Team All-American… Softball America Second Team All-American… D1 Softball Second Team All-American… NFCA All-Central Region Second Team… Unanimous First Team All-Conference selection… Softball America Preseason Third Team All-American… USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist… USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist… USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List… Ranked No. 38 in the Softball America Preseason Top 100… Ranked No. 40 in the Extra Elite Top 100 College Player Rankings by Extra Inning Softball… American Player of the Week on Feb. on Feb. 21… American Athletic Conference Championship All-Tournament Team… In the final game of the season vs. Oregon (May 21), she went 4-for-4… Finished the AAC Championship 7-for-9 at the plate… Tied a single game school record with five hits in the conference tournament vs. Memphis (May 12)… Named to the American Weekly Honor Roll on May 9… Hit .600 (6-for-10) in the series vs. No. 21 UCF, including multiple hits in all three games… Belted a leadoff home run in the final game of the UCF series (May 8)… Smoked one of the team’s five home runs in the series finale at ECU (May 1)… Three hits, including a double and four runs scored in the opening game at ECU (April 29)… Went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs and two RBI in the series finale vs. Memphis (April 24)… Scored three runs to go with three hits vs. Memphis (April 23)… Perfect night at the plate vs. Kansas (April 20), going 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI… Another four-hit game at Houston (April 15), including a pair of home runs… Logged her fifth four-hit game of the season, including the walk-off home run against Tulsa (April 2)… She scored four runs and drove in three in the run-rule… Singled twice and scored the lone run at No. 1 Oklahoma (March 29)… Had two four-hit games in the wins vs. Kansas City on March 18 and March 19… Hit a home run and doubled in the March 19 game vs. Kansas City… Scored three runs to go with a pair of singles in the win vs. Kansas (March 14)… Walked twice, scored three runs and singled vs. Iowa (March 14)… Homered and doubled in the run-rule of SEMO (March 13)… Tied a career high with four hits, including a home run and three RBI at Missouri State (March 9)… Was 2-for-5 with a double and RBI vs. South Dakota State (March 5)… Hit an RBI triple at Nebraska (March 4)… Stole a base and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored vs. South Dakota State (March 4)… Collected three hits in the first game at Nebraska (March 3), including a two-run home run… Logged three singles and scored a run in the win vs. Charlotte (Feb. 26)… Hit a double in back-to-back games vs. Charlotte (Feb. 25) and Minnesota (Feb. 26)… Doubled, tripled and drove in two runs at No. 10 Arkansas (Feb. 19)… Went 2-for-4 with a triple, home run and two runs vs. Western Illinois (Feb. 19)… Crushed a two-run home run vs. Longwood (Feb. 18)… Singled twice and stole a base vs. No. 24 Illinois (Feb. 18)… Was a perfect 4-for-4 with a triple, home run, three runs scored and three RBI vs. Houston Baptist (Feb. 12)… Had a pair of singles, swiped a bag and scored twice at Sam Houston (Feb. 11)… Drove in three runs behind two doubles and a home run in the season opener vs. Dayton (Feb. 11).

SOPHOMORE (2021)
American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team… Received an extra year of eligibility after the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19… Named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll after earning a 4.0 GPA… Became the program’s first NFCA All-American, earning third team honors… NFCA Second Team All-Central Region… Named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference selection… Named to the AAC All-Tournament Team… Set the Wichita State single season record for hits (87) and batting average (.439)… Started all 55 games at shortstop and finished with a career-high seven home runs, 31 RBI and 56 runs scored… Two hits, including a leadoff double in the final game of the season at No. 1 Oklahoma (May 23) in the NCAA Norman Regional… Hit a two-run double in an elimination game vs. Texas A&M (May 22)… Another multi-hit game vs. No. 1 Oklahoma, which included a double… Opened the NCAA Norman Regional vs. Texas A&M (May 21) with a 2-for-4 game that included a double, RBI and a run scored… Went 2-for-4 with a run in both games of the AAC Tournament… Had a career-long 14-game hitting streak late in the regular season… Tied a career high with three hits, including a double and two RBI in game three at Tulsa (May 1)… Hit a home run on the first pitch of the game in game two at Tulsa (April 30), finishing 2-for-4 at the plate… Scored three runs to go with a pair of hits in the series opener at Tulsa (April 30)… Smacked a leadoff home run vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State (April 27)… Hit a leadoff triple and went on to score in the finale vs. USF (April 25)… Went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored vs. USF (April 24)… Had a season-best 11-game multi-hit streak during conference play… Singled twice and a scored a run at No. 23 UCF (April 17)… In the second game of the doubleheader vs. Houston (April 10), went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI… Had a career-high four hits, including two doubles, three runs scored and three RBI vs. Houston (April 10)… Continued her hot hitting at Memphis with multiple hits in all four games… Was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs in the finale at Memphis (April 3)… A pair of hits, including a double and an RBI in Game 3 vs. Memphis (April 2)… Opened the Memphis series with three hits, one of which was a home run… Named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on March 29 after hitting .692 with a home run, four RBI and eight runs scored in Wichita State’s four-game series with ECU… Had four straight multi-hit games vs. ECU… Led off with a solo home run in the finale vs. ECU (March 28), finishing 2-for-3… Scored a career-high four runs and went 3-for-3 at the plate in the conference opener vs. ECU (March 26)… Tied a career high with five at-bats vs. Kansas City (March 19) to go with three hits and an RBI… Drove in a run behind a 2-for-4 day at the dish vs. UTSA (March 19)… Went 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored vs. Missouri State (March 11)… Collected a pair of hits vs. No. 23 Iowa State (March 7)… Drove in a run and went 2-for-4 at the plate vs. North Texas (March 6)… Three straight multi-hit games in the series vs. Creighton (Feb. 27-28)… Had her career-high 13-game hit streak snapped vs. No. 7 Texas on Feb. 21… Went 4-for-4 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Feb. 21)… Drove in three runs and scored two more vs. Lamar (Feb. 20).

SOPHOMORE (2020)
One of four players to start all 27 games… Led the team in batting average (.410) and hits (34)… Those numbers placed her third in the American Athletic Conference… Also added two home runs, 17 RBI and 17 runs scored… Finished the season on an 11-game hitting streak… Nine games with two or more hits and four games with multiple RBI… Hit both home runs vs. Drake on March 7 to go with a season-high four RBI, while going 3-for-3 at the plate.

FRESHMAN (2019)
First Team All-Conference selection… American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team selection… Stepped in and started 55 games as a true freshman, playing both second and third base and batting in the leadoff position… Third on the team in batting average at .329, but led the team in total hits with 57… Totaled one home run, two triples, eight doubles, 13 RBI and 32 runs scored… In conference games only, McKinney hit .397, which ranked fourth in the league, while tied for the league lead in runs scored (20)… Finished the season with 14 multi-hit games… Season best eight game hitting streak (March 15-23)… Tallied her first career triple in a 2-for-4 day at the plate vs. Abilene Christian (Feb. 15)… Was a perfect 3-for-3 vs. Texas Southern (March 3) with an RBI and a run scored… In a come from behind win vs. Kansas (March 20), she was 3-for-5 with an RBI… Had three straight multiple hit games against Memphis and ECU… Drove in a season-high three RBI, while going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs in the series finale vs. ECU (April 20)… Was 3-for-3 against the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year (Georgina Corrick) in the series opener vs. No. 25 USF… Had an RBI single in the Shockers’ 2-1 win over UCF in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship.

HIGH SCHOOL
Four-year letter winner and captain as a shortstop and pitcher… Broke the state of Missouri record for single-season batting average (.738) … Produced 62 hits along with 32 stolen bases en route to CLAA Player of the Year honors … Also recorded All-State (4x), All-Region (4x), All-District (4x) and All-Conference (4x) accolades over four-year campaign … Followed up with .688 average, 66 hits, 11 doubles and 56 RBIs in sophomore season … Pivotal role into Norborne High School’s first-ever state title … Named CLAA Player of the Year once again in sophomore and senior seasons … Finished with most career triples (34), hits per game (2.2) and second in career batting average (.647) in Missouri state history … Also ranks second on the single season state records in triples (12) and batting average (.738)… Was also a member of the National Honors Society.

PERSONAL
Daughter of Jason and Andreia McKinney and has two sisters (Gracie and Madison) and one brother (Ryder)… Her father played basketball at Mid-America Nazarene and sister is currently on the softball team at Avila University.

*courtesy of Wichita State University Athletics