- LOUIS –Wichita State senior shortstop Sydney McKinney was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Athletes Unlimited Softball College Draft Monday night.
McKinney becomes the first Shocker drafted by Athletes Unlimited in the brief history of the professional league. The organization was established in March 2020 and now has professional leagues in softball, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse.
The Norborne, Mo., native is a two-time All-American, three-time First Team All-Conference selection and American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. She finished her final regular season hitting a nation-leading .527 with 96 hits, 10 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 71 runs scored and 32 RBI. McKinney is seeking to become the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in both batting average and hits in consecutive seasons. She is Wichita State’s all-time leader in batting average, hits, runs scored, on base percentage and total bases, and recently cracked the top five on the NCAA’s all-time hits list with 372 career hits.
McKinney became Wichita State’s first All-American in softball after a breakout 2021 campaign, only to surpass those numbers in 2022 to collect All-American honors for a second straight season.
AUX Softball
The league roster will consist of 42 players with each of the three teams carrying 14 players each. The three team captains will draft their respective team before the start of each series and after the series is complete, the top three players on the leaderboard will serve as the captains for the following series. Each of the three series consists of six games with the three teams playing the other two squads twice in the series. At the end of the season, the player at the top of the leaderboard is crowned champion.
This will be the second season of AUX Softball after it debuted in San Diego last summer. The 2023 campaign will take place at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill., from June 12-27.
Championship Season
The league roster will consist of 60 players with each of the four teams carrying 15 players each. The four team captains will draft their respective team before the start of each series and after the series is complete, the top four players on the leaderboard will serve as captains for the following series. Each of the five series consists of six games with each of the four teams playing the other three squads once. At the end of the season, the player at the top of the leaderboard is crowned champion.
This will be the fourth Athletes Unlimited Softball Championship Season and will take place at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill., from July 28-August 27.
Career Honors:
Top 5 on the NCAA All-Time Hits List
34-Game Hit Streak – 6th Longest in NCAA History
2023 – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist
2023 – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist
2023 – Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (Feb. 21)
2023 – 3-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week
2023 – D1 Softball Preseason First Team All-American
2023 – Softball America Preseason Second Team All-American
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- American Player of the Week
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 – 2-time American Player of the Week
2019 – First Team All-Conference
2019 – All-Rookie Team
