Sydney McKinney signs with the AUSL for league’s inaugural season

Infielder Sydney McKinney has signed with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) for the first season in June 2025. The AUSL is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing a 30-game season in a traditional format.

The Wichita State star was the first overall draft pick from the 2023 Softball College Draft. Since joining AU, McKinney has been a consistent starter and hitter at the top of the lineup. She posted the best finish of her AU career at sixth place in the 2024 AUX season where she led the league with a .429 batting average, knocking 15 hits in 35 at-bats.

McKinney holds the Wichita State career and single-season records for batting average, hits, and runs scored. A two-time AAC Player of the Year (2021, 2023), she also led the NCAA in batting average (.522) and hits (97) in 2022.

McKinney will join Carley Hoover, Dejah Mulipola, Erin Coffel, Payton Gottshall, Kayla Kowalik, Aubrey Leach, Mariah Mazon, Jordan Roberts, Anissa Urtez, Jessi Warren, Morgan Zerkle, and Ali Aguilar as athletes who have also confirmed to play in the AUSL in 2025.

The general managers of the four teams will assemble the inaugural rosters at the AUSL Allocation Draft, which will take place in early 2025. A college draft will also be held later in the spring, allowing each team to fill out its final roster spots. Details regarding both drafts will be announced at a later date.

Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.