#25, Infield, L/R

Sydney McKinney

Wichita State University '23

Hometown: Norborne, Missouri

Two-Time AAC Player of the Year (2021, 2023)

Sydney McKinney is a 5-foot-7 professional softball infielder from Norborne, Missouri. She was acquired in the 2nd Round of the 2026 Expansion Draft following a collegiate career at Wichita State.

Personal Life

Career: Spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall University before joining the staff at Wichita State as a graduate assistant in 2025.

Family: Father played basketball at Mid-America Nazarene. Sister, Madison, played softball at Avila University.

Hobbies: Painting, trying new coffee shops, and playing with slime.

Professional Experience

Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, AUX & AUSL (2023–2025)

2025 AUSL All-Star Cup: Closed the season in 23rd place with 830 leaderboard points. Started all 10 games, posting a .219 batting average with two doubles and three runs scored.

2025 AUSL Regular Season: Starter in 23 games who led the AUSL with a .486 average. Finished second in the league with 36 total hits and a .500 on-base percentage. Authored a .649 slugging percentage and three home runs.

2024 Championship Season: Accumulated 1,050 leaderboard points. Ranked third in the league with a .362 batting average and tied for third with 17 hits.

2024 AUX Season: Posted a sixth-place finish with 1,198 leaderboard points. Led the league with a .429 batting average, 15 hits, and four walks.

2023 Championship Season: Recorded 680 leaderboard points, hitting .222 with six hits.

2023 AUX Season: Secured 744 leaderboard points in her inaugural campaign. Led the league with a .429 batting average and tallied 12 hits, including two triples.

International Experience (2022–2026)

Team USA: Member of the Team USA roster for the 2022 Japan All-Star Series and the 2026 National Team pool.

College Experience: Wichita State (2019–2023)

Career Statistics: Started all 244 games of her career. Authored a .451 batting average and finished fifth in NCAA Division I history with a school-record 378 career hits. Shockers’ career and single-season leader in hits, batting average, runs scored, and total bases.

Graduate Year (2023): Led NCAA Division I with a .520 batting average and 103 hits, breaking her own single-season mark.

Senior Year (2022): Set a school record by hitting .522, becoming one of two players in NCAA Division I to hit .500 or better.

Junior Year (2021): Set program single-season records with a .439 batting average and 87 hits.

Freshman & Sophomore Years (2019-2020): Paced the team with a .410 batting average during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Ranked third on the team with a .329 average as a true freshman in 2019.

Awards & Honors

All-America: Three-time NFCA All-America selection (First-Team in 2023).

Conference Honors: 2021 and 2023 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Four-time All-AAC First Team selection.

National Honors: Top 10 Finalist for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award.

YEAR	G	GS	PA	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG%	OPS	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HP	SO	LOB	TB	SF	SH	SB	CS
2026 AUSL	11	11	42	40	.450	.476	.525	1.001	9	18	3	-	-	4	2	-	1	5	21	-	-	-	1
2025 All-Star Cup	10	10	35	32	.219	.242	.281	.523	3	7	2	-	-	5	1	-	6	-	9	-	2	-	-
2025 AUSL	23	23	78	74	.486	.500	.649	1.149	15	36	3	-	3	14	2	-	11	-	48	-	2	2	2
2024 Championship*	15	7	52	47	.362	.400	.362	.762	8	17	-	-	-	2	3	-	3	-	17	-	2	1	-
2024 AUX Softball	12	6	42	35	.429	.488	.543	1.031	6	15	2	1	-	4	4	1	1	-	19	1	1	-	-
2023 AUX Softball	8	-	32	28	.429	.484	.571	1.055	5	12	-	2	-	3	3	-	5	-	16	-	1	1	-
2023 Championship*	13	7	27	27	.222	.222	.222	.444	4	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	6	-	-	1	1
Career Totals	92	64	308	283	.392	.423	.481	.904	50	111	10	3	3	32	15	1	34	574	136	1	8	5	4

*The AUSL All-Star Cup was known as the Championship season through 2024.

Splits

DATE	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	PA	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG%	OPS	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HP	SO	LOB	TB	SF	SH	SB	CS
7/14/2026	Volts	Spark	4	4	.250	.250	.250	.500	-	1	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	2	1	-	-	-	-
7/12/2026	Spark	Talons	4	4	.500	.500	.500	1.000	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	-	-
7/11/2026	Spark	Talons	4	3	1.000	1.000	1.333	2.333	2	3	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	1
7/9/2026	Spark	Talons	4	3	.333	.500	.333	.833	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
7/5/2026	Spark	Cascade	3	3	.333	.333	.333	.666	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
7/4/2026	Spark	Cascade	4	4	.750	.750	1.000	1.750	2	3	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-
7/1/2026	Spark	Blaze	4	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
6/29/2026	Spark	Blaze	4	4	.250	.250	.250	.500	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
6/28/2026	Spark	Bandits	4	4	.500	.500	.500	1.000	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
6/27/2026	Spark	Bandits	3	3	.333	.333	.333	.666	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
6/23/2026	Talons	Spark	4	4	.750	.750	1.000	1.750	1	3	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-

*The AUSL All-Star Cup was known as the Championship season through 2024.

Highlights

AUSL Announces 2026 Impact Award Nominees

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League has announced the six nominees for the 2026 AUSL Impact Award, recognizing athletes who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and community impact beyond the softball field. This year’s nominees are Odicci Alexander-Bennett, Amanda Lorenz, Emma Lemley, Megan Faraimo, Sydney McKinney and Tori Vidales. Each athlete is being recognized alongside a nonprofit […]

A wide-angle view of second base before the start of a game between the Bandits and Talons.

Awards & Honors

Two-Time AAC Player of the Year (2021, 2023)

Represented Team USA at 2022 Japan All-Star Series

2021 American Athletic Conference Champion

Wichita State Record-Holder in Hits (378)

Three-Time NFCA All-Central Region

5th in NCAA Division I History with 378 Hits

6/23/2026-
Sydney McKinney was reinstated from the temporary inactive list
5/20/2026-
Spark placed Sydney McKinney on the temporary inactive list
12/2/2025Spark
Spark drafted Sydney McKinney in the expansion draft: [Round 2, Pick 2 (4)]
1/30/2025Bandits
Bandits drafted Sydney McKinney in the inagural draft [Round 9, Pick 1(33)]

DATE	TEAM	TRANSACTION
6/23/2026		Sydney McKinney was reinstated from the temporary inactive list
5/20/2026		Spark placed Sydney McKinney on the temporary inactive list
12/2/2025	Spark	Spark drafted Sydney McKinney in the expansion draft: [Round 2, Pick 2 (4)]
1/30/2025	Bandits	Bandits drafted Sydney McKinney in the inagural draft [Round 9, Pick 1(33)]