#25 Outfield

Sydney McKinney

Wichita State

Norborne, Missouri

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

Playing for Beauties & Beasts

Biography

Sydney McKinney is a 5-foot-7 professional softball infielder from Norborne, Missouri. She was acquired by the Oklahoma City Spark in the 2nd Round of…

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

Personal Life

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

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.

Professional Experience

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (2023–)

2026 AUSL Regular Season (Oklahoma City Spark): McKinney batted .370 with 20 hits, including three doubles, contributing 12 runs scored while driving in six runs. She hit safely in 12 of her 15 games, including an eight-game hitting streak from July 4 to July 18. She registered five multi-hit efforts during the season. McKinney went 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in during her season debut against Utah on June 23. She also tallied three hits against Portland on July 1, including a double and two runs scored. On June 28, against Chicago, she logged two hits with two runs scored, and on July 14, at Texas, she collected two more hits.

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 (Bandits): 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

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.