Sydney McKinney

Personal: McKinney was named an assistant softball coach at Marshall University on July 21, 2023. She is the daughter of Jason and Andreia McKinney; her father played basketball at Mid-America Nazarene. McKinney has two sisters and one brother. Her sister, Madison, played collegiate softball at Avila University from 2016 to 2021. She has two dogs named Judd and Maxwell. In her free time, McKinney enjoys painting, spending time with her dogs, and exploring new coffee shops with her fiancé, Bailey. She also has a playful side and enjoys playing with slime. McKinney credits Wichita State softball coaches Kristi Bredbenner and Elizabeth Economon as individuals who have had a meaningful impact on her life. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice. Her proudest accomplishment is being drafted out of college to play professional softball.

2024 Championship Season: McKinney accumulated 1,050 leaderboard points during her fourth Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball season, including 820 win points and 210 stat points. She started in all 15 games and ranked third in the league with a .362 batting average. McKinney tied for third in the circuit with 17 hits and scored eight runs. She ranked fifth in the league with a .400 on-base percentage. McKinney registered at least one hit in eight consecutive games from August 3-18, with four multi-hit efforts. She started the hitting streak with a three-hit performance against Team McQuillin on August 3. McKinney earned MVP 3 honors after going 2-for-3 against Team Lorenz on August 11. She tallied a season-high 140 leaderboard points against Team McQuillin on August 3 and against Team Faraimo on August 18. McKinney posted 100 or more leaderboard points in seven of her final 11 games.

2024 AUX Season: McKinney posted her best finish of her Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball career with a sixth place effort. She collected 1,198 leaderboard points, including 840 win points and 258 stat points. She tied for fourth in the league with 490 inning win points and accumulated 100 or more leaderboard points in a game seven times, which were tied for second in the league. McKinney also notched 150 or more points three times. She led the league with a .429 batting average while starting all 12 contests. She notched 15 hits, including two doubles and a triple, while scoring six times. She also drove in four runs while drawing four walks. McKinney opened the season with a six-game hitting streak, including three multi-hit affairs. She posted a 3-for-3 performance en route to securing MVP 1 honors and season-best 220 leaderboard points against Team Warren on June 13. McKinney was voted as the MVP 3 recipient on June 19 after going 2-for-3 against Team Clark and posted a three-hit effort on June 22 against Team Mazon to earn 160 leaderboard points.

2023 Championship Season: In her first Championship Season, McKinney recorded 680 leaderboard points, with 620 of those points coming from wins. She started in 9 out of the 12 games and had a batting average of .222, with six hits in 27 at-bats. Her best performance came on August 5 against Team Garcia, where she went 2-for-4 for her only multi-hit game of the season. McKinney earned 100 or more leaderboard points in five games throughout the season.

2023 AUX Season: McKinney earned 744 leaderboard points, including 520 win points, during her first professional campaign. She received MVP 3 honors on June 18 in Team Leach's 7-6 victory over Team Taylor. She started in eight games and led the league with a .429 batting average. McKinney recorded 12 hits, including two triples, and drove in three runs. She also scored five runs and had a six-game hitting streak to start her professional career, with four multi-hit performances. She went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a triple against Team Leach on June 18. She was one of 14 players selected in the Athletes Unlimited Softball College Draft.

International Experience: McKinney was a member of the Team USA roster for the 2022 Japan All-Star Series.

College Experience: McKinney was a five-year letter winner and started all 244 games from 2019-23. She had a career batting average of .451 with 28 home runs and 132 runs batted in. She finished her career ranked fifth in NCAA Division I history with a school-record 378 career hits. She was a three-time NFCA All-Central Region performer and earned First-Team distinction as a fifth-year senior. She was a Top 10 Finalist for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award and was honored as the 2021 and 2023 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Additionally, she was a four-time All-AAC First Team selection and a member of the 2019 AAC All-Rookie Team. 

McKinney guided the Shockers to back-to-back at-large invitations to the NCAA Championship field in 2022 and 2023. She finished her career as the Shockers’ career and single-season leader in hits, batting average, runs scored, and total bases. She is also second in school history with 16 career triples and ranks fourth in school history with 48 career doubles. As a fifth-year senior, McKinney started in all 56 games and batted .520 with 103 hits, breaking her own program single-season mark. She also collected 13 doubles with seven triples and tallied 33 multi-hit games, including five outings with four hits. McKinney authored a 34-game hitting streak which included the final 18 games of the 2022 season and the first 16 games of the 2023 campaign.

During the 2022 campaign, McKinney led NCAA Division I in batting average (.522) and hits (97) while breaking her own school records in both categories. She was one of two players in the country to post a .500 or better batting average during the season. She was a Top 25 Finalist for the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award and earned Second-Team All-America honors from Softball America and D1Softball. McKinney tied the school single-game record with five hits against Memphis in the AAC Tournament on May 12, 2022. McKinney became the first player in program history to earn NFCA All-America accolades after being named to the 2021 All-America Third Team. She established program single-season records with a .439 batting average and 87 hits as a third-year sophomore. She started all 55 games and belted seven home runs with 31 runs batted in. McKinney led the Shockers to the 2021 American Athletic Conference title and NCAA Norman Regional appearance. 

As a true freshman in 2019, McKinney started 55 games and spent time at second base and third base. She ranked third on the team with a .329 average and team-best 57 hits.