Six things to know about AUX, the pro softball league hosted at Wichita State

Three players with Wichita ties are set to make their homecoming, as the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX competition was slated to begin at Wichita State’s Wilkins Stadium on Monday.

Here are six things to know for Wichita fans interested in the 15-day event.

1. Three players with Wichita ties highlight rosters

Many Wichita State fans are aware of the return of Sydney McKinney, the WSU softball icon who graduated in 2023 and is set to play her second season in AUX.

But Wichita-area fans of softball will also welcome home two of the best players to come from the city in infielder Kelsey Stewart-Hunter (Arkansas City, Maize) and catcher Julia Cottrill (Andover Central).

Stewart-Hunter won a pair of national championships while playing for Florida from 2013-16, then hit a walk-off home run to help lead Team USA to a silver medal in the 2021 Olympics. This is her fourth season playing with AUX.

Cottrill split time at Florida, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, starting 226 career games and compiling a .309 batting average with 35 home runs and 156 RBIs in her career. After recently graduating from Texas A&M, she is set to make her professional debut in Wichita.

McKinney and Stewart-Hunter were both drafted by Team Wiggins (orange), while Cottrill will suit up for Team Leach (gold) in the first series.

2. All games will be broadcast on ESPN channels

The schedule is broken into three separate series with each one featuring three nights of doubleheaders, which comes out to four games for each team.

All games will be broadcast on ESPN’s family of networks with analysts Amanda Scarborough (Texas A&M) and Natasha Watley (UCLA), two prominent former college softball players, rotating games with play-by-play provided by Eric Collins and Chuckie Kempf.

Below is the complete schedule:

Series One

Monday—Orange (Wiggins) vs. Gold (Leach), 5 p.m., ESPNews; Blue (Warren) vs. Gold (Leach), 7:30, ESPNU. Tuesday—Blue (Warren) vs. Orange (Wiggins), 6 p.m., ESPN2; Gold (Leach) vs. Orange (Wiggins), 8:30, ESPN2. Thursday—Gold (Leach) vs. Blue (Warren), 5 p.m., ESPNU; Orange (Wiggins) vs. Blue (Warren), 7:30, ESPNU.

Series Two

Sunday, June 16—Blue vs. Orange, noon, ESPN2; Gold vs. Orange, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2. Monday, June 17—Gold vs. Blue, 5 p.m., EPSNU; Orange vs. Blue, 7:30, ESPNU. Wednesday, June 19—Orange vs. Gold, 6 p.m., ESPN2; Blue vs. Gold, 8:30, ESPN2.

Series Three

Saturday, June 22—Gold vs. Blue, noon, ESPNU; Orange vs. Blue, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU. Sunday, June 23—Orange vs. Gold, 3 p.m., ESPNU; Blue vs. Gold, 5:30, ESPNU. Tuesday, June 25—Blue vs. Orange, 4:30 p.m., ESPNU; Gold vs. Orange, 7, ESPNU.

There will also be plenty of promotions, including an opening-night fireworks show. The full list of promotions are listed below:

Monday—First 250 fans receive an Opening Night rally towel.

Tuesday—First 250 fans receive an AU “Love is Unlimited” pride-themed enamel pin.

Thursday—First 250 fans receive a Mizuno belt bag, plus a post-game autograph session following Game 2.

June 16—First 250 fans receive a Koch Industries seat cushion and space is available to play catch on the field afterward. Players will also sign autographs following Game 2.

June 17—Country-themed night with post-game autograph session following Game 2.

June 19—First 250 fans receive a Juneteenth tote bag.

June 22—First 250 fans receive a pair of boom sticks.

June 23—Youth day that is designed for kids, plus a post-game autograph session following Game 2.

June 25—First 250 fans receive a replica champion’s medal, plus a closing ceremony following the final game.

3. Players rack up points for their statistics

A unique part of AUX is an individual leaderboard, where players are rewarded for winning with their team and also for their individual performance.

The scoring is fairly straightforward with hitters racking up 10 points per base (10 for a single, 20 for a double, 30 for a triple and 40 for a home run), as well as for a stolen base, a walk and a sacrifice. Pitchers receive four points for every out recorded and lose 10 points for every earned run allowed.

Every player on the winning team nets 50 points, while every player on a team is awarded 10 points if the team wins a single inning (ties carry over to the next inning).

A total of three MVPs are selected following each game with the top player earning 60 points, followed by 40 points for the second MVP and 20 points for the third MVP. A player may also earn 20 leaderboard points for being selected as the game’s Defensive MVP.

A pitcher has won the AUX title in each of the first of the two years with Rachel Garcia edging out infielder Aubrey Leach for last summer’s crown.

4. The rosters change every series

A draft is held prior to each series of games with the top three players in the individual leaderboard serving as team captains.

Uniform colors are assigned based on the team captain’s rank on the leaderboard: No. 1 wears gold, No. 2 wears orange and No. 3 wears blue.

Each team will consist of 14 players, including four pitchers, two catchers, two middle infielders, two corner infielders, three outfielders and one designated player.

5. Some serious star power will be featured in Wichita

Shocker fans have grown accustomed to loving the long ball under the Kristi Bredbenner regime. They should be in store for more fun with the AUX roster in Wichita.

The top two home run hitters in NCAA Division I history will be on display with Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo (Gold team) and Miami (Ohio) slugger Karli Spaid (Blue team). Alo (122) and Spaid (103) are the only two players in history to eclipse 100 career home runs.

Nebraska’s Billie Andrews (Blue team), who recently surpassed Taylor Edwards (Orange team), and Kentucky’s Erin Coffel (Gold team) also hold their respective program records for career home runs.

The circle will also feature plenty of star power for college softball fans in James Madison’s Odicci Alexander (Gold team), Florida’s Aleshia Ocasio (Orange team), Alabama’s Montana Fouts (Gold team), Arizona’s Alyssa Denham (Blue team), Oklahoma’s Keilani Ricketts (Blue team) and Arizona’s Taylor McQuillin (Orange team).

6. Pro softball to return to Wichita again next summer

Athletes Unlimited recently announced its plans to debut the Athletes Unlimited Softball League next summer.

The new league is slated to have four teams playing a 30-game schedule in a traditional format, which would be a change from the current AUX format. The expanded league would offer new opportunities for the world’s best softball players to compete regularly like never before.

The AUSL will become a city-based league beginning in 2026 with the inaugural season being a touring show with games in six-to-eight different cities.

Wichita is already slated as one of the cities that will earn a stop on the 2025 tour, but more could be in store.

Depending on how well the AUX competition is received in Wichita over the next two weeks, sources told The Eagle, the city could be in play for one of the four teams when the AUSL switches to a city-based league in 2026.