She had an interesting career here...

Posted on: April 30, 2020 at 15:25:53 CT

Was a strikeout machine at a lower level, and we all hoped that would translate to an ace pitcher at the D1 level, right when we desperately needed one. She really struggled at that in 2018 and the early part of 2019. But as soon as Coach Anderson realized starting and middle relief just wasn’t suited for her, she became one of the best short relief pitchers in the nation.

Her ERA went from 4.87 to 2.71 to 1.42 this year. Her strikeout to walk ratio went from 35/25 to 64/24 to an amazing 38/3 in the half season this year. Opponents BA went from .318 to .212 to .151. She racked up 16 saves in her last 1.5 seasons here.

Just a great success story as she found her true niche in a role that is under appreciated (and seldom used) in college softball. She ended up making a huge difference here her junior and senior seasons at a time when it was really needed.

Best of luck to her. I’m not bothered a bit by kids like her who are choosing to move on with their lives and forego their extra year of eligibility the NCAA stupidly granted. Most senior impact players I’ve seen announce so far are going to use their extra year, more than I thought. Megan Kliest at ULL is one of the other big names that declined the extra year.

The good news for the team, even though it would have been great to have Eli back in 2021, is our pitching staff is much deeper and talented than it was when she came here. Hopefully Coach Anderson can find at least 1-2 of our deep pitching staff who can slide into Eli’s shutdown closer role. I’ve gotten used to it the last 2 years, it’s a great weapon to have in college softball.