March 25, 2014
| WKU Softball at Murray State | |
| Date | Wednesday, March 26 |
| Location | Murray, Ky. I Racer Field |
| Live Stats | GoRacers.com (free) |
| Live Video | OVCDigitalNetwork.com (free) |
In baseball and softball, many players have superstitions that they stick to when they play. It may be wearing a lucky pair of socks, listening to music before a game or doing a certain routine before stepping into the batter's box.
For WKU softball's Emily Rousseau, it is all about finding her rhythm when she is in the pitching circle. When she starts to find that rhythm, Rousseau begins rolling.
"Once I am in the rhythm, it is hard to get me out of it," Rousseau said. "There are times that I go too fast, and those are the times that Coach (Amy) Tudor will come out and be like `Ok, just going a little too fast. Try to slow things down a little bit.' That actually really helps because I don't know that I'm going too fast. I'm like huffing and puffing on the mound because I'm like go-go-go."
Rousseau had her rhythm going this past weekend, as she held Troy scoreless through two complete-game outings, including throwing a no-hitter in a 5-0 win on Sunday to seal the series sweep. The Louisiana native had a perfect game entering the seventh inning before throwing a walk with one out in the frame. She had retired the previous 19-consecutive batters.
"I knew the whole game what was going on," Rousseau said. "When Amanda (Thomas) made the most amazing play up the middle on that hit (in the sixth inning), I wanted to tackle her because I was so excited that she saved that from being a hit. We all kind of knew. I knew that I had a perfect game going into the seventh inning, and then I walked the girl, so I was like `well that goes down the drain.' When Olivia (Watkins) bobbled that ball a little bit, I think she knew because she was like `I'm so sorry' and that was not a big deal at all. I was actually laughing saying that it was ok because it wasn't a hit. I think we all had a feeling and were aware of it."
The no-no performance was the first of Rousseau's three-year career on The Hill, but she has been close to no-hitters and perfect games, as she has eight one-hit games and seven two-hit games in her career. Her effort over the weekend earned her Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week for the first time this season and fifth in her career.
"It was big and exciting," Rousseau said of getting her first no-hitter. "I didn't realize it was my first one, not that I have thought I had done it before. I just didn't realize or keep track of that. Then once someone told me, I knew that is kind of a big deal then. I was just more excited with the girls because it isn't like I struck everyone out. They did an awesome job behind me."
Rousseau has had great success since arriving on The Hill after transferring from Northwest Florida State College for the 2012 season. She has had a different collegiate path than many pitchers, as the three-year ace has had a different pitching coach each season. This year, WKU head coach Amy Tudor has taken over the role.
"It's been crazy," Rousseau said. "Every year I have to get to know each of the coaches because all three of them have complete different mindsets but all three have given me great things to work on. We have all worked well together. Obviously there have been ups and downs with all three, but it is more about finding a rhythm, and I think right now with Coach Tudor, we are in a really good rhythm. It has been a work in progress this whole season for us all to get used to each other, but I think we are all working well and communicating well with each other, so that has been really nice."
The stats are easy to highlight for Rousseau--seven wins in her career over ranked opponents, including this season at No. 2 Tennessee, her 487 career strikeouts ranks fourth all-time at WKU and she carries a 20.1 consecutive scoreless inning streak into Wednesday's game at Murray State. This season Rousseau got a chance to create new stats, as Tudor put her into the batting lineup.
"That was different," Rousseau laughed. "For me it was kind of a release from the pressure of pitching. I actually had a lot of fun hitting. I hurt my hand getting jammed on the ball, so that was kind of put down after that since I kind of need my hands. It was interesting. Just during the games that I did get to hit, I was just trying to have fun. I wanted to hit and do well, but it was just to have fun."
As she finishes out her senior season, Rousseau may be trying to have fun with her teammates on the field, but the Lady Toppers are also focused on taking care of business and trying to repeat as Sun Belt Conference champions in their last year with the league and making it to their second-straight NCAA Regional appearance.
"It's all about finishing strong," Rousseau said. "Last year we made big leaps and bounds in the program and there is nothing more that all the seniors want than to go out on top again, but we also want to go even further than last year. Our biggest goal is to make it to Super Regionals."
