Participating in a Division-I sport is like having a full-time job. For the athletes at UB there is no time for a serious job while playing in their sport. This is no exception in sophomore Stacey Evans, pitcher for the UB Bulls softball team.
"That's the reason I'm here - to pitch - so every game is an opportunity to do my job," said Evans.
Evans got her first taste in pitching during her time in Little League and her skills at the time stuck out to her parents and coach.
"In Little League I was pretty good at it so I got to pitch most of the time" said Evans.
From there it was apparent for her and her family to take her level of play to the next level, which included her going to various camps and lessons that have paid off.
Evans hails from Collinsville, Ill., where she led Triad High School to a conference championship and was named team MVP three consecutive years in a row.
Evans said she likes to be jocular when she pitches, never letting the game get too serious.
"I try to keep things lighthearted because if you get too serious bad things will happen," said Evans.
Being the dominant pitcher on the team, one might think that she is the team leader, but Evans said she feels differently.
"In my eyes I'm not, but I think my teammates pool a certain energy off of me," said Evans.
It is evident. If you have been to a softball game in which Evans has started you would have noticed that once she gets going in her groove so do her teammates.
Statistically Evans leads the Bulls in every pitching category possible. She leads the team with a 1.60 earned run average, a 9-9 record and 112 strikeouts. She recently broke the single season strikeout record that was hers to begin with as a freshman of 101 strikeouts. She also broke the career record for strikeouts with about two-thirds of the season left this year as a sophomore.
While Evans said records are all nice, what tops the cake is what you get done during the season. Evans said she tries not to focus her attention to records.
"In the back of my mind I want to break every record I can break, but I don't focus on that, I don't set that as a goal," said Evans.
So far this season, she has been twice named the MAC-East pitcher of the week, both during tournaments. The first naming happened when she led the Bulls to the co-championship of the Florida International Tournament. Evans had an impressive week as she went the distance in three games while striking out 26 batters and giving up one earned run in those three games pitched.
Evans earned the honor yet again the following week after her performance at the Malihini Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. She pitched 32.1 innings while only yielding and ERA of 1.52. She struck out 23 batters in those 32.1 innings and gave up 20 hits.
Despite Evans' fierce mentality on the mound, she said she lets her catchers do a good deal of the work.
"I don't even pay attention to who's up in the order, I let my catchers worry 'bout that ... if you start thinking of stats when you're pitching usually the opposite happens."
However, she said she is not afraid to call off her catcher and stir up the pitch sequence.
"If I see something in that particular batter in that particular time I'll shake them off," she said.
Her curve ball is her most consistent pitch and possibly her greatest strength on the mound, though it can also be one of her weaknesses.
"I'll throw three curve balls and of course you're going to mess one up," she said.
The playoffs are drifting further and further away from the Bulls as they are sitting at 4-8 in MAC play. Evans said she thought the team was ready for the playoffs this year and still thinks they are capable of playoff softball.
"I thought for sure after Florida and Hawaii that we would be going to the MACs but now I'm not real sure," she said. "I mean we definitely have a shot, but I don't know if this year is our year."
Evans was once a mechanical engineering major but switched to business and is happy with that decision. She knows how to balance her "job" with her studies as she was named an UB-Scholar Athlete.
At this rate, she might be in line for the softball team's "employee of the year."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
