By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sadie Walker turned in a solid freshman campaign in the pitcher's circle for Washburn University's softball team last season, posting an 8-4 record with a 3.11 earned run average and 97 strikeouts.
Washburn sophomore Sadie Walker received MIAA Pitcher of the Week recognition for the second time this season after posting a 2-0 record, including a no-hitter, last weekend. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But those numbers pale in comparison to the numbers the left-hander has put up in Year 2, with the former Holton standout helping lead the 24th-ranked Ichabods to a 30-10 record with seven straight wins.
Walker currently leads the nation with 17 wins and ranks fifth in the nation with six shutouts and 10th with a sparkling 0.88 earned run average.
Walker is 17-5 overall with two saves while recording 118 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .210 batting average.
"I felt like my freshman year I spent most of the year worrying about trying to prove myself and this year I feel like I'm just trying to stand on my name and make sure that everybody knows that they have a tough weekend when they're facing me,'' Walker said.
Sadie Walker is 17-5 on the season for 30-10 Washburn softball with an 0.88 earned run average. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Walker is coming off an outstanding week for the Ichabods, including WU's first seven-inning complete-game no-hitter since 2021 in a 1-0 win over Missouri Western last Saturday as Walker struck out 10 while facing just one above the minimum batters in the win, her second no-hitter of the season.
Walker also notched a complete-game win in Friday's 3-1 win over Northwest Missouri and received MIAA Pitcher of the Week recognition for the second time this season after recording an 0.50 ERA on the week.
"I think every game I'm building more confidence with each of my pitches and learning more about the movement and what works best for each team as we're scouting them and figuring out throughout the week what I need to do to set myself up,'' she said.
Walker has teamed with senior All-American Jaycee Ginter (13-5, 2.22 ERA) to give the Ichabods an oustanding one-two pitching punch, including Saturday's doubleheader sweep over Missouri Western when WU finished off a perfect 4-0 weekend despite being limited to just three runs on the day.
"Obviously we want to score a million runs, but every team does, so we're just relying on the defense to hold things down until we can figure out a way to get a couple of runs, just what we need,'' Walker said.
Washburn will return to action next weekend on the road, facing Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday and Fort Hays State the following day.
