April 25, 2006

By Marc Shaner, ONU Sports Information

Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) senior first baseman Liz Pasch (Lockport, Ill./H.S.) recently etched her name into the record softball record book with her 28th career home run. She currently has 31 career home runs.

"I think that is the most amazing thing about breaking that record. I never once believed that I had the ability to do that," Pasch said. "I really never saw myself as a player that could accomplish something like that and I am still amazed that my name will be remembered for it. I wasn't even going to play ball in college and now four years later, I have turned into a player that I never thought was possible."

The previous record was held by Erin Moreland, who graduated in 2001.

Pasch's record-setting blast came in the Tigers' first game against Grand View College (Iowa) on April 14. Pasch added two home runs in the first game against Grand View on April 15.

"I never knew what the record was until people started telling me I was getting close," Pasch said. "If it wasn't for the previous record, I may never have been pushed to beat it. I hope another player comes along one day and can feel the same way I felt when I broke it."

She is also the single-season home run record holder. As a junior, Pasch hit 15 home runs. Not bad, when as a freshman, she hit just one. She also hit nine home runs as a sophomore. So far this season, Pasch has hit six home runs to lead the squad, all coming in a 10 game stretch.

"When I came in freshmen year, I really had no thoughts of being a big-time power hitter," Pasch said. "I struggled a lot and was really disappointed in my performance that year. I didn't want to go through that again as a sophomore and didn't want to disappoint the team in clutch situations as much as I felt I did. I basically changed everything about my swing and decided that I really needed to work to become a hitter that the team could depend on in every situation. That to me never involved being a home run hitter, but hitting those nine home runs (as a sophomore) really gave me the confidence to think that if I worked even harder, I could do some pretty big things for the team."

Her most dramatic home run was a walk-off home run against Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.), helping the Tigers win 3-2 in 11 innings on April 18.

Pasch is a Psychology major and was a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic All-Conference and NAIA All-Region VII selection as a junior. She was also selected as a Daktronics-NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete.