Rock softball senior pitcher Brooke Dawson continues to impress with her latest achievement in racking up the SRU softball career wins record with her 31st career win in the team’s 8-7 victory over Mercyhurst University (6-28) last Friday.
After earning another win in The Rock’s 6-4 victory over Edinboro University (5-20) last Saturday, Dawson improved her season record to 7-9, with a current career record of 32-33. During high school, pitching wasn’t the only sport on Dawson’s mind as she played volleyball and basketball as well. However, it did come clear for her one day on which path she wanted to go down.
“Because I’m a pitcher, I just put so much time into practicing so I just thought that was the way to go,” Dawson said.
The Johnston, Oh. native is coming off the best season of her career last year with an 11-9 record with a 1.89 ERA, while holding opposing batters to an average of .244, and putting 129.2 innings pitched under her belt. Dawson’s decision to come to The Rock was based off of the connection she had with head coach Stacey Rice, and because of the path she wanted for her career.
“I met coach Rice at a recruiting camp and I really liked what she had to say,” Dawson said. “She seemed very interested in helping me and teaching me more and then I found out they have an exercise science program here and that’s what I’m majoring in.”
Currently in total, Dawson has 418.1 innings pitched for the Green and White, which can bring a lot of stress on a pitchers arm especially during a season’s end. Dawson is no different as she has been dealing with a shoulder injury that doesn’t seem to bring down her capabilities on the field.
“I have a shoulder problem and no one has been able to exactly find out what it is, so every once in a while I’m in pain,” Dawson said. “It’s when I throw underhand it doesn’t bother me, it’s more like overhand, I just get very uncomfortable sometimes, but I just got to go through it.”
Being a senior on the team always brings a leadership role with it, and Dawson certainly has her hands full with freshman pitcher Camie Shumaker who has created a hype of her own. Shumaker started got through her first five starts of her career with a .4 ERA and three shutouts in a row. The freshman currently sits with a 7-4 record on the season and a team-leading ERA of 3.0, but when it comes to things about the game, that is where Dawson needs to show her the ropes on how the game is played, Dawson said.
“Yeah coach Rice has been on me about it,” Dawson said. “There’s still certain things she needs to know. Pitching is mental, like she physically has the tools to be good, it’s just learning how to play the game.”
Dawson currently is looking into grad school programs for after graduation and one of which is here at The Rock, but not after she goes back to her hometown in Ohio to take a year off and spend time with her family.
With six games left in the regular season, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West still is up for grabs with The Rock currently sitting in third place with an overall record of 22-15. The Rock currently sits behind first-place Gannon University (22-11) and California University of Pa. (14-12) who SRU will have to square off with this weekend both at home, but not before they travel to Seton Hill University (17-13) on Friday with game one to start at 2:30 p.m.
