Friday Features: Record-setting Hillary Carpenter brings success with her to UNA
By Mike Perrin
Hillary Carpenter came to the University of
North Alabama as one of the most decorated pitchers in Alabama softball history. She played varsity softball for six years for Hatton High, a hamlet of about 250 folks located 30 minutes from the UNA campus, and made All-State four times, earned Class 2A Pitcher and Player of the Year awards three times and Super All-State twice.
Her 140 victories rank as 12th-best ever in Alabama and 13 no-hitters rank 15th on the all-time list. Oh, and she led her team to four consecutive state championships, too.
As a UNA Lion, Carpenter is continuing to rack up stellar numbers and helping her team to ever-greater heights. Just this week, UNA (18-4) is No. 8 in the first regular-season
NFCA Division II Coaches Poll – its highest ranking ever.
In Carpenter’s first two seasons, the Lions have made consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament after making just two previous trips in the history of the program.
The 5-foot-5 lefthander was GSC Pitcher of the Year as a freshman and backed that up with her second straight All-GSC season as a sophomore, when she finished with a 1.00 earned run average – fourth in all of Division II. Her 22-6 record last season set a school record for victories and she notched her second straight second-team All-South Region honor. As a junior, she is already 48-13 for her career, tying the UNA all-time record for victories, held by Stephanie Glienke from 2004-07.
Despite being a ground-ball pitcher who relies on strong defense behind her, Carpenter has notched 252 strikeouts thus far and her career ERA is 1.86.
This season, she has a 7-2 record with one save and a 1.52 ERA in 64 1/3 innings. She has given up 16 runs, 14 earned, and walked 17 with 47 strikeouts while allowing opposing hitters a .197 batting average.
Coach
Ashley Cozart’s three-woman staff has combined for a 1.77 ERA, second-best in the GSC. Freshman
Hannah Bodenhorn (1-1) has a 1.14 ERA in six appearances while junior
Raven Cole is 10-1 with a 2.39 ERA.
“My team is the best,” Carpenter said. “I really do love all of them. We all get along and even hang out together outside of softball. When we’re on the field, we all cheer for each other and pick each other up when one of us is down. So far, this season has been awesome, and I’m so excited to see how the rest of the year goes.
“Coach Cozart has really put so much time and effort into all of us these past three years in order to turn our program around, and I am so thankful to be a part of it. It means a lot, and it is so special to me. There is really nowhere else I would rather be.”
The Lions are 4-2 in the Gulf South Conference, tied for fourth in the league behind three GSC unbeatens, including NFCA second-ranked Alabama-Huntsville. Carpenter no-hit then-No. 6 Valdosta State to open UNA’s conference schedule on Feb. 12.
Carpenter credits her coach and teammates for her success in Florence. “I have learned so much here,” she said. “One of the most important things to me would be that you can’t strike everyone out – or at least I can’t. I learned to accept the fact that I couldn’t just blow it by everyone. So I now focus on hitting my spots and letting my defense back me up, and they do a great job of that.
“I have also learned that I cannot be perfect. It was hard to accept, but I am perfectly OK with it now. Coach
(Whitney) Hawkins (a former UAH standout who finished with a 1.28 ERA as a Charger) is our pitching coach, so I rely on her more than anyone. If I miss my spot in a game, I am more than likely going to look over at her for a correction.”
The record-setter said she doesn’t try to rely on natural talent, either. “It seems like the older I get, the harder I have to work,” Carpenter said. “We pitch three out of the five days that we practice, and sometimes more than that. During the offseason, we work out hard three days a week.
“I feel like this year, I have been stronger than I ever have been in the offseason. Our strength and conditioning coach gives us a workout plan for the summer and Christmas break.”
Carpenter also has classroom accolades to her credit at UNA. Last year the Secondary Education major with a concentration in mathematics was Academic All-GSC.
“My team goal this season is to focus on winning conference first,” she said, “then to get to Nationals and win it all. My personal goal is to be confident in all my pitches.”
If past experience is a predictor of future success, there’s good reason to think that personal goal is dead-on and the team target definitely within reach.
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