Photo by Brent Beerends / MT Athletic Communications
With the softball season winding down, it’s time to take a look at some of the players who won’t be wearing blue and white this time next year.
For our first of four senior spotlights, we look at Middle Tennessee Softball utility player and senior Lauren Riddell, who has had quite an interesting career here during her time as a Blue Raider.
Coming out of the University School of Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee, Riddell had high hopes of a great college career. In high school, Riddell’s Lady Bruins team won the 2010 and 2012 TSSAA State Championships and were runner-ups in 2011.
She went 25-4 with a 0.82 earned run average and 214 strikeouts in 33 games in 2012 , while also batting .437 with 14 doubles and 36 RBIs. Riddell was a four-time All-State selection & was named 2013 Hitter of the Year and 2012 Pitcher of the Year. She finished 81-14 all-time in high school with a stellar career ERA of 0.87.
Riddell, who signed with intentions of pitching at Middle Tennessee, said once she got on campus, she “had a different calling.” She realized pitching was not for her and hitting was what she wanted to focus on.
“It’s a job. When you go out to the real world, your boss is going to tell you what they need you to do and you’re going to do it,” Riddell said. “If hitting was the thing they needed me to do, I was going to do it and I was going to do it to my best ability.”
Riddell has been a utility player in her time here at MTSU and has a career batting average of .232 with one home run and eight RBIs. With this year being her senior season, Riddell has only seen action in one game and only has one at-bat, something she admits has been really tough.
“It’s difficult, I’m not going to lie. The game knows I’ve worked as hard this year as I have the past 3 years, probably even harder, and whether or not I get out on the field isn’t up to me,” Riddell said. “I know that there’s two things I can control, and that’s my effort and attitude.”
Riddell says her time spent at MTSU has been quite the “learning experience” and has taught her a work ethic that she hopes to soon one day be able to take with her into the real world.
Follow MTSU Softball beat writers Cody Strickler (@CodyStricklerSL) and Nick Hardin (@nlhardin2) on Twitter for more coverage.
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To contact Sports Editor Tyler Lamb (@Tlamb35), email [email protected]
