Thirty years and 30 wins is what it took for the Baker University softball team to break the record for most wins in a season.
The ‘Cats accomplished the feat Friday against Bellevue University.
“I think getting that record just shows how great of a team we have this year, and I am really proud to be a part of it,” freshman Maggie Holmberg said.
The team has a season record of 31-19 and is ranked fifth in the HAAC with a 13-7 conference record.
Freshman Erin Greenwood credits the team’s success to the hard work the women put in at practice.
“At the beginning of the season, we understood that we were the underdogs, and after we won some big games, we understood that we can win, and we changed our mentality to we can compete with these teams and win,” Greenwood said.
BU has come a long way from the beginning of the year, sweeping Washburn University 3-0 in both games of the series April 20. Baker lost to Washburn in the offseason in the fall, but BU was a different team this time around.
“They pretty much kicked our backsides this fall,” head coach Matt Windle said.
Greenwood threw a shutout in game one, and Holmberg pitched a one-hitter in game two. Holmberg leads the team with an ERA of 1.72. Greenwood is close behind with a 2.03 ERA.
Junior Brooke Allen also hit a two-run home run during the game, breaking Baker’s record as the single-season leader for home runs.
“Brooke Allen has been leading the team really well in hitting, so I think everyone kind of looks up to her as being one of the hitting leaders,” Holmberg said.
Allen has eight home runs and a .418 batting average.
Baker played Bellevue College Friday and swept the Bruins 3-1 in both games.
The Wildcats also split games with Kansas Wesleyan Tuesday, winning the first game 5-1 and losing the second game 9-2.
The HAAC Tournament begins this weekend, and the Wildcats are set to play No. 4-seeded Evangel University Friday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.
Windle said the team has a good chance of beating Evangel.
“It may take three games, but we’re pretty confident that we can play with just about anybody,” Windle said.
