Wichita State infielder Ashley Lynn hit a school-record 13 home runs during the 2004 season, but one of the long balls clearly stands out — both for its immediate drama and its historical significance.
WSU was playing rival Oklahoma State in Stillwater, where the Shockers never win, and the game was scoreless in the top of the seventh and final inning. Lynn was at the plate with the bases empty and one out.
"I was just looking for something to hit hard," Lynn explains. "I knew we needed something big, but I wasn't trying to hit a home run by any means."
Trying or not, she found a breaking pitch to her liking and sent it sailing over the center field wall — just the "something big" that the Shockers desperately needed. "A tremendous shot," coach Tim Walton says.
Wichita State's pitching made the 1-0 lead stand up, and the Shockers posted their first victory in Cowgirl Stadium.
That homer, her fourth, was simply a sign of what was to come from Lynn, who developed into a fearsome impact player for the Shockers during her sophomore year.
Leading WSU in virtually all offensive categories, she hit .317 with 39 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .617. In addition to breaking the school home run record (previously owned by Jody Lupo '03 and Patti Oleson '02 with 10), she also set the mark for total bases with 103. Lynn was honored as a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection.
"It was just a phenomenal season," Walton says.
Lynn, who is from Spokane, Wash., gave a hint of her potential as a freshman, when she batted .273 with five homers and 28 rbis.
Walton made a few adjustments to Lynn's batting style — she straightened up slightly, narrowed her stance and raised her hands — and tried to smooth out her swing. All those adjustments helped, but one other attribute was perhaps the biggest factor in turning Lynn into a super sophomore. "More than anything," Walton says, "she just loves to hit."
Which made the way her season ended all the more devastating. A late-season injury did what no Valley pitchers could do: stop Lynn.
While coming in for a ground ball during pre-game infield against Drake, she felt her knee buckle.
"It was a shock when it happened," she says. "I wasn't quite sure how bad it was, but, when I heard the pop in my knee, I was pretty scared."
And those fears were realized when she learned she had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, an injury that sidelined her for the season after 58 straight games. Lynn had surgery in late May, and she expects to be on crutches for four weeks.
"It's probably going to be tough to trust the knee after surgery," she says. "I don't know — I don't want to think about being scared about it. I'll just have to do the rehab and hope it works out."
Lynn's injury, and an early exit from the conference tournament when rain washed out losers' bracket games, couldn't dampen what was another successful year for the Shockers.
Wichita State finished 38-26 (15-12 in the Valley) for its second straight winning season and set a school record for attendance at Wilkins Stadium, where the team was 17-7.
Although Lynn's summer will be disappointing — she had hoped to play against the Olympic team in Spokane — she is already looking forward to next season.
"The fact that we only lose three seniors is good news for us," she says. "We've got some talent coming in, and the core of our team coming back."
