BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Last year, Payton Gottshall came on to campus and had one of the best seasons in Falcon's softball history as just a freshman. Amazingly, this year, she’s been even better.
A year ago, Payton Gottshall was named the Mid-American Conference freshman pitcher of the year and was All-MAC first team. What she is doing in the circle right now is otherworldly.
"I always figured I could break records, but it's really a shock to me that I'm doing it so soon," said Gottshall.
To give you an idea of just how good she has been this season, she’s been named MAC pitcher of the week five times. Last week, she threw 14 innings in a 2-1 win against Buffalo, striking out 23 batters in the game. The very next day, she threw a no-hitter against the Bulls.
"It's great, it's everything that I've dreamed of when I was a little girl," said Gottshall. "Throwing with my dad we always talked about doing stuff like this and it's just surreal that I'm doing it. It's just amazing."
"It's a lot of fun calling a game for her. She executes really, really well, she has great instincts in the circle, she's a great leader," said head coach Sarah Willis. "But I'll just go back to the mindset of competitor. She's one that no matter how many times she's going to face a lineup, she embraces the challenge and looks to go put it to somebody."
She followed up last week’s dominant performances with another impressive outing against Detroit Mercy on Tuesday. She threw another shutout and struck out 12 batters in 6 innings.
The best way to describe Gottshall’s mindset is ruthless. She lives to make a hitter's life miserable.
"Just attack the hitter, throw my best stuff, get them to chase stuff if they can," said Gottshall. "Jam them and do whatever I can to make them, I don't want to say look stupid, but that's kind of the goal. Just attack them and do what I can to help my team."