Emma Nichols is gearing up for her final season on the diamond at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
In 16 appearances as a relief pitcher for the Tigers this spring, Mizzou’s only lefthander backed up staff aces Jordan Weber and Laurin Krings to help the team make the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament and finish 38-22 overall.
Four years ago, Nichols pitched Hillsboro to its first state final four appearance since 1999, earning first-team all-state honors to cap her outstanding career with the Hawks.
“Oh man, that was a long time ago,” chuckled Nichols.
The southpaw finished her senior season batting .560 with 10 home runs and 46 runs batted in, while posting an 11-4 record and striking out 120 batters in 133 2/3 innings.
“I think my senior year of high school helped me become a better teammate and (taught me) what a good teammate looks like,” Nichols said. “I was definitely one of the main leaders on my high school team and I was able to carry that over into college.”
Mizzou head coach Larissa Anderson was starting her first year on the job when she signed Nichols as part of the Class of 2023, alongside righthanders Weber and Megan Schumacher. Now the trio will take on the mantle of senior leadership next spring as the Tigers seek to build on this year’s progress.
“Last season, us three, me, Jordan and Megan Schumacher, became really close,” Nichols said. “We know each other’s roles and I think that plays a key part, but we are also really good friends.”
Nichols transitioned from a starter into a reliever this spring, going 1-3 with three saves, a 4.72 earned run average and 19 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings. As a starter in her freshman and sophomore seasons, she struck out 84 in 110 innings and posted a 3.12 ERA. She moved out of the starting role to make room for the sophomore Krings, the emerging No. 2 arm (16-9, 2.51 ERA).
Despite the decline in innings, however, Nichols embraced her new role.
“Two seasons ago, I started relieving games,” she said. “I just loved the power and the feeling it gave me to come in and get the job done for my starting pitcher. I feel like it’s definitely not for everybody, but it’s a different kind of mentality that you must have.”
Her mental approach is the one area of the game she wants to improve on going into next season.
“Being a reliever, it can really take a toll on (your) mental performance,” Nichols said. “I think for next season, my main focus is growing mentally as an athlete.”
She also hopes to lead the team alongside Mizzou’s five other seniors, who must fill the holes left from the departures of eight Tigers, including first-team all-SEC picks Brooke Wilmes (center field) and Kimberly Wert (third base).
“The class that I’m in, we’re all pretty close,” Nichols said. “Four of us live together, so I feel like it’s going to be easier for us to work together and lead the team as a group.”
That opportunity begins next month with fall workouts, laying the foundation for success in the spring.
“We have a pretty hardcore fall with working out, practice and everything that coach has us doing,” she said. “I hope that I can do a good job of preparing (the underclassmen) along the way but still making sure that they’re understanding the do’s and the don’t’s.”
Missouri has yet to announce the signees for 2023, but the incoming class will join a team with a growing postseason pedigree. Under Anderson, the Tigers are 99-46 and have hosted an NCAA regional in back-to-back seasons, reaching the Super Regional in 2021. Mizzou lost 6-0 to Arkansas in this year’s conference title contest.
“My favorite part of the (2022) season was probably the SEC tournament,” Nichols said. “It was something that a lot of us have never experienced before, and to make it to the finals was amazing. Obviously, we should have won, but being there for my teammates, supporting them and growing as a group was so fun.”
Nichols will have one more shot seeing how far she and her team can go in the hyper-competitive realm of NCAA Division I softball.
“I think this is going to be my last season playing softball,” she said. “I want to have my best season so far, train as hard as I can and work hard every day, so I can accomplish that and be the best version of myself as a player and as a teammate.”