Eagles’ pitcher Jenna Ignowski led the softball team to an 8-0 lead over the University of Detroit Mercy Tuesday in game one of a double header. The Eagles won game two 15-7. Ignowski, a sophomore, pitched six innings, giving up two hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Despite her performances, Ignowski came to Eastern Michigan University with one main goal.
“I want to throw at least one perfect game in my college career,” Ignowski said. “It’s a tough goal, and not very likely,”
Ignowski has three career shutouts in college.
Ignowski played softball for four years at Niles High School in Niles, Mich. During her stretch with the Niles Vikings, Ignowski accumulated many awards. In her junior year, Ignowski won the Michigan Gatorade player of the year and assisted the Vikings to a playoff appearance but ended up losing in the quarter-finals.
In her senior year, Ignowski was named Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Miss Softball. That same year, she helped Niles to a state championship victory, starting every game of the season and allowing just one run in the tournament. Ignowski also received the Ed Weede outstanding female athlete of the year award and was also named all-state player of the year for three-of-four years in high school. She played and won the championship with Nellie Coquillard, her high school and now college teammate, who plays second base for the Eagles (13-5).
“We are really good friends and we came [to Eastern Michigan] together,” Ignowski said. “I did very well in high school. We had a very good team so I had a lot of good players around me as well.”
Playing at the pitcher position, Ignowski holds the record for most career strikeouts for Niles softball, along with the record for most perfect games, 18, and holds 16 other school records.
Ignowski was recruited to EMU and said the recruiting process was very overwhelming.
“At first, you go to tournaments and recruiters come to watch and if they like you, they send you letters letting you know that they are interested,” Ignowski said.
From the start, Ignowski recalls telling her mother that she didn’t have any intentions on attending or playing for EMU but after her visit to campus, Ignowski fell in love with the school.
“I loved the atmosphere, I loved the team and liked the coaches and it just fit for me.” Ignowski said. “A lot of the things I was looking for in a college like being close to home so my parents can come watch me play was big for me. I liked the classroom sizes and the benefits of Eastern such as being able to have a car on campus.”
A goal Ignowski wants to achieve in college is not only to improve herself as a player, but also as a person.
“I think that I’ve changed a lot between my freshman and sophomore year and I keep learning who I am, which a big part about being an athlete is,” Ignowski said.
For the Eagles, Ignowski’s hopes to reach, and maybe even win the MAC championships.
In high school, Ignowski’s favorite pitches were rise, changeup and fastball, which she threw regularly.
“When you come to college, you learn different [pitches] so now I would say I like to throw an inside strike screwball in addition to rise, but also changeup,” Ignowski said. “ You develop new pitches when facing high caliber batters in college.”
Ignowski also has a superstition which she follows through with before games.
“My shoes have to be a certain tightness and I have to be completely comfortable and when I pitch, I like to start from the right side (of the batter’s box) and make my way to the left side during warm-ups,” Ignowski said. “It’s not something that will throw me off during a game if I don’t do it, but I like to have a routine.”
In her freshman season at EMU, Ignowski started 10 games and ended the season 6-7 with a 4.77 ERA, striking out 57 batters in 76 innings pitched. She also recorded six complete games and one shutout, which came against Florida Gulf Coast where she allowed two hits while striking out six batters.
Off the mound, Ignowski likes to watch movies and do homework along with spending time with her friends and relaxing. She is a sophomore and is majoring in speech and language mythology.
College athletes have one day off from practice every week so Ignowski spends her time doing volunteer work.
“Our softball team does a lot of community service work,” Ignowski said. “Once a month we do hunger coalition where we go to a homeless kitchen and help serve food.”
Ignowski also volunteers with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program at Childs Elementary School in Ypsilanti.
“I really love it,” Ignowski said. “It’s a lot of fun to spend time with my ‘little,’ Tori, who is in the second grade. She looks forward to it and it’s a wonderful experience.”
