AMHERST — She may be short in stature at 5 foot, 3 inches, but Amherst College senior pitcher Lorena Ukanwa stands tall in Division III.
For the second year in a row, Ukanwa was named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III National Player of the Year watch list.
“All the time coaches would comment on my height,” Ukanwa said. “But once they saw me pitch on the mound, they never brought up my height again.”
There were 50 players named to the watch list, which gets shortened as the season progresses.
“She’s a little pitcher which is not common in softball, so for her stature she gets every molecule and cell into her pitch,” Amherst pitching coach Julie Bolduc said. “One of the kids at a clinic we held said she never thought she could pitch in college being on the smaller side, but after seeing Lorena she said she has hope.”
In the 2018, Ukanwa earned First Team All-NESCAC and First Team All-Region from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
She held a 17-2 record and led the New England Small College Athletic Conference with 155 strikeouts in 116⅓ innings pitched. She threw six shutouts in the seven complete games she pitched, all while she struggled with a tear in her pitching hand no one outside of her team knew of.
“The summer between my sophomore and junior year I had to go through rehab, so I had low expectations for my junior year,” Ukanwa said. “I was game by game, pitch by pitch, every game we never knew how long I could go so that mentality had me live in the present, which is why I was stunned when I was nominated.”
Ukanwa is one of four NESCAC players on the list, along with Williams utility Mackenzie Murphy, Middlebury outfielder Melanie Mandell and Tufts pitcher Kristi Van Meter.
The list is compiled each year by the NFCA’s Division III All-America committee. The eventual winner will come from the group of 10 finalists after the NCAA championship.
Ukanwa has appeared in 64 games with 49 starts, amounting to 32 wins and nine losses in her career. She has struck out 357 batters and walked 79 players.
“We’ve had a saying since (Lorena’s) freshman year, ‘as sure the sun will rise, Lorena will be on the elliptical.’ She’s just a machine,” head coach Jessica Johnson said.
Ukanwa said it’s weird to see her efforts recognized but is very grateful.
“She really is just an awesome woman,” Johnson said.
The Mammoths opened their weekend series with Wesleyan with an 8-5 win on Friday.
Ukanwa didn’t pitch for Amherst (10-3, 1-0 NESCAC) but she could see action during a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
Ukanwa is 3-2 on the season with a 3.61 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 33 innings.
“I don’t have a physical goal this season, I want to work on my vocal leadership as a captain,” Ukanwa said. “I’ve always been a silent leader, but I want to push myself this year to be more vocal, especially during those tough games I want to be that voice to fire up my teammates.”