On the final day of February, ACU freshman softball pitcher Hannah Null pitched a no-hitter against Rhode Island University to add to her young collegiate resume.

If you asked her if she has been there before, you could count her no-hitter totals on two hands. Before stepping onto the rubber at Poly Wells Field, Null threw nine no-hitters, four of which were perfect games at her alma mater, Flower Mound Marcus.

“In high school, a lot of the times I played teams where throwing a no-hitter was almost expected “” but I never thought I would throw one in college for a long time,” Null said.

Null carried her former team to a No. 5 national ranking, but fell short her senior year to district-rival, Lewisville Farmers, in the regional final playoff round after a controversial strike was called a ball, and the Farmers responded to the call.

At 4-12, Null is not satisfied with the overall success of the Wildcats, but three of those four wins are credited to her arm.

“Until this past weekend, I feel like we’ve been really timid and almost afraid to play””but even though we only won one game we played like we wanted it more,” Null said.

Although Null has had success in the circle at ACU, a past injury still haunts her. After finishing her regular season at Marcus at 12-0, she strained her hip flexor muscle late in the last game, forcing her to visit rehab for a month. The injury came at a time when her team needed her most.

“I’m still playing on it,” Null said. “It’s kind of annoying because I thought I was done with it after I rehabbed in high school, but when I’m pitching it gets sore and every once in a while it affects a pitch or two.”

As a softball pitcher, Null must have strong hips to give her more control and especially speed behind her pitches. Null struggles with her past injury every once in a while.

“There are certain times where I feel it on a certain pitch and all I would think is, ‘I wish this didn’t happen because that pitch would’ve been better,'” Null said.

Injuries aside, Null made ACU softball history. The last no-hitter recorded was 14 years ago at the arm of Rebecca Eldridge. She joins three others, Shelly Owen (four no-hitters combined in 1997 and 1998), Amanda Cobb (one in 1999) and Eldridge as well.
Her success has made ACU a better team.

“We played really well against Sam Houston State after losing to them twice in the series, but the third game, I think we surprised them forcing it into extra innings,” Null said. “Courtney Flanary used to play for SHSU and I think that’s what made us want to go down with a fight.”

Null threw four perfect games in high school and one of her long-term goals is to throw one while at ACU. We’ll see if she makes history with the second perfect game in ACU’s history. Back in 2008, Kim McDonald pitched a perfect game against Delta State.

Null is 3-4 on the year, but continues to work on her pitches and plays through the stress her hip flexor brings.

“I just want to get back to a winning record as of now “” that is what seems most possible now,” Null said.