KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After completing one of the most historic seasons for a MACU softball pitcher in program history, redshirt sophomore hurler Rachel Eggleston became just the second player in program history to garner NAIA All-America Honorable Mention accolades.
Over the course of the season, the 5-8 righty from Kiowa, Okla. put together one of the best individual seasons for a MACU pitcher ever, finishing the year with a 21-8 record in 31 appearances, tossing 17 complete games and seven shutouts while walking just 36 batters and striking out 166 on a .196 opponent batting average over 174.2 innings of work.
Eggleston's 21 victories in the circle and 0.92 WHIP surpassed former teammate Katie Long (2021) for the single season program records (19, 0.93) while also notching one-year top five marks in strikeouts (166, 2nd), opponent batting average (.196, 3rd) and games started (28, 3rd). Eggleston also surpassed Amber Tinney (173.1, 2014) for the most innings pitched in a year with 174.2 frames tossed and also tied Regan Martin's 2019 mark for shutouts.
Eggleston's biggest shutout of the year came in one of the biggest victories in program history as the second year starter tossed nine complete innings of one-hit ball in a 1-0 walk-off victory over No. 9 Science & Arts on Apr. 8. That nine-inning outing tied the second-longest outing by a MACU pitcher in program history, sitting only behind Katie Long's 9.1 innings of work against USAO in 2021 before Eggleston tied a career-high 10 strikeouts just four days later in an 8-0 win over Ecclesia.
In leading the Evangels to their third straight appearance in the NCCAA World Series Semifinals, Eggleston guided MACU to the final four with her first save of the season in the final game of pool play against Oakland City at the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy on May 17.
After coming in during the bottom of the sixth with the tying run at second with two outs, Eggleston managed to leave a pair of runners stranded after inducing a flyout to right for the final out of the frame. The MACU ace danced out of trouble once again in the bottom of the seventh after giving up a lead-off double, tallying three straight outs and leaving the tying run stranded at third by striking out Hannah Wissell in the final at-bat.
Overall, Mid-America Christian completed one of its best seasons in program history, finishing the year with a 38-19 overall record and posted just its second 20-win season in the highly competitive Sooner Athletic Conference, going 20-12 in league play. The 38 wins was the second-most victories in a single season ever at MACU, sitting only behind the 2018 team that went 39-23 while its .667 win percentage was also the second-best only behind the 2021 NCCAA National Championship team that went 37-14.
