CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Courtney Fain’s first name isn’t spelled with a K, but maybe it should be.
The University of Charleston senior softball pitcher has suddenly developed into one of the most prolific strikeout artists at the Division II level. The 5-foot-10 Urbana, Ohio native has seen a spike in her strikeout numbers in the past five starts — 62 whiffs in 33 innings — and her season numbers are now so gaudy that she has more strikeouts by herself than 10 of the 11 other Mountain East teams combined.
“I never used to be a strikeout pitcher,” Fain said Thursday afternoon after she helped UC blank Concord, 1-0, in the first game of a doubleheader sweep at home. She surrendered one hit and struck out seven.
It wasn’t Fain’s fifth consecutive game of double-digit strikeouts, but consider the accomplishment in shutting out visiting Concord, which entered the game with a 17-game win streak overall and a 10-0 record in league play. During the Mountain Lions’ unblemished 17-game run, they scored five or more runs in all but one game. They entered Thursday’s action first in the MEC in runs scored, but couldn’t muster much against Fain.
In fact, Concord's only hit in the first game was a sixth-inning single that trickled into shallow right field after the ball caromed off the top of the second baseman’s glove.
The seven-inning shutout gem lowered Fain’s earned-run average in the past five games to 0.84, and her ERA in five home starts this season dropped from 0.97 to 0.77.
Fain has been a productive pitcher for UC for years, though. She went 12-0 in 138 innings as a sophomore and won 15 games and struck out more batters (159) than innings pitched (154) last season. Her ERA has improved each season: 4.56 to 3.69 to 2.86 to 2.03.
“I would say the biggest thing with Courtney is she started pitching where she stopped thinking she had to throw the ball over the plate,” UC coach Ray Loeser said. “A lot of her strikeouts, they’re not even close. Her velocity is up, her movement is up, she is throwing better pitches in key situations. Those are all positive things.”
Fain’s velocity used to be 57 or 58 miles per hour, but now she is sitting at 59 and touching 60. That is the equivalent to a fastball of 87 miles per hour in baseball. She’s not just throwing harder; she’s throwing smarter.
“She developed and worked hard over the summer on a changeup,” Loeser said, “and then we taught her a different pitch about three or four weeks ago. Courtney’s thing is being able to change eye levels: going up, going down, going in, going out. For a while, all she did was miss up and when she’d miss up it’s easier for you to hit the pitch. She’s throwing the changeup much more in games and having success with it, and she’s throwing an off-speed curve and getting a lot of swings and misses when she throws it in the right counts.”
Entering Thursday’s game, the opposition had a batting average of .044 against Fain the first time through the lineup. She was perfect through three innings against Concord, and she struck out the side in the second.
“Her confidence is up,” Loeser said. “She’s developed a demeanor, developed character on the mound, and we started seeing tremendous strides in her pitching. She has become a lot more comfortable with herself.”
In a way, Fain had no choice. In a March 21 game at Glenville State, UC’s other primary starting pitcher at the time, Morgan Aguirre, left the game in the sixth inning when she absorbed a line drive. She hasn’t pitched since. UC lost a doubleheader at West Virginia Wesleyan the next day, but returned home from that trip and has won 10 consecutive games after Thursday’s sweep.
In the first four games of this five-game stretch for Fain, her strikeout totals were 15, 11, 14 and 15. That included a five-inning perfect game against West Liberty on March 28, a week after Aguirre was sidelined.
“Obviously with Morgan getting hurt in the middle of the season, Courtney has stepped up,” Loeser said. “Courtney has definitely stepped up to another level. It’s been crucial.”
In Aguirre’s absence, UC has also leaned on Jessie Rowe, a freshman from Wayne, who was the winning pitcher in UC’s 4-3 victory against Concord in Thursday’s second game. Fain recorded five outs in relief, struck out three and earned the save in the second game.
“I knew that I had to step up and something had to change if we wanted to continue to be as successful as we were with three pitchers,” Fain said. “I just had a different feeling. I felt more confident than I felt before.”
That was evident Thursday. There was the tying runner on second base in the fifth inning, and Fain struck out Alycea Watson and Brantlea Wood to end the threat. In the sixth, Concord had runners on the corners and Fain struck out Lauren Lewis, one of the MEC’s top hitters, to end the inning.
Thursday’s sweep makes UC 25-4 overall and 10-2 in league play.
“My team did great,” Fain said. “Our defense has really been coming together. We’ve all had to work together these last games. That’s what’s been great — we get a hit and somebody hits together with them. If I get a big strikeout, the defense makes a big play. This is the best chemistry we’ve had since I’ve been here.”