With the longest season of her career behind her, Hannah Rogers is ready to return to the pitching circle.
After sweeping Southeastern Conference play last season and reaching the Women’s College World Series despite being projected to finish fourth in the SEC before the season began, the senior right-handed pitcher is looking ahead to her next endeavor.
"You don’t really have anything on your shoulders, so you can just go out there and prove people wrong and just do your thing and go about your business instead of worrying about what people are saying about you," Rogers said about last season.
"I guess that’s just like our motive this year too — not worry too much about what people are saying and just kind of do our business and let our work show what we can do."
In 2013, Rogers paced Florida with 33 wins and 243 strikeouts, both of which led the SEC and ranked fourth and 35th in the nation, respectively.
Rogers’ play last year earned her a spot on the Top 50 Watch List for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the Amateur Softball Association of America announced Wednesday.
Despite the accolade, the thought of possibly being the top player in the nation does not cross her mind.
"It’s a good feeling, but I’m not really worrying about it too much," Rogers said. "I try not to think about those kind of things."
Rogers’ first three years with UF have already placed her into Florida’s record books.
The Lake Wales native is tied with Stephanie Brombacher with 97 career wins, second only to Stephanie Nelson’s 133 victories from 2006-2009. Rogers also has Florida’s sixth-lowest career ERA (1.64) and the seventh-most strikeouts per seven-inning game (6.10) through the 764.2 innings she has pitched as a Gator.
Junior right-handed pitcher and first baseman Lauren Haeger, who also made the watch list, has enjoyed sharing the mound with Rogers for the past two years.
"We just feed off each other really well and it is cool that this will be our third season together, so we know each other," Haeger said.
"It can only get better from here."
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Hannah Rogers pitches during Florida’s 4-2 win against Mississippi State on April 6, 2013. Rogers led the Gators in wins and strikeouts in the 2013 season, in which UF went to the Women’s College World Series.
