Southern Miss softball star inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
NATCHITOCHES, La. (BVM) — When thinking of well-known softball players, most people would imagine Jennie Finch or Monica Abbott, and rightfully so. They have accomplished so much and have thrived on the world’s biggest stages. However, in 1997, a pitcher named Courtney Blades, now Blades-Rogers, would take the softball world by storm.
A native of Baton Rouge, Blades-Rogers started her softball career at Nicholls State University in 1997. While at Nicholls, she established herself as a dominant pitcher. She was able to win newcomer of the year during her freshman campaign, but her sophomore season would exceed her first.
She was 29-7 in the circle, had a 0.82 ERA, and recorded 301 strikeouts in 255.2 innings pitched. But not only was her pitching dominant, she was also a force to be reckoned with when she stepped to the plate. During that 1998 season, she had three home runs, 20 RBIs, and batted .339.
In the two seasons she spent with the Colonels, she had 56 wins, 27 shutouts, and a school-record 613 strikeouts. Blades-Rogers also helped Nicholls capture the Southland Tournament title in 1997 and led the Colonels to an appearance in the NCAA Regionals. In both seasons, she was named the SLC Tournament MVP and set a tournament record with 42 strikeouts. Nicholls also put up a 91-39 overall record during her two-year tenure. This included a 39-11 record in league play.
Following her time at Nicholls, Blades-Rogers decided to transfer to Southern Miss. There she joined her former coach from Nicholls, Lu Harris.
“When I transfered, I wanted to be the best player in college softball,” Blades-Rogers said in a Conference USA Hall of Fame interview.
USM was starting its softball program back up after it had been discontinued in 1992. And after a seven-year hiatus, Blades-Rogers helped make an immediate impact for the Golden Eagles in 1999. With an overall record of 51-9, USM earned a berth in the Women’s College World Series. It wasn’t the easiest of roads as Southern Miss was placed into the NCAA Regional hosted by No. 7 LSU. This region also included No. 12 Oregon State and No. 9 Oklahoma. Ultimately, the Golden Eagles would be eliminated after losing to Fresno State and DePaul.
But 1999 was also special for Blades-Rogers because she set multiple records during the season. She struck out 497 batters, which was an NCAA record at the time. Blades-Rogers also won 43 games (leading the nation), had an ERA of 0.99, pitched 318 innings, and recorded 22 shutouts. All were school records.
But it would only get better from there.
She showed that she had more in the tank during her senior season. Blades-Rogers went on to win 52 games with four no-hitters and two perfect games. She led the nation with 11.6 strikeouts per seven innings pitched and struck out a total of 663 batters that year.
During her impressive 2000 season, Blades-Rogers struck out 21 batters against her hometown team, the LSU Tigers, in a regional matchup, but USM would lose in 13 innings. But Blades-Rogers would get her revenge as the Golden Eagles defeated LSU 1-0 to advance to the Women’s College World Series.
Once they reached Oklahoma City, Blades-Rogers started the WCWS off with a bang. She pitched a perfect game against No. 1-ranked Arizona, and the Golden Eagles advanced. But the Golden Eagles were finally eliminated after they suffered back-to-back losses to Oklahoma (2000 champions) and UCLA.
When her senior season had come to an end, Blades-Rogers finished with 151 career wins and 1,773 strikeouts. Those were NCAA records at the time, but they have since been broken. She also had a batting average of .307 at USM.
Blades-Rogers hung up her cleats after graduating from Southern Miss. She did have ample opportunities to continue her softball career, having played for USA Softball in between her junior and senior seasons, but she decided to start a family with former USM pitcher Chad Rogers.
Following her sensational softball career, Blades-Rogers has been recognized as one of the sport’s greatest pitchers. And to go along with that, she was the first softball player ever to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Blades-Rogers’ latest achievement comes this year as she will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on June 26.
“Sometimes people say your sport doesn’t define you, Blades-Rogers said in an interview. “But softball is who I am.”
