Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls' Myers has hitters, hedgehog eating out of her hand
5/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 15, 2002
Boca Raton, FL - By Marcus Nelson Palm Beach Post
After a day of lectures and labs and letting loose softball pitches, Florida Atlantic University senior Nikki Myers reaches into her fridge and pulls out a frosty...tub of worms.
Flower needs to be fed. That would be Myers' pet hedgehog, whose dining habits can ruin a roommate's appetite.
"Nikki will just sit and hand-feed it those worms," Suzanne Erickson said. "It's really disgusting. She sits and talks to that thing all the time."
Myers wears gloves to handle her tiny, prickly pet, a precaution no doubt appreciated by FAU coach Joan Joyce and the rest of the Owls' nationally ranked team. Her right hand has delivered 1,356 career strikeouts, third on the NCAA's all-time list.
Thursday, Myers will lead No. 12 FAU (60-11) into the NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee with the winner advancing to the May 23-27 Women's College World Series.
Myers finished 35-6 this season with 417 strikeouts and a 0.63 ERA. She is one of 10 finalist for the NCAA Player of the Year award.
Pitching is her passion, but there's also Flower. Myers, who plans to attend veterinary school next year, got the hedgehog at a reptile store after finding out dogs weren't allowed in her off-campus apartment.
"Straight speed doesn't cut it anymore," Stratton said. "Nikki saw that and has developed the different pitches, so a hitter never knows what's coming."
She baffled batters last season, leading the nation in strikeouts with 10 ? per seven innings, a feat that "is what I'm most proud of so far in my career," she said.
Pitching has helped Myers win three straight Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year awards and gain a tryout for the U.S. national team later this month. But she's not bad with a bat either, leding the Owls in hitting (.374) and home runs (12) this season.
I like hitting, but if I was just in a game to hit I'd probably go nuts," she said.
True, Myers remembers as a 10-year-old tracing semi-circles in the infield dirt with her cleats and heckling her won pitcher from the outfield. She complained so much about her own pitchers not finding the strike zone that she was asked to give it a try.
"I went up there and even though I didn't throw hard, I threw strikes," she said.
A career was launched, much to the surprises of her mother, who figured Nikki was bored with the game.
"I think she wanted to do something where she was busy all the time," said Roxanne Brunst, Myers' mother. "She didn't like playing in the field. She likes to be the center of attention.
Myers didn't blow away recruiters in high school, but she did get Joyce's attention while playing for a travel team in a tournament.
"No one knew she was there, but a junior college coach saw her and began clocking her pitches at 65 and 66 miles per hour," Joyce said. "He was going around telling everybody and I wanted to break the gun over his head."
So Joyce landed a big-time arm and bat -- Myers is FAU's all-time home-run leader with 53.
Flower is sharing that sentiment this week. So Erickson might get some late-night calls from hard-throwing roommate to hedgehog.
"She has to say good night to it every night," Erickson said. "She loves the worms and can smell them as soon as I bring them in," Myers said. "I'll just put them in her cage and she goes crazy."
Erickson should be relieved; Myers could have brought home a bigger pet from that store.
They have monkeys and all kinds of different animals," Myers said. "It's so neat."
Flower might have to fend for herself for a while. With Myers on the mound, FAU has a strong shot at reaching the Series in Oklahoma City. Since starting its softball program in 1995, FAU has been to three other regionals, but never to the World Series.
Not relying on just power
Myers arrived at FAU in 1998 from St. Petersburg High School with the ability to overpower batters with her fastball. FAU pitching coach John Stratton said Myers' speed pitch routinely registers 64 mph - considered well above average -but it's not her only weapon. Joyce and Stratton have helped Myers add pitches to her repertoire, including a curveball and screwball.
"Straight speed doesn't cut it anymore," Stratton said. "Nikki saw that and has developed the different pitches, so a hitter never knows what's coming."
She baffled batters last season, leading the nation in strikeouts with 10 ? per seven innings, a feat that "is what I'm most proud of so far in my career," she said.
Pitching has helped Myers win three straight Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year awards and gain a tryout for the U.S. national team later this month. But she's not bad with a bat either, leding the Owls in hitting (.374) and home runs (12) this season.
I like hitting, but if I was just in a game to hit I'd probably go nuts," she said.
True, Myers remembers as a 10-year-old tracing semi-circles in the infield dirt with her cleats and heckling her won pitcher from the outfield. She complained so much about her own pitchers not finding the strike zone that she was asked to give it a try.
"I went up there and even though I didn't throw hard, I threw strikes," she said.
A career was launched, much to the surprises of her mother, who figured Nikki was bored with the game.
"I think she wanted to do something where she was busy all the time," said Roxanne Brunst, Myers' mother. "She didn't like playing in the field. She likes to be the center of attention.
Myers didn't blow away recruiters in high school, but she did get Joyce's attention while playing for a travel team in a tournament.
"No one knew she was there, but a junior college coach saw her and began clocking her pitches at 65 and 66 miles per hour," Joyce said. "He was going around telling everybody and I wanted to break the gun over his head."
So Joyce landed a big-time arm and bat -- Myers is FAU's all-time home-run leader with 53.
Flower is sharing that sentiment this week. So Erickson might get some late-night calls from hard-throwing roommate to hedgehog.
"She has to say good night to it every night," Erickson said.