10 Questions with Brittney Robinson
3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By: Mike Ashcraft
Senior right-handed pitcher/outfielder Brittney Robinson (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone) took some time away from the softball circle to sit down with Kent State Sports.com for the first installment of “10 Questions With...” a series that will feature a different KSU student-athlete each week.
Robinson is coming off a weekend (Feb. 16-18) in which she and her teammates enjoyed a perfect 4-0 start to the season at the Spartan Classic, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in Greensboro, N.C.
Robinson took the circle in the Golden Flashes' tournament finale against Moorehead State University and battled back after surrendering two runs in the second inning for a two-hitter against the Eagles. She fanned 13 batters on her way to a 4-2 come-from-behind triumph. The Flashes' ace opened the 2007 season in the team's initial contest against Mid-American Conference rival Ohio University, hurling a three-hitter and striking out 11 Bobcats to cruise to an 8-1 win.
The LaGrange, Ohio native is coming off a 2006 campaign in which she was named MAC Pitcher of the Year en route to guiding the Golden Flashes to the first softball conference tournament title in school history. Robinson set 15 records last season, including two MAC single season records and 13 school records. She now sits atop KSU single season annals in; victories (31), strikeouts (423), games with 10 or more strikeouts (24), consecutive games with 10 or more strikeouts (5), no-hitters (three), games started (41), innings pitched (282) and appearances (50). Robinson's 423 “Ks” ranks 24th on the NCAA Division I all-time list, and her average of 8.89 strikeouts per seven innings is good enough for 21st all-time.
Recently, Robinson was drafted by the Akron Racers in the fourth round of the National Pro FastPitch League (NPF) Draft on Feb. 14. She will begin her professional career when her senior season concludes with the Golden Flashes.
- Throwing a two-hitter against Moorehead State and striking out 24 batters overall in the Spartan Classic is not a bad way to start out a season. How do you feel about your performance last weekend?
BR: Honestly, that was a game (vs. Moorehead State) that I struggled in mentally. It was a great challenge. It's something that I'm very fortunate happened at the beginning of the season instead of mid-way through when we're in MAC (play). The numbers sound good, but I definitely wasn't myself; I wasn't confident. It's not my best win, but a win's a win, and I'll take whatever I can get.
- There is a lot of excitement and high expectations surrounding the team this season. Do you feel any more pressure to perform than in year's past? Why or why not?
BR: Had you asked me that a couple weeks ago, I would have said definitely. We have high expectations for ourselves, the school was high expectations and the program has high expectations. But, just playing this weekend, I know that if I'm not getting the job done, I have two other pitchers who I can rely on. If there's a hitter that's not getting the job done, we have so many other people that we can rely on. There's definitely pressure to perform, but it's nothing that I can't handle, nothing the team can't handle. It should be fun.
- Where were you when you learned you had been drafted by the Racers and how excited are you about being able to continue your career after college?
BR: I had just got home from practice and my pitching coach (Radara McHugh) called me and told me to get online. When she told me to look, I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' It was really exciting, and it's really exciting to actually get the opportunity. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. There are not too many people that can say they're joining a pro team. So, it's fun, it's exciting, a little nerve racking, but it's definitely an accomplishment.
- You will be teammates with McHugh. Has she given you any advice about turning pro, and if so, what?
BR: We haven't gotten there yet. We just want to focus on our Kent season and make it the best we possibly can. She told me that as soon as that season is over, she'll give me some pointers and some tips, but right now we're just trying to focus on Kent State and make it a really successful season.
- What is your proudest off the field moment?
BR: I'd have to see my whole sophomore year. I did really well with my academics; I got two 4.0s. Being able to overcome the stress and time management that's involved with being a college athlete and being a college student and being able to pull off those grades was just amazing to me.
- If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?
BR: Probably discrimination. There's too much of it. It's still going on, and it's frustrating to me because I don't understand. I'm completely open-minded to anyone and anything, and I just don't understand where discrimination comes in. If I could change one thing, it would definitely be that, and I would make people more open-minded.
- Who is your favorite artist/band and why?
BR: I would have to say Floetry. Their music has a meaning to it and it's so relaxing, and I like relaxing and being able to sit back and listen to the words without struggling to understand the meaning of the song. It just kind of calms me down.
- What song best describes your life and why?
BR: Anything that has to do with overcoming obstacles. I feel like everything has been put in my path, and I've either had to jump over it or go around it.
- What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
BR: Stick it out. That goes with anything I've ever done that's been a struggle or a challenge. I haven't really been challenged throughout life very much, and coming to college, it was a complete 360 from high school, a complete turnaround from everything I've ever known, and I wanted to give up. Everybody telling me to stick it out, get through it, was probably the best advice I could have ever gotten. If I would have walked away, I would definitely be regretting it now.
- You have a lot of season left in your senior year, but when you reflect on your career as a student-athlete at Kent State, what sort of legacy do you hope to leave behind?
BR: Hard work pays off. I can't stress that more to our underclassmen or anybody here. The more you put into something, the more you get out of it. Too often, people just kind of do enough to get by, and it's not enough. You might think it's enough, but it's not. I hope that when people think of me, they think, 'She put so much time and effort into everything.'
