L-E’s Middlebrooks named to all-time squad at Tulsa
TEXARKANA, Texas — When you receive an honor in sports, post career, it’s a testament to your athletic accomplishments.
Texarkana native and current Liberty-Eylau head coach Lacey Middlebrooks was recently named to the University of Tulsa’s softball all-time team.
“It’s an honor to be included in the poll because of all of the talented softball player’s in Tulsa’s past,” Middlebrooks said. “Originally, I was excited. Then I was selected, so it’s such a honor to be recognized for all the time and hard work I put in . There were ups and downs, but there was also some success.
“I’m still shocked really. I’m grateful for everything I was able to accomplish at Tulsa with my coaches and teammates.”
In Middlebrooks’ career at Tulsa, she played in 162 games, while starting 156 games. She made 84 pitching appearances, with 67 starts. Middlebrooks had a .296 batting average, with 76 RBIs, 49 runs scored, 13 home runs, 33 doubles, a .488 slugging percentage, a .424 on-base percentage and 74 walks. In the circle, Middlebrooks had a 45-14 record, 2.21 ERA, 10 shutouts, 415.2 innings pitched, 311 strikeouts and 35 complete games.
“I teach my girls that things don’t happen in a year, and they may not even happen in two years,” Middlebrooks said. “If you look through my career, I had a great freshman year and my sophomore year was a little down. My junior and senior seasons were great. It’s not always going to be perfect. You’re going to struggle sometimes, but you’ll also have some other great moments during the process.
“The biggest thing for me was to really buy into the process. Year to year, month to month, and something that I stress to my girls every day. It’s not going to happen overnight, and sometimes you will get it overnight, but you won’t have it the next day. Trusting in your ability and trusting that your coaches are going to get you where you need to be was big for me.”
Middlebrooks began her collegiate career at the University of Minnesota. At Minnesota, Middlebrooks pitched in 30 games, with 26 starts for the Lady Gophers. Middlebrooks posted a 15-14 record, with a 2.52 ERA with 165 strikeouts, 70 walks and allowed 91 runs. Middlebrooks also pitched 23 complete games, with four shutouts.
“Minnesota was a big school,” Middlebrooks said. “Tulsa, being private, was much smaller. It was personable at Tulsa in a sense. You saw the same people every day and the campus wasn’t as big. You’re still competing at the Division 1 level, but being a college athlete is a tough job. Making that transition was tough, but the coaches at Tulsa made the transition really smooth. I have no regrets.”