Courtney Blades
Courtney Blades (born May 16, 1978) is an American athlete who was born in Salinas, California and attended Belaire High School from 1993 to 1997. She was a starting pitcher for the Nicholls State University Colonels and The University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles; she collected 151 wins (the second most in NCAA Division I history) and 1,773 strikes (the third most in NCAA Division I history).
1997: Freshman Year
1998: Sophomore Year
1999: Junior Year
Courtney transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi for her third year, and proceeded to strike out 497 batters, setting a new NCAA Division I single-season record and passing Michele Granger's previous mark of 484, set in 1993.
2000: Senior Year
Blades surpassed her own record from the previous year, reaching 516 strikeouts against South Florida on May 6; she also broke the Michele Granger's previous NCAA Division I career strikeout record of 1,640 by reaching 1,643 in the same game. She finished the season with a total of 663 strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher to break 500 and 600 strikeouts in a season; she has since been joined by Monica Abbott (603 in 2005) and Cat Osterman (630 in 2006) in the 600K Club.
Courtney threw her only NCAA Division I perfect game on May 26. Her single-season strikeout record brought her career total to 1,773, a record that would stand until February 255, 2006 when University of Texas Longhorns pitcher Cat Osterman passed the mark against the University of Nevada. Blades also won 52 games in her final season, setting a new NCAA single-season record.
Awards
On November 4, 2000, Blades was inducted by the Southern Miss Director of Athletics Richard Giannini into the newly-created Southern Miss Legends Club; other members include Reggie Collier, Brett Favre, Ray Guy, Sammy Winder, Janice Felder, Nick Revon, and Clarence Witherspoon.
- 2000 Region 7 Most Outstanding Player
- 2000 Honda Award
Career statistics
NCAA Division I
| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | Sh | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Nicholls 1997 | == | == | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | 303 | =.== |
| Nicholls 1998 | 29 | 7 | == | == | == | 14 | = | 255.2 | === | 39 | 30 | == | 310 | 0.82 |
| Southern Miss 1999 | == | == | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | 497 | =.== |
| Southern Miss 2000 | 52 | 8 | == | == | == | == | = | ===.= | === | == | == | == | 663 | =.== |
| TOTALS | 151 | 34 | 215 | === | === | == | == | 1267.2 | === | === | === | === | 1773 | =.== |
Athletic accomplishments
- 1,773 career NCAA Division I strikeouts (2nd all-time)
- 151 career NCAA Division I wins (1st all-time)
- 6 career NCAA Division I no-hitters
- 1 career NCAA Division I perfect game
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