A Record Breaking Season

If you ask anyone on this team about Tara Tursellino, you will get the same answer every time. Everyone would say that Tara is a hard working player, excellent teammate, and a stand out leader for this program. Tara's dedication to pitching is far above what any coach could ask for. Her leadership skills has blossomed over the years. She has been a captain of this team for the last 3 years. All of her hard work has paid off at DSU. Over the last two years, she has had record breaking seasons, which she has remained humble about the entire way.

Tara had a record breaking season as a Junior in 2016, breaking both the appearances and saves records. She currently has 125 appearances and 10 saves (6 of those coming in her freshman year). Those achievements lead to her third selection to the All-MEAC second team.

This season, Tara is at it again. She is taking down batters and breaking records one at at time. On March 25, against Norfolk State, Tara broke the career record for Innings Pitched. She now sits alone at the top with 501 innings and counting. However, that was not the end of Tara's run for the record books; she again put her name in the books on April 9 at Hampton University where she broke the career record for Strikeouts. She currently has 357.

We asked Tara about the records she has broken here at Delaware State, and this is what she had to say:

"First of all, I want to thank God for giving me the ability to break these records. It feels like a dream come true. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to break these records. I want to thank my coaches for believing in me and my teammates for having my back on the mound. Without them, this accomplishment wouldn't have been possible."

                                          We also asked her what her favorite thing about pitching is.

"My favorite thing about pitching is throwing the rev fire ball and seeing how many revolutions I can get. I love competing against myself to beat my previous score. I also love fooling the batter with my rise ball. It is my favorite pitch to throw."

We don't believe that Tara is done breaking records this season. She is 1 win shy of tying the record for wins. The current record is 45 set by Brittney Ruark in 2010. She is also 1 complete game shy of the record held by three other Hornets. Our hope for this season is that Tara sits alone at the top of all of these records. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, we have no doubt that she can pull it off. 

Congratulations Tara!

Check back each week for another Hornet blog update.