“I don’t like to look at my own stats,” said freshman softball outfielder, Sadie Wise. “I don’t focus on numbers, I would rather go out there and just win.”  

Her strategy must be working because in her first 25 games as a Billiken, Sadie has broken the SLU record for most home runs hit by a freshman in a single season with nine, so far. Not only has she broken a record, she currently leads the team in batting average (.422), runs (25), hits (35), doubles (10), RBIs (28), home runs (9), slugging percentage (.867) and on-base percentage (.500). She has also been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week three times this season, only 4 weeks into the awards.  She was the first rookie to get the award in 2018 and she has earned it the last two consecutive weeks.

Sadie began playing softball at the early age of five, but unlike most young kids who play tee ball for the first few years, she jumped right into real softball. She began her club career at eight with travel ball and played up through high school. At Kirkwood High School, near St. Louis, she was a four-year varsity player for the softball team and played one year of basketball and ran two years of track.

Sadie started looking at SLU the summer before her junior year of high school and she is extremely happy with the decision she made to stay close to home.

“SLU is my home away from home and I feel so comfortable here. I’ve made so many friends in softball, other sports, in my major, and everyone is so welcoming. The teachers are so nice and helpful!”

She is an Occupational Therapy major despite originally planning on majoring in Physical Therapy.  She was thinking of PT because of an experience in middle school in which she was able to go to work with her aunt who is a physical therapist. In high school, she wanted to consider other majors and found OT.

“I just liked the idea of helping people be more independent and be able to do everyday activities,” she said.

Although they are just a little over a month into their season, Sadie said that there are already lots of great memories with her teammates. “All of us get along so well and my teammates are encouraging and funny.  They make everything a fun time; we have fun no matter what we’re doing,” she said.

A highlight for her is bus karaoke because “it bonded [them] and [they] were forced to be more outgoing. It was a good laugh and everyone was clapping and cheering.”

Softball has allowed her to travel all over the country for tournaments; her favorite was California because she was able to do more than just play softball, such as go to the beach. She is excited to travel to the east coast once conference games start because it has new places to visit and new teams to play.