Coming into the 2025 softball season, senior outfielder Karsyn Decker, out of Anchorage, Alaska had yet to hit a home run in her collegiate career. During a four game road series taking on Montana State University Billings (MSUB), she struck a new found power as she launched not one, but two home runs in the series to earn her first and second career home run in the span of just a couple hours.
Starting in the last 77 games, Decker has cemented herself as an important piece of the softball team’s lineup as primarily a contact hitter with speed on the basepaths. In her senior season, she is putting up career-highs with still eight games remaining. Her batting average has taken a jump to .317 from her previous career best in her sophomore year from .257, she is getting on base at a career-high .355 and already has more hits in 30 games this season than she had in 47 last year.
The emotions were high after the first home as she was overwhelmed with applause from her teammates. “ I almost cried, I was so shocked,” Decker said. “The first day of the series, I think I was maybe one of the only people who didn’t hit a home run in the lineup, and I was told that. So that kind of fueled me into the next day. It was my pitch, I was hunting that inside pitch and I just knew it right off the bat. It was the best feeling ever.”
“I think I was just competitive with my teammates, everyone was hitting home runs so I thought it was my turn to see if I can,” Decker said. “I am very competitive, against other teams, my teammates or anybody.”
With such a big improvement in her batting average, Decker talked about what went into her offseason and bettering her swing. “I got really comfortable swinging away. I’ve always been kind of short ball thinking, like having to use my legs or my speed. This summer, I did a lot of hitting with Serena [Perez] and Coach Joe (DiPietro) and got very comfortable with swinging away and knowing I am strong enough to hit past the infield.”
Softball coach Joe DiPietro spoke on her improvement and her swing progression. “Karsyn has improved in a lot of ways since her freshman year… On the offensive side, she has grown each year and is having her best year this year,” DiPietro said. “She has primarily been a slap hitter that just tries to put the ball in play but this year, she has worked extremely hard in developing a full swing which helped her during the [MSUB] series.”
It doesn’t stop on the offensive end, Decker is an instinctual defender and has made highlight play after highlight play out in the outfield saving the team from multi-base hits and keeping runs off the board. “I love defense, I love just seeing what I can do,” Decker said. “I just shock myself most of the time, like the home run I stole this year, I had no clue it was a home run. I didn’t even know the fence was there, It kind of just happens.”
Coach DiPietro sang praise for the outfielder’s defensive ability. “Defensively, she possesses great speed and an ability to make plays look easy,” DiPietro said. “She has worked on her arm strength to the point that most won’t run on her.”
DiPietro, Decker, and the Wildcat’s softball team look to win their first series as they return home for the first time in almost a month to face Saint Martin’s University, with the first game starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 12.
