University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
1999: Junior Year
Blades transferred to Southern Mississippi as a junior to continue working with her relocated head coach Lu Harris. She proceeded to strike out 497 batters, setting a new NCAA Division I season record, eclipsing Michele Granger's previous mark of 484, set in 1993. Her 43 wins, 0.99 ERA, 318.0 innings and 22 shutouts set all new school records. The wins were the fourth best ever in the NCAA as she led the nation that year.
After being honored with First Team All-American honors, Blades led the Golden Eagles to an appearance at the 1999 Women's College World Series. It was a first for the school program and especially notable because it was their reactivation after 7 years.
2000: Senior Year
Blades surpassed her own record by reaching 516 strikeouts against the USF Bulls on May 6; she also broke Michele Granger's previous NCAA Division I career strikeout record of 1,640 by reaching 1,643 in the same game.
On March 1, 2000, Blades struck out 18 batters in a 7-inning, 7-1 win against the Samford Bulldogs, her career-high for a regulation game. The performance placed her with the NCAA fourth best (third at the time) regulation game record holders. During the NCAA Tournament to reach that year's Women's College World Series, Blades would notch her career, school and conference record best 21 strikeouts against the LSU Tigers in a 1-0, 13-inning loss on May 20, 2000. The game total was also the tournament record that held until 2004.
At the WCWS, Blades twirled her second season perfect game on May 26. It was the fourth perfect game ever pitched at the WCWS. Blades fanned 11 of the No. 2 seeded 2000 NCAA batting champs, the Arizona Wildcats, on opening day to also break the NCAA season wins record. Southern Mississippi would end the season with a third place finish at the series and ranked fourth nationally under the command of Blades, who was selected to the WCWS All-Tournament Team.
She finished the season with a total of 663 strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher to break 500 and 600 strikeouts in a season. That mark brought her career total to 1,773, a record that would stand until February 25, 2006 when Texas Longhorns pitcher Cat Osterman passed the mark against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Blades would win 52 games in her final season, setting the NCAA Division I single season record. Her ERA, innings pitched and shutouts also reset school records, conference records (excluding ERA), and also placed Blades in the top-5 for inning and shutout records in an NCAA season. Her strikeout ratio of 11.6 led the nation.
Blades would earn All-USA, USA Pitcher of The Year, USA MVP and a First Team All-American citation. She also picked up the 2000 Softball Honda Sports Award as the best collegiate player that year. Blades owned the Conference USA career strikeouts crown (1,160 in just two seasons) and now ranks second all-time, while her wins (95), ERA (0.93) and innings (717.2) are all top-5 for a career.
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