FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Former Fort Hays State Softball standout and FHSU Tiger Sports Hall of Fame member Maddie Holub has been selected for induction into the MIAA Hall of Fame on Monday, June 3, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. The induction will be part of the annual MIAA Awards Celebration that evening at the Kansas City Music Hall. A native of Hays, Kan., Holub is the most decorated player in FHSU Softball's NCAA Division II history, putting up mind-blowing accomplishments during her four-year career as a Tiger, especially her senior year of 2013.
A snapshot of Holub's accomplishments include All-America First Team honors in 2013 as a pitcher by both the NFCA and Daktronics, the 2013 Daktronics Central Region Pitcher of the Year, the first-ever player to be named both the MIAA Pitcher of the Year and MIAA Player of the Year for the same season in 2013, an all-region performer three of her four years, a five-time All-MIAA selection, and seven career no-hitters as a pitcher.
Holub is part of a class of 11 individuals that will be inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame this year. She will be the first athlete from FHSU to go into the MIAA Hall of Fame, as the school's history with the conference started in 2006-07.
MIAA Hall of Fame Induction Class
Jackie Bishop - Missouri Western softball
Nate Dreiling – Pittsburg State football
David Fisher – Missouri Southern baseball
Jennifer Harris – Washburn women's basketball
Maddie Holub – Fort Hays State softball
Jerry Hughes – Central Missouri Administrator
Russ Jewett – Pittsburg State cross country/track and field
Coach, Andy Vogelsberg - Emporia State track and field
Kasey Waterman – Missouri Western football
Legacy – Dani Fronabarger Robinson – Pittsburg State women's basketball.
First-Ever MIAA Pitcher and Player of the Year
The 2013 season was a special year for Tiger Softball as the program won a record 47 games on its way to the No. 1 seed in the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament. Maddie Holub was an absolute force of nature in her senior campaign, so much that coaches voted her both the MIAA Pitcher of the Year and MIAA Player of the Year, a first for the conference in softball that still has not been repeated to this day. Holub was among the nation's elite on both sides of the ball, one of the most dominant pitchers in the country as evidenced by a pair of All-America First Team selections at the position, but among the best with a bat in her hands as well with numbers good enough to be an All-America caliber hitter. It was a rare occasion where it was hard to nominate her for honors on just one side of the ball, and coaches made that clear by honoring her with both titles. She was the MIAA Pitcher of the Week seven times that season and nabbed Hitter of the Week honors once as well, while also earning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honors twice in 2013 and even once the season before.
A Senior Season for the Ages
Here was the Holub senior season stat line in 2013…
Pitching – 1.03 ERA, 29-4 record, 345 strikeouts in 224 innings pitched, 6 no-hitters, 2 perfect games, 26 complete games, 13 shutouts, 3 saves, .129 opponent batting average for the season.
Hitting - .426 batting average, 19 home runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 56 RBIs, 62 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, .841 slugging percentage, .516 on-base percentage.
Career Stat Line
Pitching – 1.97 ERA, 974 strikeouts in 727.2 innings pitched, 77 wins, 93 complete games, 25 shutouts, 7 no-hitters, 7 saves, .189 opponent batting average.
Hitting - .372 batting average, 255 hits, 46 home runs, 42 doubles, 7 triples, 160 RBIs, 183 runs scored, 35 stolen bases.
7 Career No-Hitters, 6 as a Senior – Including Back-to-Back Perfect Games
After throwing her first career no-hitter as a junior in 2012 at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo., Holub took her dominance in the pitching circle to the next level as a senior. She threw an MIAA record six no-hitters in 2013, including a pair in the MIAA Tournament that helped FHSU to the conference tournament title and the No. 1 seed and ranking in the Central Region.
Truman was the first victim that season on March 29 in Kirksville, Mo. Holub produced a nine-strikeout performance with just one walk allowed and one hit batter. The Tigers won the game 1-0, thanks to Holub helping her own cause with a solo homer in the third.
Holub went through probably her most dominant stretch in the circle as a Tiger in early April, when she put together a string of performances that is stuff of legend. The build up to accomplishing something no other pitcher had ever done in NCAA history started on Friday, April 5, 2013 when Holub went toe-to-toe with Jackie Bishop of Missouri Western (also going into the MIAA Hall of Fame this year) in an all-out pitcher's duel in Hays. It wasn't one of Holub's no-hitter performances of the season, but rather an all-out test of endurance in the pitching circle. Neither pitcher blinked through nine innings as FHSU and MWSU were scoreless in the first contest of a doubleheader. With two extra innings already in the books, MIAA rules at the time placed runners at second from the 10th inning onward in games not decided by playing straight up through nine innings. MWSU broke through by scoring their free runner in the 10th, but FHSU matched it on a key two-out hit in the bottom of the 10th. Holub held MWSU from scoring the next two innings and FHSU ended the epic battle with a run in the bottom of the 12th. Why mention this game…because Holub would start her claim to a piece to NCAA history the next day, on the heels of throwing a 12-inning complete game with a school-record 17 strikeouts on 195 pitches.
Most pitchers would probably be fatigued from throwing a 12-inning complete game a day prior, but Holub found yet another gear on Saturday, April 6, 2013, when Northwest Missouri State came to Hays. She mowed through the first six NWMSU batters, all by strikeout. She struck out two batters in both the third and fourth innings, only interrupted by foul pop ups for outs in each frame. In the bottom of the fourth, like her no-hitter earlier in the season at Truman, Holub helped her own cause by driving it FHSU's only run of the game with a double. In the fifth, she punched out three more batters to reach 13 for the game. The first ball put in play in fair territory for NWMSU occurred in the sixth on a weak ground out to first base, then Holub punched out two more to reach 15. NWMSU started the seventh with another infield pop up, then Holub put the finishing touches on her first career perfect game with two more strikeouts to match her school record, set just the day before, with 17 again. She did not allow a ball out of the infield the entire game.
With one perfect game in hand, Holub's next start came against Missouri Southern the following week in Hays on April 12, 2013. The magic returned to Tiger Stadium as Holub had the stadium buzzing once again with nine strikeouts through her first 12 batters faced. FHSU picked up its first run in the fourth and then tacked on four more in the sixth to give Holub more breathing room this time. She helped in the four-run sixth by blasting a two-run homer and then went on to complete a second-straight perfect game, striking out the final batter of the game for a 14-strikeout performance in a 5-0 FHSU win. With that, she became the first player in NCAA history (any NCAA level) to throw perfect games in back-to-back starts.
The following weekend on the road, Holub notched her fourth no-hitter of the season in a 7-0 win at Southwest Baptist (4/20/13), nearly perfect again as she unfortunately hit one batter with two outs in the third inning. She retired the final 13 batters of that game and finished with 13 strikeouts. She nearly had back-to-back no-hitters for the second time of the season the following day, only to see her no-hit bid at Central Missouri spoiled on a hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. She allowed just one walk and one hit in a 12-strikeout performance at UCM.
After garnering MIAA Pitcher and Player of the Year honors, Holub backed it up by tossing two no-hitters in the MIAA Tournament in early May. She blanked Pittsburg State in an 8-0 win for her fifth no-hitter of the season in the opening round with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings of a run-rule abbreviated game, pitching through cold and misty/sleeting conditions. She returned the following day to throw a 2-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against Missouri Western, then vaulted the Tigers into the championship with a five-strikeout no-hitter against conference regular-season champ Central Oklahoma. FHSU went on to claim the tournament title against Emporia State and the No. 1 seed in the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Following the magical run of 2013, Holub still owns the MIAA record for most no-hitters in a season (6) and for a career (7).An impressive note from within the stretch where Holub threw perfect games in consecutive starts, she threw 21 consecutive no-hit innings overall. The run consisted of holding Missouri Western hitless in the final two innings of that 12-inning win on April 5, then threw the 7-inning perfect game and the final two innings of game two against Northwest Missouri State on April 6. She threw the second 7-inning perfect game in her start against Missouri Southern on April 12 and then held Pittsburg State hitless for the first three innings of her start on April 13.Holub was very close to throwing eight no-hitters in 2013, allowing just one hit in two other complete-game performances. She allowed just two hits in six of her other complete games of 2013.
Big Numbers at the Plate
Holub had 95 extra-base hits in her career at FHSU, producing a career slugging percentage of .655. She recorded at least 50 hits all four of her seasons at FHSU, including 70 or more as a freshman and senior. She hit over .300 in all four years and over .400 her senior year. Holub drove in at least 30 runs in three of four seasons and 50 or more in two seasons. She hit at least eight home runs all four seasons and at least 10 her final two seasons. In 2013, she had the game-winning RBI in five of FHSU's wins by one run, helping her own pitching cause in all five. On the day she threw her first perfect game (April 6), she picked up a win in two innings of relief in game two and delivered the walk-off RBI single in an extra-inning victory for FHSU.
Walk Off in the 2013 NCAA Regional
In the 2013 NCAA Central Regional hosted in Hays at Tiger Stadium, Holub produced the final storybook moment in her collegiate career when she hit a walk-off 3-run home run against Minot State. Holub fanned 12 batters in her pitching performance in the circle through seven innings, then with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a 2-2 game, launched the first pitch she saw over the left field wall to send the Tigers into the region championship game. It was the final win for the Tigers that magical season.
34 Records Set at FHSU
By the end of her four-year playing career at FHSU, Holub owned 34 school records (19 pitching and 15 hitting) for career, season, and single-game combined and still owns a good majority of those records today. In just 2013 alone, Holub broke 12 single-season marks at FHSU which included appearances, wins, winning percentage, fewest hits allowed per innings pitched, strikeouts, and lowest ERA as a pitcher, along with runs scored, home runs, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, and walks as a batter.
Impressive in the Classroom
Holub was not only well decorated for her accomplishments on the field, but also in the classroom. She was a CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team selection in 2013. Holub was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, a four-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete, a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, and a three-time recipient of the NFCA Scholar-Athlete award. In 2013, she was a finalist for the MIAA Ken B. Jones Award and an FHSU Torch Award nominee for her outstanding student academics and leadership.
Perfect in Her First Start as a Pro
Holub took the opportunity to play professionally in Italy her first year removed from collegiate softball. She threw a perfect game in her first professional pitching start in 2014 with Labadini Collecchio and went on to throw a second no-hitter and post an 0.74 ERA that season.
Continuing Her Career in Softball
Following her professional stint in Italy, Holub became an assistant coach for former FHSU head coach Erin Kinberger at St. Leo University in Florida. She was an assistant at St. Leo for four years before moving on to the Pitching Coach role at Marshall University from 2018-2023 under head coach Megan Smith Lyon. In the summer of 2023, Megan Smith Lyon became head coach at the University of North Carolina and Holub joined her as the Pitching Coach there, where she is in her first year with the Tar Heels.