Senior’s 39th home run makes her No. 1

It has been an eventful six years for Woodland Hills, Calif., native Tory Yamaguchi. \nThe senior catcher started at IU as part of the team’s 2002 recruiting class. Now, with only two games remaining in her college career, Yamaguchi will finish with her name in the record books as the school’s all-time career home run leader.\nYamaguchi’s record-breaking 39th home run came in clutch fashion. With her team down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Yamaguchi’s three-run blast sent then-No. 25 Iowa packing. \n“Nothing really changed since Sunday,” said Yamaguchi of breaking the home-run record. “The feeling has kind of set in when I looked at the ball at few times. But right now I am happier we swept Iowa.”\nHer game-winning home run completed the sweep against the Hawkeyes and kept the Hoosiers’ hopes of making the Big Ten Tournament alive.\n“She’s a great hitter and has proven it time and time again,” said IU coach Stacey Phillips. \nYamaguchi came to IU in the fall of 2002, but an injury made her redshirt the 2003 season. As a freshman in 2004, Yamaguchi led the Hoosiers with a .340 batting average while hitting freshman records with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs. She also set the pace for the team with 64 hits and 102 total bases. She repeated her performance as a sophomore with another statistically- dominating season, leading the team again in all major batting statistics.\nIn what was suppose to be her junior year in 2006, Yamaguchi took a medical redshirt and ended up leaving school and went back home due to an illness. That year the Hoosiers earned a berth to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade.\n“It was crazy because I had excitement for them making the postseason, but it was sad because it was my senior class that I came in with in ’02. That part of missing out on it wasn’t good,” she said. “Ultimately my parents did the right thing by taking me out of school because of my illness, but part of me was a little upset. Hopefully we get that chance this year to go to the postseason.”\nAs a junior in 2007, Yamaguchi returned to form. She led the team with career highs in home runs and RBIs. She finished the season with a team-leading slugging percentage of .597. \nAfter the completion of the 2007 season, Yamaguchi sat just six home runs shy of breaking the all-time record.\n“She didn’t talk too much about it coming into the season,” said junior pitcher Monica Wright. “It was me more talking about it more than anything.”\nNow, with another season winding down, Yamaguchi has left a legacy not likely to be reached anytime soon, according to her coach.\n“This was a tough record to break and a record I think will be in the record books for a long time,” Phillips said. “This is pretty storybook with all she has been through.”