Williams and Schaben return for fifth season for Iowa State softball
Iowa State then-junior Sami Williams is up to bat during the Iowa State vs. Oklahoma game April 28, 2019. The Cyclones were defeated 14-0.
April 18, 2020
It didn’t take long for Iowa State softball to get the long awaited news about two of its biggest contributors in program history.
In a tweet released Saturday by Iowa State Softball, Sami Williams announced she would be returning for her fifth and final season as a Cyclone after COVID-19 canceled all spring sports for the rest of the academic term.
Williams ended her season on pace to shatter more Iowa State softball records, having already become Iowa State softball’s all-time leader in home runs with 43 respectively.
As a junior in the 2019 season, Williams broke the single season records with 82 base hits, 25 doubles and 17 home runs for Iowa State softball. Now that she returns for another full season, the record book could see her name appear a lot more with another season in Ames.
Williams wasn’t alone in her decision to return to play one more season for Iowa State, as her teammate Logan Schaben announced Friday her intentions to return for her fifth and final season at Iowa State.
Schaben’s impact comes mostly from high-level fielding at her primary position of third base. Schaben’s fielding percentage was already at 96 percent in the shortened 2020 season, improving on her high fielding percentage in 2019 with her 93.6 percent.
With both seniors returning for Iowa State softball, the 2021 season will have plenty of veteran talent to rely on.