A typical home run trot around the softball diamond takes approximately 15 seconds. Based on the number of times she has left the nest during her Sea Gull tenure, it means graduate outfielder and four-time All-American Abby Mace has spent a full 15 minutes of her Salisbury career just rounding the bases after hitting a big fly. Hitting even one home run at the elite collegiate level is impressive, but some of those 15-second trots have surely stood out more than others.
Trot No. 1 came during her COVID-shortened freshman season in 2020, a solo shot to help deliver yet another win to Head Coach Margie Knight, who brought Mace to SU.
There was No. 4, on Opening Day 2021, belted during the team’s first game in just shy of a year and Mace’s first under Coach Knight’s handpicked successor, Lacey Lord. It was a sign of things to come – No. 5 came in the second game of that twin bill, No. 6 a mere three days later.
No. 33 came during an electric 2022 postseason, this one a three-run blast to put SU ahead for good in the regional clincher. She took four trots during that NCAA Tournament that saw the Sea Gulls reach their first College World Series in seven years.
Nos. 36 and 37 came with a heavy heart in the first game of 2023, the team’s first since Coach Knight’s passing the previous summer. Mace and her teammates dedicated their season to the namesake of their stadium, culminating with trot No. 45 on the sport’s biggest stage: the final round of the College World Series.
Each trot in 2024 brought her closer to the program’s peak. Finally came a three-run bomb into the trees guarding Division Street for record-breaking No. 53.
As big a moment as it was, the Sea Gulls’ new Queen of Clout had little time to reflect. An hour later, Mace had homered again and was already rounding through No. 54, with 10 more trots to follow as she capped one of the most storied SU careers in any sport with 64 home runs.
