Entering the final week of the regular season, the Hutchinson Community College softball team's pitching depth was a bit depleted.
Blue Dragon sophomore Jessica Schmidt made sure there wasn't a huge drop off, stepping up to earn two wins and extended her nation's lead in saves.
The left-handed reliever from Norfolk, Nebraska went 2-0 with one save as Hutchinson clinched the Jayhawk Conference championship and closed the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.
For her effort last week, Schmidt was named the NJCAA Division I Softball National Pitcher of the Week.
Schmidt is the first Blue Dragon to earn national Pitcher of the Week honors since current Hutchinson assistant coach Riley Wertz earned the honor on March 8, 2023.
In Game 1 last Wednesday at Pratt, Schmidt worked a career-long seven innings in relief as the Blue Dragons clinched a tie for the league title with a come-from-behind 8-6 win in 10 innings. Schmidt struck out a career-high 11 batters while allowing four hits and three runs.
Against Cloud County on Saturday at Fun Valley, Schmidt extended her nation's lead in saves to eight with 1 2-3 inning where she retired all five Cloud County batters she faced in a 5-3 win.
In Game 2, Schmidt worked 3 2-3 innings of relief with eight strikeouts to earn her seventh win of the season.
For the week, Schmidt worked 12 1-3 innings and allowed four hits and three runs with 20 strikeouts.
For the season, Schmidt is 7-2 with a KJCCC-low 1.91 earned-run average with eight saves. Over 62 1-3 innings, Schmidt has 59 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .222 against her for the season.