Hall of Fame
Nicole Hudson Entz’s softball career included a state championship with the Webb City Cardinals, two College World Series appearances with the Missouri Tigers, and a spot on Team USA.
It all started at a very young age.
“I started playing tee-ball in Webb City at 4 years old,” she said. “But even before that, I was going to my dad’s slow-pitch games. He would take me out on the field and toss wiffle balls, let me run the bases. So yes, basically from birth.”
Nicole played multiple sports growing up, but softball stayed at the top of the list.
“I was doing ballet and violin lessons, soccer, all the things,” she said. “But softball was from Day 1, my No. 1 sport.”
Nicole started all four years at Webb City, highlighted by a state championship in her junior season. After her senior season in 2008, she held MSHSAA career records with 40 home runs and 161 runs batted in. Today, she ranks No. 10 in homers and No. 20 in RBI.
“I had an absolute blast,” Nicole said. “I can’t ever imagine a better experience. I loved being challenged to walk in as a freshman and know the expectations are not just to be successful but like perfection. … I think it really helped set up some of the success I had later on in my career. The expectation was to win and there was no cutting any slack. It was this: "This is your role, and we expect to win.”
“She was such a team player,” coach Walter Resa said. “She did what was best for the team.”
Nicole played at Missouri from 2010 to 2013 as a third baseman in her first two years, an outfielder as a junior, and an outfielder and pitcher as a senior. Mizzou advanced to the College World Series her first two seasons.
She still holds the Tigers’ career record with 143 walks. She ranks third in homers (46) and is tied for fifth in RBI (173).
After Missouri, Nicole played for Team USA in the summer of 2013. The USA played games in Canada and Puerto Rico before going to the World Cup Softball in Oklahoma City, where it lost to Japan 6-3 in the gold medal game.
“It was my dream, probably from 10 years old on, to play for Team USA,” Nicole said. “I fell in love with Olympic softball. That’s when softball took off with the Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman era.
“It’s pretty incredible when you actually accomplish your dream. I feel that is so rare, and it’s never lost on me how special that is.”
Nicole then switched into coaching, becoming an assistant under Bill Gray at Missouri Southern.
“I had a great experience at Southern,” she said. “It was really hard because I was so young. I was actually coaching some of my high school teammates. … It was like jumping into the deep end of coaching, and I’m still so grateful for Coach Gray giving me that opportunity.”
Nicole didn’t plan to leave, but the one job that she would take opened up at Wichita State. Wichita is also where the man she was dating—now husband—lived.
Nicole was an assistant for the Shockers for three seasons before deciding to spend more time at home.
