BUIES CREEK — Much like she was during her playing days at Richmond Senior High School, Allyiah Swiney has been a spark plug during her freshman season of college softball.
The former four-year varsity starter for the Lady Raiders has been electric for Campbell University, one of just three players on the team to start all 32 games this spring.
A true freshman, Swiney has made the jump to Division I softball seamlessly, having earned her third “Freshman of the Week” recognition by the Big South Conference on Monday.
Also named on Feb. 14 and March 6, Swiney’s three recognitions are the most of any freshman players in the conference this year. The most recent selection was shared with Maggie Chapin (Longwood University).
“Things are going good with both softball and school,” Swiney said. “It’s fun, especially during the season and getting to play a lot of games.”
Over the past week, Swiney’s efforts helped the Camels (23-9, 5-1 Big South) collect a 4-0 record, including a three-game sweep of conference opponent USC Upstate.
Producing a .455 clip at the dish, Swiney went 5-for-11 and made her presence known. During that four-game stretch, she hit a home run, registered five runs batted it, scored five runs and swiped her 11th stolen base of the season.
The long ball, Swiney’s team-leading third this year, was a walk-off grand slam to mercy-rule USC Upstate 10-2 in five innings during the second game of the series.
The five RBIs collected last week also put Swiney atop Campbell’s stat sheet, bringing her total to a team-leading 24 RBIs.
In the first game against USC Upstate, Swiney notched an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning. She later scored the game-winning run in a 2-1 victory in the bottom of the fourth.
Wrapping up the team’s fourth win of the week, Swiney went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. A one-out single up the middle in the bottom of the eight resulted in Swiney scoring another game-winning run following a Tyra Parker walk-off single, earning a 4-3 win.
During the successful start to her career, Swiney has produced at the plate in several key situations, including a two-RBI single in a 4-2 win over North Carolina State University on March 15.
Swiney is batting .309 and leads the team in on-base plus slugging percentage (.917) and slugging percentage (.519), is second on the team with six doubles and 42 total bases and is ranked third with 25 hits and 18 runs scored.
“I feel like the key to my success at the Dl level has been putting in the extra work outside of team practices,” Swiney explained.
“I didn’t expect this type of start, but it feels great and it just proves to me that hard work pays off,” she added. “This has been the best experience so far, and I’m just enjoying the ride with my teammates and coaches and looking to see what the future holds.”
Swiney, who plays right field, and the Camels are on a four-game winning streak. Campbell currently sits in second place in the Big South standings behind Longwood (13-10, 2-0 Big South).
With 22 games left in the regular season, Swiney said the goal is to keep doing her part to help her team win.
“I just want to keep working hard and trust the process that’s best for me,” Swiney, an exercise science health and physical education major, closed.
“And that’s to be consistent in everything I do. And I want to help out my team as much as I can in any way possible.”
Next up for Swiney and the Camels is a three-game series this weekend against Presbyterian College.
