Watch: College Sophomore Makes History, Hits for a 'HR Cycle'
Arkansas softball player Danielle Gibson accomplished a feat Saturday that has never been equaled in her sport.
In her team’s 15-3 win over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, the Razorbacks sophomore became the first player in NCAA Division I softball history to hit for a rare type of cycle — the home run cycle — according to the Razorbacks’ athletics website.
That means she hit solo, 2-run and 3-run blasts, plus a grand slam, in the same game.
? @RazorbackSB‘s Danielle Gibson hit the HOME RUN CYCLE on Saturday. ?
(No one in MLB history has ever done that.) pic.twitter.com/iMrdTQm2NI
— espnW (@espnW) February 24, 2019
And amazingly, she did it in four innings.
The infielder hit a 2-run shot in the first, a 3-run blast in the second, a grand slam in the third and a solo homer in the fourth.
How’s that for a stat line? A perfect 4-for-4 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in.
NCAA single-game records aren’t complete prior to 2012, but there don’t appear to be a whole lot of NCAA baseball or softball players who have accomplished this feat, and certainly not in four innings.
It has also never been done in Major League Baseball.
Minor leaguer Tyrone Horne may be the only professional ballplayer to have hit for the home run cycle.
Horne did it for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers on July 27, 1998, against the San Antonio Missions, according to MiLB.com.
A slew of major league players have come close, most recently Scooter Gennett of the Cincinnati Reds on June 6, 2017.
Gennett hit four home runs, including a solo homer, a grand slam and a pair of 2-run shots.
We dig the long ball! ?
In tonight’s @RazorbackSB win against SIUE, Danielle Gibson became the 5th to tie Jill Iacono’s DI record of 4 home runs in a game!#NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/F1fCf1USA8
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) February 24, 2019
Samantha Posey, the sister of Giants star Buster Posey, hit for the home run cycle in 2011 for Valdosta State. However, she needed both games of a double-header to do it, according to ESPN.
Hitting four home runs in a single contest is exceedingly difficult. Hitting for the home run cycle in one game is even harder.
Congratulations to Gibson on accomplishing a feat that may not be equaled ever again!
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