Psychologist Carl Rogers once said, “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.”

Of anyone on NIU’s softball team this year, sophomore pitcher Taryn Hagemann has been the one proving Rogers correct.

After starting the spring 0-5, the Rochelle native has gone 4-1 since. Hagemann was named MAC West Pitcher of the Week each of the last two weeks while taking over the role of NIU’s ace on the mound.

NIU senior hurler Lindsey LaChiana is tending to an illness in the family that caused her to miss the Huskies’ 10-game road trip in Florida over Spring Break. Meanwhile, Hagemann was thrust into her lead role without warning.

“As soon as I found out Lindsey was gone, I knew I had to step up,” Hagemann said. “It actually took the pressure off me because I had to be there for my team. I didn’t have a choice.”

After losing her first decision of the USF-Adidas Invitational tournament to Tennessee Tech, the second-year player lost her confidence, an issue Hagemann said she was dealing with since the end of last season.

Appearing in 12 games as a freshman last spring, the right-hander went 1-0, but ended the season with a dismal 5.49 ERA, five strikeouts and 12 walks. Opponents batted .327 against Hagemann last year while scoring 19 runs during her 21 2/3 innings pitched.

“It was the first time I had suffered from a lack of confidence,” Hagemann said. “It was more me than the team. I knew I could perform physically, and in high school I never had a problem with maintaining my confidence.”

Throughout the off-season Hagemann worked with first-year coach Candi Letts on locating her pitches.

The sophomore admitted she was missing the plate and wasn’t throwing to the batter.

So, Hagemann and her coaches invented another way for her to work on pinpointing her pitches.

Latched to the fence in the Huskies bullpen is a square wooden board Hagemann threw at for one week to improve the location of her pitches.

With improved location came enhanced performance from the mound. But, more importantly, Hagemann said she has her confidence back.

The sophomore led NIU to four of its six wins over its last eight contests. She’s allowed 13 runs in her last 30 2/3 innings pitched, with six of the runs scored by Virginia Tech.

“We really felt she just needed some time and reps,” NIU coach Donna Martin said. “Now she’s relaxing, hitting her target and has confidence in controlling her pitches.”

Coincidentally or not, Hagemann’s four wins this year consist of two sets of back-to-back victories.

On March 1, Hagemann won decisions against Massachusetts, 6-3, and Jacksonville, 2-1.

The sophomore then responded to her 6-3 loss to Virginia Tech by throwing five innings of no hit, scoreless softball in NIU’s 9-0 slaughter rule win over Buffalo March 14.

The next day Hagemann led NIU to a 3-1 win over Canisius, bumping her ERA down to 2.73.

“Fatigue isn’t a big deal in softball,” Hagemann said. “When you pitch in back-to-back games you can get into a rhythm and you don’t lose your focus.”

Interestingly enough, NIU’s ace is not in the top five of any MAC pitching categories. However, fellow NIU pitchers Paige Granath and LaChiana can be found amongst five of them.

Regardless, Hagemann will not be needing to see a psychologist now that her confidence is back. Hagemann said she’s ready to lead her team from the mound, with a little help from her defense.

“I really try to get hitters to ground out, and I rely on the defense behind me,” Hagemann said. “I have total confidence in every position we have on the field.”