[media-credit name=’Kelsey Fenton / The Badger Herald’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

On a bittersweet Senior Day, one senior in particular made sure her name won’t be forgotten after she graduates or even after her final game at Goodman Diamond.

Hitting her 12th home run in the rubber match of the Wisconsin softball team’s series with Michigan State, senior utility player Whitney Massey set the UW single-season record for long balls.

The home run propelled Massey past former Wisconsin power hitters Anastatia Miller and Katie Hnatyk, who set the record at 11 in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

“I had been seeing the ball really well all day and it was Senior Day, so I felt like something special had to happen,” Massey said. “This pitcher had been throwing me the same stuff all weekend so I felt I had to take one. I had a hard hit in the first game and I thought it was gone, so I had a little anger behind [the home run].”

Her teammates were quick to share in the special moment, mobbing the plate after Massey cranked the 1-0 inside fastball off Michigan State pitcher Kelly Smith for her record-breaking two-run homer.

“I’m so proud of her,” junior Mary Massei, who hit two home runs of her own Sunday, said. “She’s just been hitting the ball so well. Last year it was with the doubles and this year it’s with the home runs. I’m proud to call her my teammate.”

“Whit is just a bulldog,” fellow senior Shannel Blackshear said. “She’s very determined and doesn’t let anything get her down. She could have three of the worst at bats ever, but then she’s always thinking she’s going to come back and get you at some point.”

It was a perfect reminder for the Wisconsin crowd and Massey of how far the senior has come in her career donning the Badger uniform. A four-year starter, Massey was hidden deep in the lineup her sophomore year because she struggled offensively, finishing the 2011 campaign with just a .233 batting average – although she did hit five doubles and two home runs.

Her junior year in 2012 yielded a drastic jump into offensive stardom with a team-best .358 batting average and a Wisconsin single season record of 22 doubles, earning her a First Team All-Big Ten honor and a spot on the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team, making her just the third Badger to ever earn a spot on the list. This year has been no different, with Massey batting .362 and recording 18 doubles.

But it’s been the home run that has made Massey an elite offensive player in her final season. Thanks in large part to her 12 home runs, triple the number she put up just a season ago, Massey leads the team with 46 RBIs from her three-spot in the batting order.

“She’s really risen to the occasion, and she’s a kid that we challenged and got on, and she responded the right way,” UW head coach Yvette Healy said. “She’s got a lot of heart. She’s a tough kid with a lot of fight and that’s what you want to see towards the end. You want kids that play well but have the right temperament, where they don’t have fear and rise to the occasion in these types of environments.”

The environment Massey played in Sunday definitely had the feel of a big stage. Playing in front of the largest home crowd in Goodman Diamond history, Massey delighted the 2,007 fans not only with her home run, but also an overall dominant performance in Sunday’s doubleheader.

Going 5-of-6 from the plate with 4 RBIs Sunday and 6-for-10 with 6 RBIs in the entire series, Massey terrorized the Michigan State pitchers all weekend to leave her home dirt on her own terms, even though her team lost the rubber match and fell to third in the conference standing to end the regular season.

Although the season is far from over with the Big Ten Tournament approaching next week in Lincoln, Neb., Massey can take solace in knowing her senior class and its efforts have not only put the program in a position to make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2005, but also have left a program that went 20-31 their freshman year to 34-19 in their final season.

“I don’t take it for granted any day,” Massey said. “I’m always out here working hard. I know where I came from and it’s not a far road back to that.”