HARROGATE, Tenn. — Like many girls who attend Colonel Crawford High School, Nicki Miller wanted to play softball.

Her personal and team success at Colonel Crawford spurred her to continue her softball career at the next level and she chose to play at Lincoln Memorial University.

On October 13, Nicki Miller-Shultz was inducted into the Lincoln Memorial University Athletes Hall of Fame in recognition of her continued success at the college level.

“I am extremely honored to be part of the Athletes Hall of Fame at LMU,” Miller-Shultz said of her induction. “Softball was my first love. Having the opportunity to continue to play at the collegiate level was truly a dream come true. My time at LMU was some of the best years of my life.”

Miller-Shultz was a 2001 graduate of LMU. Playing in the tough Division II Gulf South Conference (at the time), she finished her career with a 66-27 record and a sparkling 1.43 earned run average. Miller-Shultz was a two-time all-conference honoree, National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-region selection, College Sports Information Directors Association all-district and All-GSC academic team.

“Nicki and I butted heads, a typical pitcher-catcher relationship,” battery mate Lacy Serman Farmer said. “But there is no one I would have rather had on the mound with the game on the line.”

Farmer’s trust was well-founded. Miller-Shultz ranks first in Railsplitters’ history in fewest walks allowed per seven innings (.077), most complete games (76) and most shutouts (26). She is tied for first in most wins with 66.

Miller-Shultz’ 1.43 ERA is second in school history and she is also second in most ground outs with 951. She had the third lowest opponent batting average (.230) and lowest stolen base against percentage (.680). She is fourth in most games started (91), fifth in most innings pitched (418) and most strikeouts (360) and is tied for fifth with most appearances (99). Miller-Shultz is tied for first in most wins (23 twice) in a single season and most shutouts with 10.

“When Nicki Miller took the mound, she did so with confidence and a sense of ownership,” teammate Amanda Haynes Comparato said. “She owned every pitch, every batter, every inning. She was a workhorse and our leader. With a work ethic like that, there was never a doubt that this day (her HOF induction) would come.”

Miller-Shultz’ induction came as no surprise to her high school coach, the legendary Chuck Huggins, who has seen his fair share of good pitchers and players in his more than three decade career at the Eagles’ helm.

“Through her four-year career, Nicki was part of 93 wins,” Huggins said. “That’s 23 wins per season.”

Huggins noted that Miller-Shultz prided herself in having tremendous control, recording 404 strikeouts to only 49 walks.

“She made sure that if a batter got on base, they had to work for it,” Huggins said. “She wasn’t going to walk them.”

What impressed her high school coach as much as anything, though, was the fact that she wasn’t just a great pitcher, she was a good all-round softball player. With the Colonel Crawford legacy of pitchers, Miller-Shultz was only the No. 1 pitcher for two years.

“As a sophomore, in 1995, Nicki was a starter on our state championship team,” Huggins said. “She was 9-1 as a (No. 2) pitcher, but she was also what we called then the DH.

“Nandy Prye got injured in a car accident the day before our reginal final against Archbold,” the coach continued. “I was worried about how to replace her, then I said to myself, ‘Just slide Nicki over. She’s a great corner infielder.’ She played there in the state semifinal against Strasburg also until Nandy got back.”

Miller-Shultz finished her Colonel Crawford career with a 39-9 record and pitched 318 2/3 innings with a 0.77 ERA.

“She was game-tested early on in her career,” Huggins said. “She helped lead us to the best year in Colonel Crawford history. That’s due to her love of softball. It’s proven by her outstanding college career.”

Miller-Shultz was more than an athlete at LUM. She graduated cum laude with a double major in Accounting and Economics. She was a member of the Alpha Chi National honor society and named to the Dean’s List several times. Miller-Shultz furthered her education by obtaining a Masters’ Degree in Business from Otterbein University.

Miller-Shultz currently resides in Baltimore, Ohio with her husband, Nick. They are parents of Suzie, and triplets Emily, Izzie and A.J.