Whether it’s training in the weight room with her teammates or swinging for the fences, Courtney Poulich is putting in some powerful performances for the Robert Morris softball team.
It’s not a stretch to say the redshirt senior outfielder from Mt. Pleasant is going out with a boom.
The record-setting slugger provides plenty of pop to a potent Robert Morris lineup, a batting order that’s earned a worthy nickname — Boom Township.
“We laugh about the Boom Township thing, but that’s been our thing for a couple of years now,” Poulich said. “I mean it’s pretty fitting.”
Coined by RMU director of softball operations Rich Holsinger, Boom Township is a tip of the cap toward the men’s basketball team, which used the phrase “Hoop Township” on past social media posts.
And there’s no exaggeration regarding the softball team. The Colonials are landing Moon shots all over NAC Softball Field and away from home.
“I feel like I’m watching something really special, and that’s been cool,” Colonials softball coach Jexx Varner said. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Wow, it’s unbelievable.’”
With 13 regular-season games remaining, Robert Morris (18-12 overall, 6-6 Horizon League) has hit 57 home runs — seven more than the previous record of 50 set last year when the team won 30 games and reached the NCAA Softball Regionals by winning the league tournament title.
Poulich, a key cog in Mt. Pleasant’s 2021 PIAA championship run, leads the way. She’s firmly established in the Robert Morris record books and even ranks high among the NCAA statistical leaders.
She’s batting .436 (41-for-94) with a team-leading 17 home runs, 49 runs and 50 RBIs. Her home run and run totals are RMU single-season records, the former coming Saturday during an 18-3 win against Northern Kentucky in the opening game of a doubleheader. Her RBI total is only three shy of the single-season mark.
Poulich established all three records last year.
“We’ve always known what an amazing athlete and amazing person she is, but she’s worked really hard to get to where she is,” Varner said. “When the other team is game planning for you, and there’s still no stopping you, that really says something. She’s disciplined in her approach, and she doesn’t press.”
It’s an approach that puts Poulich among the top hitters in Division I for an offense that averages 8.93 runs and 1.89 home runs per game.
Heading into the weekend series at Northern Kentucky, Poulich ranked first nationally in runs per game (1.7), second in RBIs per game (1.74), third in home runs per game (0.59) and seventh in slugging percentage (1.071).
Oh, and she’s the all-time home run leader in Robert Morris history with 38.
“I don’t really look at stats. That’s never been my thing,” Poulich said. “It’s an honor to be up there (nationally) with the other girls and for our team as a whole to be up there.”
In the upcoming months, Poulich hopes to end up in two places: back in the NCAA regionals with Robert Morris and working as a strength and conditioning coach.
She previously did an internship at GT Performance in Greensburg and said if she obtains a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) certification that she’ll begin working there after her academic and athletic duties are finished.
Three exercises future clients can expect: squats (front, back and goblet), lunges and jumping.
“I do get nerdy about working out,” Poulich said laughing. “I’m always telling my teammates things they can do.”