@RazorbackSB Senior Q&A: Kasey Fagan
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Senior Kasey Fagan has been a two-year starter in the Razorback softball program. After transferring to Fayetteville in 2013, the Dunnellon, Fla., native has started 93 games in her Arkansas career.
A career .314 hitter, Fagan ranks fourth all-time in school history for batting average. During the 2014 season, her first with Arkansas, Fagan recorded the third-most RBIs in a single season in program history (46) and was named to the 2014 NFCA All-South Region Second Team.
In the 2015 campaign, Fagan has started 39 games while batting .325. The senior has accounted for two walk-off wins for the Razorbacks, hitting a home run to defeat Saint Louis (Feb. 27) and a double to upend UT-Martin (Feb. 27).
With Senior Day approaching this weekend in the series against Alabama (May 1-3), ArkansasRazorbacks.com recently sat down with Fagan to reflect on her Cardinal and White career.
Major: Business management
Graduation: May 2015
Post-school aspirations: “I plan to go to grad school at Auburn University and be a grad assistant.”
Talk about the path you took getting to Arkansas: “After I transferred, I was recruited by Baylor, Arkansas and FGCU mostly. I visited those schools first and when I came here on my last visit, I just really got along with the coaches and I loved the campus – it’s really beautiful, it reminded me of home. My heart just felt right here.”
You have two sisters who both play softball in the SEC, talk about what that means to you: “To me, it means a lot because every single day I don’t think there was another person or family in the country that attacked the game as hard as we did. Me and my sisters, we were lucky to have each other growing up because we pushed each other in the weight room, in the class room, and on the softball field. Us all being able to play at the highest level in our sport means a lot and it’s just a testament to hard work because we were never the best growing up. Playing against them, it’s been really weird because I’ve never had to play against them. I find myself rooting for them a lot even though I want our team to win obviously, I still root for them which is hard. I’m happy I get to see them excel.”
What were your goals coming in to college and how do you feel you have reached them? “My goal in high school was to play softball in the SEC and I’ve reached that goal. When I came here, my goal was to develop as a player and become more mature. As a hitter, to develop my swing and also to develop it in a way that I saw fit.”
How do you feel you’ve improved as a player and as a person at Arkansas? “I’ve definitely become a more calm player. I used to have a temper, I still do. I’ve also become more of a team player. I still sometimes get mad after a bad at-bat or after a bad play but I always cheer on my teammates and whatever I need to do to help the team win.”
Do you have a favorite moment as a Razorback? “When we beat Tennessee last year, my first year I was here. We beat them in the Saturday game. It was a walk-off win and I was on second base to score the winning run so that was a pretty cool memory.”
Favorite road trip? “I would say Vegas was pretty fun when we went last year. I’ve never been so I got to experience the city so that was pretty cool.”
What are you going to miss most about Arkansas? “Well first of all, I’m going to miss my team. That’s been the thing that has helped me through this year, just all the bonds we have built with everybody. I’m also just going to miss the competition, sitting out for a year I remember I craved the adrenaline, the heart-racing feeling. I’m going to try to be a coach so obviously it’s a different type of adrenaline but that’s what I’m going to miss most.”
In just a few words, how would you describe your time at Arkansas? “A learning experience. I got to learn how to play different positions, how to become a better player, how to become a better hitter and I think everything that happened here is really going to help me in my coaching career after college.”
What’s something most people may not know about you? “That’s really going to be hard. The most thing I always say whenever people ask me this question is I’m afraid of most anything, like any kind of reptile, amphibian, bug, anything that flies I’m terrified of. I’m literally afraid of frogs, frogs number one, snakes and reptiles are number two. I’m afraid of scallops. I went scalloping one time and I wouldn’t touch them because they have green eyes around their shell and they ‘chomp-chomp-chomp.’ I’m scared of literally everything. I’m scared of the ball sometimes (laughs).”
