Missouri State

HEATHER ANDERSON
Softball 1994-98
Inducted 2012

Heather Anderson was a four-year Bears' softball standout from 1994 to 1998. The northern California native was named to the all-Missouri Valley Conference first team and all-Midwest Region second team as a power-hitting outfielder in 1994 when her play sparked the Bears of coach Holly Hesse to an MVC regular season championship with a 13-3 league mark as the Bears compiled a school record win total in an overall 38-13 campaign. Anderson batted .336 as a freshman and smacked six triples and six home runs as she was named to the Valley tournament all-tourney team. Her 27 runs batted in set an MSU freshman RBI record for a season. She helped MSU to the MVC tourney title and into the NCAA tournament in 1996 with another all-league selection and she was also picked for the all-region first team as MSU finished its season with a 34-22 mark. Anderson in 1996 set the Bears' single season record for runs batted in with 46 and her 14 doubles that year rank second best all-time for a single season. Buoyed by a 17-game hitting streak at midseason, Anderson batted a team-best .348 as a junior. After missing the 1997 season with a shoulder injury, she was an all-conference selection once again as a senior in 1998 and earned an all-tournament pick in the MVC meet as the Bears rode an 11-game winning streak through the end of the regular season and the MVC tourney. MSU grabbed an NCAA regional berth and the Bears recorded an NCAA win over top-seeded Stanford. Missouri State was 31-22 in 1998. Anderson wound up her playing days as the MSU career leader in runs batted in with 125 and finished in the Bears' career top ten in slugging percentage (.469), doubles (38), home runs (18), total bases (276) and hits (178). Anderson currently resides in Springfield and owns a number of private business ventures.