Catcher Lainee Brown's left thumb is taped for support, worn and dirty, bruised at the base by her palm. Her two-year-old glove no longer offers much protection against a 67 mph pitch – she calls the glove trash – yet it's comfortable and she won't give it up.
"It hurts, but I've just got to work through it," she said.
That's the life of a catcher and on Sunday that life played great. Brown caught freshman Chloe Barber's first college no-hitter and hit a three-run home run in Wichita State's 8-0 run-rule win over Memphis in five innings.