Former IU pitcher Amy Unterbrink-Poljan honored Hoosiers

An IU pitcher warms up in the home bullpen down the third base line, but it isn't Megan Roark or Mariangee Bogado. The pitcher is Amy Unterbrink-Poljan, one of IU softball's all-time great pitchers, and she is getting ready to throw out the first pitch.\nSaturday was officially Amy Unterbrink-Poljan Day, with the Hoosiers honoring one of IU's all-time great pitchers. To this day, 19 years after she threw her last pitch as a Hoosier, her pitching records still stand, some of which probably never will be broken.\n"Twenty years ago, I didn't expect someone to come up and congratulate me," Unterbrink-Poljan said. "I thought (the records) would go in the books and that would be the end of it."\nSome of Unterbrink-Poljan's career records include most all-time wins (96), career ERA (0.53), complete games (122), shutouts (61) and strikeouts (1,089), among several others.\nPerhaps most impressive is Unterbrink-Poljan's throwing nine no-hitters and three perfect games in her playing career, both of which are Hoosier records. \nIU pitcher Megan Roark talked to Unterbrink-Poljan this weekend between games. \n"It was nice getting to know a legend like her," Roark said. "With the standard she set, it is a big deal to meet her."\nEarlier this season, Roark threw a perfect game versus IU-Purdue University at Fort Wayne and a no-hitter against Southern University.\nLast October, when Unterbrink-Poljan became the first softball player inducted into the IU Hall of Fame, IU coach Stacey Phillips approached her about honoring her during the season.\n"This was a tribute to Amy and to the IU softball program," Phillips said. "Hopefully this will open the door to others to get into the Hall of Fame."\nUnterbrink-Poljan, now a mother of six with the seventh on the way, arrived Friday afternoon in Bloomington in time to see some of IU's Big Ten opener versus Michigan State. \n"It was fun to show (my kids) the campus," Unterbrink-Poljan said. "One of them said, 'Mom, I didn't even know you went to college.' This showed another dimension of their mom, that there is another part of me other than just the loving mother." \nDuring her two-day visit, Unterbrink-Poljan talked with the softball team, an opportunity the players did not take for granted.\n"The team thinks a whole lot of her personality," Phillips said. "Advice from a Hall of Famer can't be a bad thing."\nLooking back to her October Hall of Fame visit, Unterbrink-Poljan is glad she returned to IU.\n"I hadn't been back in 19 years before the Hall of Fame," she said. "It's very exciting to be back. I get giddy coming back. I always liked playing here. I was always happy to play ball and contribute to the team."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Tim O'Brien at tpobrien@indiana.edu.