Missouri vs Illinois State. University Field - Columbia, Mo. March 14, 2010.
2011: In her second season with the Tigers, Hudson saw her role expand outside of starting at third base, as she provided Mizzou with additional depth in left field and in the circle. Of her 62 starts, 50 came at third, while she provided seven starts in the outfield and appeared seven times at pitcher. After a strong freshman campaign in 2010, Hudson improved in 2011 with a .337 batting average, the second-most home runs on the team (13), and 51 runs batted in. She also doubled 14 times and posted an impressive walk-to-strikeout ratio of 33-18, while stealing eight bases in as many attempts. In her first official at bat of the season, Hudson hit a solo home run to left-center against San Diego State. She was strong in a doubleheader against Temple and Illinois State on Feb. 25, going 4-for-6 with three runs, one homer, a double and five RBI. Against Illinois State in March, Hudson finished 2-for-3 with another home run and four RBI - her first of three games on the year where she drove in four runs. In a two-game stretch against Baylor and Evansville, Hudson went 3-for-6 with four runs, three home runs and seven RBI. She posted an eight-game hitting streak in mid-April, where she went 14-for-30 (.467) with two home runs, three doubles and eight RBI with six runs scored, earning her first career Big 12 Player of the Week honors in the process. One game after her hitting streak was snapped, Hudson hit safely in the team's next six contests, posting a batting average of .619 (13-of-21) with four doubles, a homer and seven runs batted in - good for another Player of the Week award. During that streak, Hudson helped the Tigers salvage a split with Texas which eventually led to a Big 12 title, going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and four RBI in the finale with the Horns. She hit safely in four of the team's five NCAA Regional contests, blasting a homer against Illinois State to open the tournament while driving in five runs on the weekend. She helped Mizzou jump out to a lead in game one with Washington at the NCAA Super Regionals, homering in the first game and driving in another in the finale. She went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored in Missouri's 4-1 win over Oklahoma at the World Series. On Apr. 9, Hudson had a batting average of .253, but was red-hot to finish the year, hitting safely in 22 of the team's final 27 games, good for an average of .419 during that stretch. She finished the year in the top-10 of the Big 12 for runs scored (10th, 49), doubles (T-7th, 14), runs batted in (9th, 51) and total bases (5th, 115). In the circle, Hudson went 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA. Honors: First Team All-Midwest Region, First Team All-Big 12, First Team Academic All-Big 12, Two-time Big 12 Player of the Week (April 19 and May 10)
2010: Started 63 of the team's 64 games, with 62 of those coming at third base. As a freshman, Hudson led all Tigers with 10 home runs this season, and is the first true freshman since Jen Bruck in 2005 to post double figures in home runs. Her 10 homers tie her for 10th most in a single season, while she tied for the fourth-most doubles in a season with 15 and had the sixth most walks ever, tallying 31. In her first collegiate game, Hudson hit a game winning home run in the top of the seventh against No. 2 Alabama for her first career hit, run, home run and RBI, lifting the Tigers to a 2-1 win. Had a season-best three hits against Saint Louis on March 31. On April 14 against Southern Illinois, Hudson drove in a season-high four runs. In Mizzou's 11-6 win over top-seeded Texas at the Big 12 Championship, Hudson picked up a pair of hits, including a home run, while driving in two. Doubled in a run against Hawaii in the opening game of the 2010 Women's College World Series. Finished eighth in the Big 12 in walks and tied for sixth in the league in doubles. Honors: Second Team All-Big 12.
Webb City: A member of the Webb City High softball team, Nicole Hudson and her teammates were ranked first in the state her junior year, and third her freshman and senior years. Hudson was named an all-state selection for all four of her seasons as a pitcher for Cardinals. In addition to high school softball, Hudson played for several club teams across the state of Missouri and played high school basketball. Her senior year, Hudson was selected as all-state for basketball and graduated with a total of eight varsity letters.
Personal: Born Nov. 11, 1990, in Webb City, Mo., Hudson is the daughter of Shane and LeaAnn Hudson. Hudson is majoring in communication.
