When Melanie Nichols steps onto the mound at Buckeye Field, she says she feels at home. But batters facing the 5-foot-10-inch freshman might not feel welcome, because Nichols has 128 strikeouts.

Nichols currently holds a 21-2 record for the Ohio State softball team. The old record for a rookie was 16 wins, as Nichols surpassed former All-American OSU pitcher Kim Reeder and Netherland Olympian Kristi DeVries.

“At first, I actually didn’t know what the record was until after I beat it,” Nichols said. “Maybe that helped. But I try not to focus on that because I can be a lot better than I am.”

Nichols came to OSU battling an improper recovery from surgery on a torn meniscus in her left knee.

“It was in the middle of my high school season, so the day I got cleared I went and played a doubleheader, which was not the smartest thing to do. Definitely not,” Nichols said.

After a short while at OSU, her knee was “good to go,” she said. But when the Scarlet and Gray headed down to Florida for a tournament at the beginning of the season, Nichols faced another injury.

“My back started to really hurt and all I thought was that I had a really bad pinched nerve,” Nichols said. “But my rib was out of my place.”

Shortly after Nichols’ rib was popped back in, she blamed her clumsy demeanor for the reason she was wearing a boot on her ankle a few weeks back.

“What’s really funny is that I never get hurt, but once I got knee surgery it’s been bam, bam, bam,” she said.

Although Nichols said she expected to be a regular freshman and never expected to be doing the things she’s doing now, assistant coach Erica Beach thought otherwise.

“A lot of people look past their freshman year and don’t expect great things, but I expected her to make an immediate impact like she has,” Beach said.

And Nichols has done just that.

Currently on a 10-game winning streak, the freshman pitcher has a 1.86 ERA with more than 160 innings pitched.

Nichols had a win against the Michigan Wolverines, who were ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time.

“On the mound, she’s mentally tough. She brings confidence to the pitching circle,” Beach said. “And off the field, she’s a really great chemistry player. People like to be around her.”

That mental toughness and confidence have definitely worked for Nichols, who has thrown 15 complete games.

“She focuses on being great in the game. She practices like she plays,” Beach said.

Although Nichols has said she has much to improve on, it’s not only this year that she’s expected to make an impact. Coach Linda Kalafatis said she knows Nichols will be a contributor all four years.

“We knew that Mel had the chance to be maybe one of the best pitchers here. She’s got the potential depending on how hard she wants to work for it,” Kalafatis said. “In the same respect, did I think we’d get to the point where she’s 21-2? No, I guess I never thought of it in those kind of numbers. But you know, winners get records but teams win games.”