FLORENCE, S.C. – Francis Marion University senior first baseman Monica Wofford is on the verge of setting an NCAA Division II career softball record, albeit a mark that most young players don’t dream of setting while growing up.

The next time the 5-10 Myrtle Beach native is hit by a pitch, she will set a new NCAA career record for being plunked with 51.

Currently, she shares the top spot with A.J. Miller, who played 165 games at Pittsburg State University in Kansas from 2003 to 2005. Wofford has played 174 career games as the 10th-ranked Patriots (27-6) prepare to host Columbus State University for a key Peach Belt Conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Following that twinbill, FMU will host USC Aiken on March 29 at 1 p.m.

For the season, Wofford is batting .389 with team-high totals of seven home runs and 34 runs batted in. She was named to the 2008 preseason All-Peach Belt Conference softball team.

Her year-by-year totals of pain include being hit eight times this season, 20 times in 2007, 13 times in 2006, and nine times in 2005.   The 20 painful passes during her junior year represents the sixth-highest season total in Division II history.

“I guess you could say I am excited about setting the record, but I would rather hit a home run and coast around the bases,” Wofford said. “Getting hit is not something that I go to the plate thinking that is what I am after. I have actually tried to back off the plate some since last season, but then over compensated by diving in or leaning over to get to pitches. 

“I almost never got hit in high school, maybe three times in four years. This big total has just kind of happened.

 “Luckily I have never been hit in the head, but I took one near my left wrist (lower arm) in 2007 that knocked me out for a couple of games.”

Wofford has also excelled in the classroom as an elementary education major, earning NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors each of the past two seasons.

She is a former All-State performer at Myrtle Beach High School.