Heal & Hammer: Emily Williams is a future pediatric nurse. MVC pitchers wish she would go ahead and graduate early.
In a season packed with storylines, Emily Williams has become a headliner for SIU — and a cornerstone for a team that is on the cusp of earning its place in the MVC Tournament Championship game.
There’s something electric about watching Emily Williams play softball.
Maybe it’s the swing — compact and punishing, capable of changing the score with one pitch. Or maybe it’s the quiet intensity, the way she carries herself between the lines like someone who’s been here before and expects to be here again.
In a season packed with storylines, Williams has become a headliner for SIU — and a cornerstone for a team that is on the cusp of earning its place in the MVC Tournament Championship game.
Oh, by the way, here are the details for today’s tournament matchup: 1 pm against Illinois State in Des Moines, Iowa. You can watch the game here: http://Saluk.is/4k5qZY1
The Salukis were picked to win the league in the preseason coaches poll — and they delivered. There were no dramatic come-from-behind standings climbs, no mid-season miracles. Just steady dominance from the start.
Williams, the sophomore designated hitter, hit her team-leading 17th home run of the season in Thursday’s tournament win, and earned a stretch of back-to-back conference honors that cemented her as one of the most dangerous hitters in the Valley.
She is hitting .336 and leads the Dawgs with 53 RBIs heading into today's game.
She earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors four times this season, including twice in a row in April, and added MVC Player of the Week to her growing list of accolades. Her series at UNI — three home runs, seven RBIs, and five walks — was nothing short of elite.
Earlier this week, she was named the Conference Newcomer of the Year, as well as to the All-MVC First Team.
Williams transferred to SIU after a standout freshman season at Morehead State, where she was a First Team All-OVC selection and set a school record for home runs by a freshman. But her move came under challenging circumstances — she was still recovering from hip surgery when she entered the transfer portal.
“I had hip surgery last March. A full labrum repair with twelve sutures,” Williams said. “It really changed my life and pushed me to transfer. I needed better care, and it was intimidating to step into the portal not knowing if anyone would take a chance on me.”
She hadn’t played a game since February 2024 leading up to the season. For many, that kind of uncertainty would be paralyzing. For Williams, it was a reason to bet on herself.
“Mentally, the portal can be tough,” she said. “You second-guess if the risk is worth it. But I knew what I wanted — to get better, to be part of something bigger. Every year, the portal gets more crowded. Mid-major players can get lost in the shuffle. But I believed I still had something to prove.”
SIU saw it too. Head Coach Jen Sewell knew what kind of hitter they were getting, but even she was impressed by how quickly Williams adjusted.
“It’s not easy to come back from a surgery like that and immediately jump into 14 games against Top 25 teams,” Sewell said. “She didn’t get a full fall. She had to rebuild game feel on the fly. But what stood out was how she settled in culturally. She realized quickly, ‘I don’t have to carry the whole load anymore. I can just hit and let the team do the rest.’”
That role — a dominant designated hitter — isn't easy to embrace for everyone. But Williams owned it.
“In the fall, I had a lot of trouble with mobility,” she said. “I really didn’t start hitting consistently until conference play started. But I knew I could be that offensive piece we needed. Hitting is what I do best.”
And she did it while restarting her nursing program, too.
“I had to start over as a sophomore in nursing when I transferred,” she said. “My general education classes carried over, but the licensure part didn’t. That was tough. But honestly, I love it. I help my classmates a lot. I’ve always known I wanted to work with kids — either pediatric nursing or elementary education.”
Sewell has seen that same care and discipline show up on the field.
“She’s incredibly detail-oriented,” Sewell said. “She wants her swing right before she leaves the cages. She asks for extra time on Mondays — just a tune-up, 30 more minutes. That’s rare, especially for someone already putting up the numbers she is. It rolls over from how she’s wired for nursing.”
Softball and nursing may seem like separate worlds, but Williams sees a clear connection.
“Both are about paying attention to detail. Taking care of people. In softball, you fail a lot. You can’t chase perfection. It’s the same in nursing. Every patient is different, and it’s about giving your best in the moment.”
She’s also handled the emotional highs and lows of the season with a steadiness her coach admires.
“There are two types of hitters,” Sewell said. “You’ve got the sparkplug types like Emma Austin — and then you’ve got people like Emily and Jackie Lis. They’re all competitors. They don’t flinch. You could pack 10,000 fans into a stadium, and their heart rate wouldn’t change. Emily’s safe place is the field.”
That steadiness showed up in a big way during the team’s early home tournaments.
“Something about those two weeks at home — Coach B Classic, Saluki Invite — it just clicked,” Sewell added. “Big Ten teams in town, other strong mid-majors, and it’s like our whole team woke up. I don’t know if Emily had ever experienced a fan base like this. She fed off that excitement.”
For Williams, it wasn’t just the crowds.
It was the feeling of belonging.
“It really felt like, ‘This is what it’s like to play for SIU,’” she said. “There was this energy and belief around us. When you’re recovering from an injury, you’re always wondering if you’re still ‘that player.’ That’s when I stopped wondering.”
She credits the support team around her, especially the training staff, for helping her reclaim that edge. During preseason, they worked closely to manage her body and build back her swing without fear.
“The rehab process gave me a lot of confidence,” she said. “Our staff helped me understand what pain was normal, what wasn’t, and how to listen to my body without second-guessing every swing. That changed everything.”
With her medical redshirt in play, Williams still has up to three years of eligibility remaining — and that’s not just good news for SIU’s lineup, it’s a warning to the rest of the Valley. She’s already become a fixture in the middle of the order.
“She’s the kind of competitor you can take into a postseason environment and trust to do her job,” Sewell said. “No nerves. No excuses. Just steady fire. And she’s still just scratching the surface.”
That consistency comes not just from talent, but from clarity of purpose. Williams knows her role. She knows her value. And she’s learned how to ride out the peaks and valleys of a long season without losing herself in either.
“She knows her job,” Sewell added. “She’s going to hit in the middle of the lineup, drive in her runs, and do it with discipline. It’s rare to see a player who puts up numbers like that and still wants extra reps. But she does. That’s just who she is.”
As the MVC Tournament continues today, the Salukis aren’t getting ahead of themselves.
There’s belief in the locker room. Balance in the lineup. And players like Emily Williams at the heart of it all.
“I’m superstitious,” Williams said with a smile. “So I won’t say how far we can go. But I’ll say this — we take it one pitch, one inning, one game at a time. That’s how we’ve gotten here. And that’s how we’ll keep going.”
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