Photo courtesy of FORDHAM ATHLETICS Elizabeth Gaisior helped lead the Fordham softball team to the NCAA Regionals this season.

By GREG WILLIAMS

Sentinel reporter

gwilliams@lewistownsentinel.com

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Elizabeth Gaisior has always known how to command a softball field. At Juniata High School, she didn’t just dominate hitters — she overwhelmed them, piling up 1,302 career strikeouts and becoming one of the most feared pitchers in Pennsylvania history.

But nothing in her record-breaking past quite prepared her for the moment this spring when she found herself in the middle of a national-attention dance-off during an NCAA Tournament game.

Yes, during the game.

It happened in the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional on May 16, where Fordham — the team Gaisior now helps anchor — was facing the University of South Florida. The Bulls’ dugout is known for its energy, and on this particular afternoon, they broke into a full-on dance routine to “Cotton Eye Joe.” Fordham players, sitting just above the USF dugout in the stands, couldn’t resist joining in.

“If you love softball, you’re going to stick around and watch some softball,” the ESPN announcer shared as played danced to the song in the short video. The other announcer replied, “That’s just their identity and their culture. They have fun and they’ve taken every moment and look at them.”

And there, unmistakably, was Gaisior — the same left-hander who once struck out 427 batters in a single high-school season — matching the Bulls move for move, laughing with her teammates and becoming part of a viral moment that spread across social media before the game was even over.

It was a perfect snapshot of her sophomore season: competitive, loose, joyful and full of the kind of personality that makes college softball so magnetic.

But behind the fun was a year of real growth for the former Juniata star.

Gaisior appeared in 18 games for the Rams, making 13 starts and throwing 62 innings. She finished 3-9 with a 5.76 ERA, but those numbers don’t capture the toughness she showed or the big outings she delivered when Fordham needed them most.

She threw five complete games, struck out 41 batters and authored several standout performances:

March 7 vs. George Mason: A complete-game six-hitter with four strikeouts in a 9-2 win.

March 23 at St. Bonaventure: Five innings, five hits, one win.

March 29 vs. George Washington: Her best outing of the year — a complete-game six-hitter with a career-high nine strikeouts in a 9-6 victory.

Those wins helped steady a Fordham team that started the season unevenly. The Rams opened 1-4 at the University of Georgia’s Black and Red Showcase, then went 2-3 at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego. By early April, they were 7-8 in Atlantic 10 play.

Then everything clicked.

Fordham won its final three conference series and surged into the A-10 tournament as the No. 4 seed. Once there, the Rams caught fire, beating No. 5 Saint Joseph’s, No. 3 Dayton and regular-season champion Loyola Chicago — twice — to capture the conference title.

And when the championship game tightened late, it was Gaisior who got the ball. With no outs in the seventh inning, two Loyola runners on and Fordham clinging to a 7-4 lead, she entered and calmly recorded the final three outs to earn her first collegiate save. It was the kind of pressure moment she once thrived on at Juniata, and she handled it with the same poise she showed while carving through high-school lineups.

Fordham advanced to the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional at 27-26 overall, where they fell 8-0 to Arkansas in the opener and 5-2 to Washington in an elimination game. Gaisior faced one batter against the Huskies and retired her on an infield grounder — a small but fitting reminder that she’s always ready when her number is called.

Her sophomore season builds on a strong freshman campaign in which she earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie honors after striking out 48 batters in 66 innings.

And through it all, she’s remained the same competitor she was at Juniata — fierce in the circle, fearless in big moments and fully committed to her team. The only difference now is that the rest of the country is starting to see the personality that made her a hometown favorite long before she ever stepped onto a college field.

A pitcher with elite strikeout numbers and a viral dance clip? That’s a combination no scouting report could have predicted.

But for Elizabeth Gaisior, it fits perfectly.

To view the video, go to NCAA Softball on Facebook and type in “Fordham Cotton Eye Joe” in the search box.