KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Since her freshman season, Ashley Rogers has made an incredible impact with the Lady Vols.

This season Rogers put a focus on having fun in the circle, and not letting her perfectionism get in her way, “That fear of failure is definitely one of my biggest hurdles that I’ve said to overcome,” said Rogers, “Letting that rule how I played the game over the past couple of years definitely held me back, and just this year I just decided, this is not fun to play out there scared every single time that I’m gonna mess up.”

Pushing past the barrier that perfectionism presented has allowed Rogers to play more free, “Just going out there and that mind switch, I’m just gonna come out here and compete for the fun of it, I’m just gonna come out here and pitch because I love competing, I love softball,” said Rogers.

Now a grad student, Rogers has set a focus on researching the effects of fatigue in pitchers, “So many people don’t realize the stress the body is under during a softball pitch and there are no limits in any organization especially not at this level for softball pitching.. what I’ve come to find is a high amount of innings or pitchers in a short amount of time leads to the most stress,” said Rogers.

Her goal is to help the next generation of pitchers, hoping that with this kind of research it will limit the same injuries she has dealt with throughout her career, “Hopefully helping them perform at their best for longer, I feel like the injuries I’ve lost time because of them,” said Rogers.

As Rogers wraps up her career on Rocky Top, wearing the Lady Vol jersey will always hold a special place in her heart, “It means the absolute world to me and my family.. I’m just very very blessed to be here and represent Tennessee and wear across my chest,” said Rogers.