Erin (Kurtz) Baker remains in the top five in 11 pitching statistics for a Bluffton softball career. Her rankings include second in opponents’ batting average (.216) and shutouts (tied, with nine); third in wins (38), strikeouts (365) and complete games (finishing all 64 games she started); and fourth in earned run average (2.47). Also second on the fielding percentage list (.991) and a .286 hitter during her four years, Baker was named first-team all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in both 1999 and 2000; Most Valuable Player of the 1999 HCAC tournament, won by Bluffton; and conference MVP during the Beavers’ second-place season in 2000.

After receiving her Bluffton bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education, the Wooster native was an intervention specialist at Marshallville, Ohio, Elementary School for three years. From 2002-07, she was head softball coach at her alma mater, Smithville High School, where she then went on to be an intervention specialist. She earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of Akron in 2009.