Hall of Fame
Jennifer Smith, a four-year varsity softball letterwinner (1990-93), has been selected for induction into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
One of the finest hurlers in school history, Smith held the WSU career marks for wins (72), complete games (82), games pitched (113) and innings pitched (665.1) when she graduated, while ranking second in strikeouts (353), third in winning percentage (.699) and fifth in earned-run average (1.147).
As a freshman in 1990, Smith compiled a 6-4 mark with a 1.57 ERA in 76 innings. The following spring, she earned Honorable Mention All-GLIAC honors as well as GLIAC All-Academic First Team accolades after recording a 14-9 mark with a 1.08 ERA in 161.2 innings.
She set the WSU single-season record for victories (27) as a junior in being named to the NCAA All-Central Region Second Team along with All-GLIAC First Team honors. Smith had a 1.31 ERA in 224 innings while tossing a no-hitter versus Wisconsin-Parkside. In the classroom, she was named to the GLIAC All-Academic First Team and the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team.
In her senior campaign of 1993, Smith had a 25-7 mark with a 0.86 ERA in 203.7 innings. Her .781 winning percentage was the second highest single-season mark in school history, while her 25 victories was the third highest total. Smith led the GLIAC in league ERA (0.46) allowing just three earned runs in 46 innings. She was named to the NCAA All-America Second Team and the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team.
Smith ended her career with a .259 batting average in 205 at bats, along with a .968 fielding percentage in over 440 chances.
She was the 1993 WSU Donnelly Award winner as the top female graduate and a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. Smith graduated Summa Cum Laude from WSU with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1993. She went on to graduate from the WSU Law School in 1996.
Smith is currently the Chief Trial Attorney for the Berrien County Prosecutor's Office and lives in St. Joseph with her husband Michael DenDooven and their daughter, Olivia. Her husband was a four-year football letterwinner, team captain, all-conference and team MVP in 1991 as an offensive lineman for WSU. Smith's brother-in-law, Doug DenDooven, was a four-year football letterwinner at WSU as a linebacker.
