Precious Birdsong

Classroom

Precious Birdsong is set to graduate in May 2018 with a degree in sport, leisure and tourism studies. She has a current cumulative GPA of 3.383 and hopes to stay in the athletic field following graduation. Birdsong aspires to open and run her own athletic training facility and to continue coaching elite softball. Outside of the sports world, she has held internships with Enterprise Holdings and the Middle Tennessee Event Operations and Facilities department. She has also been a student-assistant in the Blue Raider Athletic Association, putting what she has learned in the classroom to use. She has been on the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll for three-straight years and also has made the Middle Tennessee Dean’s List in Fall 2016, Spring 2017 and Fall 2017. Following the 2016 season, she was voted as a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.

Character

Birdsong has been a strong leader at Middle Tennessee. A mainstay in centerfield, she leads the outfield and is serving as a team captain. She also leads by example, often working on individual hitting or fielding skills before and after practice. She is an incredibly humble player and, when asked about her individual successes, she still attributes it to the hardworking players around her and focuses on the team aspect of the game rather than on her own accomplishments. She will often help her teammates by throwing them soft toss in the batting cages or cheering them on during infield and outfield drills. She is always very vocal, communicating and encouraging her teammates during games and practices. Throughout last season, Birdsong fought through a shoulder injury, missing five games at the start of the season but still having a record-breaking year. In the offseason, she had shoulder surgery and is back, still powering through the pain in order to perform well for her team this season.

Community

Birdsong is highly involved in the Middle Tennessee and Murfreesboro communities and was named a Conference USA 2017 Spring Spirit of Service honoree for her commitment to charitable causes and community events. She volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford County and spends time at her alma mater high school, The Baylor School, helping with sports camps. She also volunteers at Connect Sports Events in her hometown of Chattanooga. While home for holidays, she and her mother gather canned food and clothing items and donate them to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, while also volunteering there. Also in her hometown, she works with the Tennessee Fury softball program as an assistant coach of the 2024 squad. She serves as a member of Middle Tennessee’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also volunteers her time within the MTSU community with the Special Olympics, canned food drives, campus clean-ups and blood drives.

Competition

Birdsong has been a key member of the Middle Tennessee softball team since stepping on the field in 2015, starting 149 of 154 games, missing games only due to injury. For her outstanding season, she was named to the All-Conference USA freshman team. In 2016, she was named to the preseason All-Conference USA Team and to the All-Tournament Team at the South Alabama Jaguar Invitational. Then, she followed that up by earning a spot on the All-Conference USA First Team in her junior season (2017). She went on to be named a 2017 NFCA Mideast All-Region First Team member.

Prior to the 2018 season, Birdsong was again named to the preseason All-Conference USA Team. Etching her name into the Middle Tennessee record book during her career, she is the individual season batting average record holder, hitting.443 in her junior season. She has also broken the Middle Tennessee career marks for runs scored (127), triples (12), stolen bases (113). She is second in the MT career record books for hits (204) and singles (171).