Arkansas' Danielle Gibson becomes second player to hit for 'home run' cycle

Think the hardest thing a batter can do is hit for the cycle? Arkansas’ Danielle Gibson has an even tougher challenge for you.

The sophomore softball player became the second person in NCAA history to hit for a “home run” cycle — solo home run, two-run home run, three-run home run and a grand slam — in a game on Saturday against SIU-Edwardsville. And if that’s not intimidating enough, it only took Gibson four innings to complete the task.

Gibson is also the sixth player in NCAA history to hit four home runs in a single game, tying the all-time record. But no one has done it in such an extraordinary fashion. The Razorbacks game ended after five innings and a score of 15-3, invoking the league’s mercy rule. It’s not like Gibson gave any warning that this outburst was coming, either.

Earlier in the day, the infielder went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against Drake.

Before transferring to Arkansas, Gibson played one year at Arizona State where she appeared in 59 games with 58 starts. Throughout the 2018 season she hit just 12 total home runs. Gibson put herself a third of the way toward surpassing that total on Saturday alone.

Not that it needs stating, but no MLB player has ever completed the home run cycle. If Christian Yellich, Mike Trout or Mookie Betts want some pointers on mashing taters like this, all they need to do is take a quick trip to Fayetteville, where the Razorbacks are 11-3 and we’re still waiting on Gibson’s homers to land.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee

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