Career Highlights:

• 31 career games played
• 2020-21 State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award recipient
• Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete (2019, 2021, 2022)
• MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award (2020, 2021)
• MVC Honor Roll (2019, 2020, 2021)
• MVC Regular Season Champions (2021)

Senior (2022): Moved into a student assistant coaching role in the 2022 season…Helped prepare hitters and outfielders…First base coach for a majority of the season.

Junior (2021): Did not make an appearance for the Redbirds in 2021 … Recipient of the 2020-21 State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award.

Sophomore (2020): Suffered an injury for the entirety of the season … Served as a pinch runner for the Redbirds, scoring five runs in five different contests, including four wins by ISU … Shortened season due to COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of events and championships by the NCAA.

Freshman (2019): Made an appearance in 18 games for the Redbirds, with five starts in the outfield as a true freshman ... Scored her first career run as a pinch runner in a 8-0 run-rule victory over San Diego (Feb. 17) ... Tallied her first career hit against nationally-ranked Florida (Feb. 22) ... Recorded a hit and a run versus Stephen F. Austin (March 1) as a pinch hitter ... Contributed a pair of putouts in the outfield versus Florida (Feb. 23) ... Finished her rookie campaign with three runs and three hits.

St. Joseph-Ogden HS: Earned four varsity letters as an outfielder at St. Joseph-Ogden  … Team Captain her senior year… 2A First-team all-state honors in 2018… Unanimous First-Team All-Illini Prairie Conference in 2018… First-team all-area for the News Gazette in 2017 and 2018 ... First-team unanimous All-Okaw Valley conference selection as a junior … Helped her team to a runner-up finish at the Illinois state tournament, garnering second-team all-state honors in 2017 … Named a second-team all-area player in 2016 and all-area honorable mention in 2015 … Helped her team to the super-sectional title game in 2016 … Held a .517 career average with 197 stolen bases, including 70 in 2016, through four seasons at SJO … Plays travel softball for Premier Fastpitch … Team captain … Led the team in batting average and stolen bases … Four-year all-academic letter winner at St. Joseph-Ogden High School … Member of National Honor Society … Leader of the Spanish Club, Students Against Drug Abuse, Maroon Platoon, and Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering…Earned High Honors every semester of her high school career … Holds a 4.46 on a 4.0 scale cumulative GPA.

Personal: Makenzie Elizabeth Pence is the daughter of Todd and Kendra Pence … Sister to Jake and Ty … Mother, Kendra, was an academic All-American in basketball and volleyball … Older brother, Jake, was a 2A first-team all-state selection in football … Cousin, Courtney Pence, is an all-MVC honoree and All-American honorable mention in volleyball at Illinois State… Born April 14 … plans to major in business administration.