Sydney Hornbuckle began playing softball at age six in her hometown of Bakersfield, California. Growing up with an engineer father meant when she wasn’t practicing softball, she could often be found helping him build a new deck for the house or work on his Jeep.
Sydney was told during several college visits she could not feasibly balance the demands of her athletic schedule with an engineering curriculum.
At CSU, Sydney heard a different story.
“When I visited CSU, I was reassured there were successful student-athletes in engineering. I chose CSU because they told me it was possible to do both.”
A student on and off the field
Sydney doesn’t just play softball, she dominates the field. In two consecutive games against New Mexico earlier this month, she hit three homeruns with five runs batted in, earning her the Waterpik Student-Athlete of the Week. She’s also a pitcher utility, meaning she can essentially do it all when it comes to softball.
“I have a driven personality. I don’t like to fail and I can be a perfectionist,” said Sydney. “When I’m idle, I feel like I should be doing something.”
Growing up playing travel ball, it was not unusual to make the two-hour trip to Los Angeles after school for softball lessons and practices. She would complete her homework on the ride back and arrive home near midnight before getting up to do it all again.
Now a senior civil engineering major, teammates will often find Sydney studying between games.
“It’s a lot of work, but the people at CSU have given me the support I need to be successful as an athlete and as a student in a challenging major,” said Sydney.
Team within a team
The softball team hosts an annual “Most Valuable Professor” game where players invite faculty members to attend who have helped them succeed academically. Sydney has invited several of her Civil and Environmental Engineering professors including Nicole Ellison, Joe Scalia, and Tom Siller for this recognition. She also acknowledged the support of her undergraduate academic advisor, Shannon Miller.
“It’s like having a team within a team. In softball, we have academic advisors and sports psychologists who help connect us with resources, and I’ve been fortunate to have professors who are always willing to work with me.”
“Civil engineering is about teamwork, balancing priorities, and effective communication. Student-athletes like Sydney excel in these areas. Sydney’s professors could not be more proud of her accomplishments both in the classroom and on the field,” said Associate Professor Joe Scalia.
Sydney has often been asked about the challenges of balancing the demands of being a student-athlete, but she does not feel it is a challenge unique to athletes.
“Yes it’s hard, but so many students have jobs or other demands on their time. We’re all going through something and we all have to get our work done,” she said. “Playing softball allowed me to find a university I love that also allowed me to pursue civil engineering. I did not want to choose between the two.”
Bottom of the ninth
Sydney will graduate with her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering next month, then join the engineering and design firm Olsson in Overland Park, Kansas where she worked as an intern last summer.
“I’ll be working in the telecommunications branch, which is a small but very interesting field within civil engineering. We design routes for WiFi cables and fiber networking using AutoCAD,” said Sydney.
As for softball? Syndey first wants to focus on settling into her new career in Kansas, but anticipates offering lessons to the next generation of softball players.
