Prior to Owens: Ratliff is a hard-throwing transfer from Lake Forest College in Chicago, Ill. She threw the first perfect game in Lake Forest College history last season in a 10-0 victory over Knox College on April 24, which she lists as her greatest personal sports thrill. While at Lake Forest, she earned Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Week and back-to-back Forester Athlete of the Week Honors and was named the South Division Pitcher of the Year. Ratliff was the team's top pitcher as she accumulated a 12-6 record with a 1.69 ERA. She struck out 93 batters, allowed only 28 walks over 141 innings, and had 16 complete games, three shutouts and two saves. Ratliff was a three-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball and softball) at Summerfield High School for coach Robert Taylor. She won All-Tri County Conference and All-District honors each of her four seasons. In addition, Ratliff was a three-year All-Region and All-State player, while being named Monroe County Pitcher of the Year her senior season. Academically, she was an honor roll student all four years and graduated in the top 10 of her class.

Personal: Ratliff is the daughter of Jerry and Robin Ratliff. Her aunt, Michelle (Bolster) Gardner played softball at the University of Michigan. She is a pre-nursing transfer major at Owens.