You got to love to see freshmen stars tearing it up in their very first season of college softball. There are so many, so it wasn’t fun to narrow this list to 10. But I have 10 standout freshmen that have made their presence known so far this season.
1. Let’s start with Taylor Shumaker at Florida. If you want to talk about bursting onto the scene, Shumaker is the cover girl. She started this season with a bang, leading the country in many offensive categories. Now Shumaker is hitting .370 but with 14 bombs and over 60 RBI. It's not just her power hitting, she adds speed with over 15 stolen bases and can hit all over the field.
BOOM.💥 Outta here! x
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB)
Taylor Shumaker's 14th homerun of the season puts the Gators on the board.
📺: (SEC Network+) |
2. Tori Edwards at LSU is another no-brainer. She's hitting over .430 with 15 home runs and has already become an imperative part of the Tigers' offense. Edwards leads them in RBI (61) and currently has an OPS over .520.
3. Oregon's Rylee McCoy is another absolute star. The Ducks have emerged this season — and a couple of freshmen are part of the reason. McCoy is batting nearly .430 while slugging .893 with double-digit homers (13).
4 and 5. At Oklahoma, there's Gabbie Garcia and Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. Garcia took over the starting shortstop role and is bringing production to the plate as well. She hit a homer in five consecutive games in the first week of March — and as a lefty she uses all her tools. This includes Garcia's power, as she's second on the team in homers (11). McEnroe-Marinas is the third-leading Sooner in the home run category. Along with being a steady defender at the hot corner, McEnroe Marinas is scorching hot through SEC play with 7 bombs through 14 SEC games (as of April 14).
🥎 SEC Freshman of the Week: April 8
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC)
☝️ Gabbie Garcia x
6. At Ole Miss, Miali Guachino has broken onto the scene as a star in the circle. She's pitched over 115 innings this season and has thrown nearly 160 strikeouts, which is in the top 10 in the country. Ole Miss relies heavily on her rise ball, but Guachino has so much spin from getting crafty with her change to her screwball that's often a tough track for hitters.
7. At Alabama, there's freshman speedster Audrey Vandagriff doing big things for the Tide. Vandagriff is hitting .419 but wreaking absolute havoc on the base paths. Seriously, catch her if you can because she leads the entire country in stolen bases (45).
Audrey Vandagriff's 45 stolen bases is tied with current Alabama assistant Kayla Braud's 2010 total for the most by a freshman in program history
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB)
There are still three more first-year starts to list — and that leaves off a ton of deserving freshmen.
8. Ella Harrison at Rutgers ranks in the top 5 in the entire NCAA — not just freshmen — in strikeouts. She already has collected a no-hitter against North Dakota, plenty of accolades and has pitched over 140 innings.
9. LSU’s Jayden Heavener started her career in a big way with a perfect game and has continued that excellence through more than 85 innings with over 120 strikeouts. Heavener has steadily become a go-to and reliable arm next to Sydney Berzon at LSU.
🔺1 | Absolute Gas ⛽
— LSU Softball (@LSUsoftball)
📺SECN |
10. And then Georgia Southern’s Maddie Johnson, who has been making big waves in the circle with over 100 strikeouts across 132 innings pitched, plus a sub-2 ERA. Johnson has been a big part of Georgia Southern’s success and has been impressive against some ranked teams with heavy hitters.
OK, so thats 10 top freshmen. I want to rattle off some more that are on impressive tears to start their careers:
- Rylee Slimp and Addisen Fisher (UCLA)
- Ella McDowell (Arkansas)
- Ilove'a Brittingham (BYU)
- Alexis Deboer (Washington)
- Lauren Putz (Michigan)
- Mackenzie Pickens and Persy Llamas (Ole Miss)
- Mackenzie Butt (Boise State)
