With just a week away from the DI college softball season, Softball America has announced 10 Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year candidates.
In their first year in the conference, UCLA and Oregon were the major representatives in 2025, reaching the Women’s College World Series . On the other hand, Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since 2014, and Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament.
Can the 2025 Big Ten Player and Pitcher of the Year repeat? Frahm’s first full season with the Cornhuskers was one for the history books. She became the first player in program history to record 15 doubles and 15 home runs in the same season, and just the fifth DI player all-time to record 20 wins and 20 home runs in a season. When not pitching, she saw 13 appearances at first base, three as a designated player, three in center field, and two in left. At the plate, she set numerous program records, including single-season home runs with 23, total bases with 167, runs scored with 72, extra base hits with 41, batting average at .462, and slugging percentage at .988.The All-American power hitter helped lead Cal to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances as the Golden Bears advanced to the Regional Final in 2023 and 2025. Now, she’ll try to do the same with her new team and boost her new conference. Playing both infield and outfield, Butler has posted tremendous numbers. Her career batting average sits at .328 with a .621 slugging percentage, 37 home runs, 112 RBIs, 157 hits, 25 doubles, and 28 stolen bases. She earned All-American honors in 2024 after hitting 12 doubles, 17 home runs, and putting up a .760 slugging percentage.The unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection appeared in 60 games with 59 starts in centerfield. At the plate, Conway posted a .379 batting average with 59 runs, 75 hits, and 52 RBIs. She led the team with a .737 slugging percentage with 13 doubles, two triples, and 18 home runs. In Big Ten play, she hit .432 with 24 runs, 32 hits, and 27 RBIs, while ranking seventh or higher in nearly all offensive categories.The Big Ten Freshman of the Year had one tremendous rookie season. DeBoer started in all 54 games, splitting time between first base, designated player, and third base. She held a .991 fielding percentage with five assists, 226 putouts, and two errors, while leading the team in batting average , hits , home runs , RBIs , and slugging percentage . The 2025 Big Ten Softball Freshman of the Year, Alexis DeBoer, speaks about what her experience has been being apart of Washington Softball.Grant made UCLA a shining star of the Big Ten in 2025. She set the conference single-season record for home runs , while her totals are ranked in the top 10 of multiple UCLA single-season records. She played 67 games and made 47 starts at first base, 12 in right field, and six as designated hitter. In all 65 starts, she was dominant in the cleanup spot of the lineup. She recorded a .376 batting average, a .540 on-base percentage, and a .933 slugging percentage. With 12 doubles, 81 RBIs, and 46 runs scored, she led the team in homers, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and walks.Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018 .Her work has been published in various publications like Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th.
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