University of Southern Indiana junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year in an announcement by the league office Wednesday night at the GLVC Softball Awards Banquet.
Leonhardt was one of four Screaming Eagles to land on the All-GLVC team and was a unanimous selection to the first team, as was senior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana), while senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) and sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb (Elberfeld, Indiana) were named to the third team.
In 2019, Leonhardt has dominated inside the pitcher’s circle, posting a 19-7 overall record, four saves, a 1.36 ERA, a .189 opponent batting average, 11 complete-game shutouts and 215 strikeouts. She went 10-4 in GLVC-only play with a 0.92 ERA and 128 strikeouts.
A three-time GLVC Pitcher of the Week as well as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Week in early April, Leonhardt also got the job done at the plate during the regular-season, hitting .372 with 11 doubles, a triple, a home run, 30 RBIs and a GLVC-best 15 sacrifices.
Leonhardt, who was the GLVC Freshman of the Year as well as the D2CCA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year in 2017, becomes the first player in program history to earn the GLVC Pitcher of the Year award and is now a three-time All-GLVC honoree after collecting All-GLVC honors in each of the previous two seasons.
Johnson is earning first-team All-GLVC honors for the first time in her career after hitting .388 with 11 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 32 RBIs in 2019. She finished the regular-season with a team-high .605 slugging percentage as well as a .489 on-base percentage as she was walked a team-high 23 times and hit by a pitch a team-high 10 times.
Bradley is earning All-GLVC honors for the second time in her career after collecting first-team All-Conference accolades as a utility player/non-pitcher as a freshman in 2016. In 2017, Bradley is earning third-team All-GLVC laurels as a utility player/pitcher after excelling both as a centerfielder and in the circle.
In 2019, Bradley hit .305 with 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs and a team-high 34 RBIs. Inside the circle, she was 6-5 with four saves, a 2.62 ERA and a .281 opponent batting average. In GLVC-only play, Bradley was third in the conference with a 1.62 ERA, three saves and a .221 opponent batting average.
Webb earns third-team All-GLVC honors for the first time in her career after hitting .329 with five doubles, three triples and 20 RBIs in her first year as a starter. She hit .345 with three triples in in GLVC-only games.
USI, which held its ground at No. 22 in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll as well as No. 4 in the final NCAA II Midwest Region of the regular-season, returns to action Thursday at 2 p.m. when it takes on Truman State University in the opening round of the GLVC Softball Championship Tournament at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
