University of Southern Indiana Softball senior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt was named first-team Academic All-America for the second consecutive year in an announcement by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Wednesday.
Leonhardt becomes the first-ever two-time Academic All-American in program history after earning first-team honors a year ago.
A 2020 recipient of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Postgraduate Scholarship, Leonhardt’s performance during the last four years has elevated the Screaming Eagles’ to a pair of NCAA II Midwest Region titles as well as the 2018 GLVC and NCAA II National Championships.
In 2020, Leonhardt went 7-3 in the circle with a save, 1.63 ERA, .174 opponent batting average and 76 strikeouts. She also led USI at the plate, hitting .386 with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 runs scored and 16 RBIs.
Leonhardt, a three-year All-American at USI, finished her career ranked first all-time at USI in career wins (83), strikeouts (787) and complete-game shutouts (35). She ranked second all-time at USI in career saves (8), innings pitched (730.2), fourth in complete games (85) and sixth in ERA (1.76). At the plate, she tied for 11th all-time at USI in both hit-by-pitches (10) and triples (6); and 18th in RBI (87).
The 2019 GLVC Pitcher of the Year led the Screaming Eagles to their first-ever regional championship in 2017 and their first-ever national championship in 2018. Leonhardt, who was the 2017 GLVC Freshman of the Year and Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year, was named to the Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NCAA II Softball Championship Series after concluding the 2018 post-season with a 12-1 record, 1.35 ERA, .152 opponent batting average and 96 strikeouts.
In the classroom, Leonhardt has recorded a 3.80 grade point average and recently graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Leonhardt, who was accepted into the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, was the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for softball a year ago.
