University of Southern Indiana Softball junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) has been named first-team Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic America in a vote by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Leonhardt becomes the sixth Academic All-American in USI Softball history and the first since Haley Hodges ’17 collected second-team honors in 2016. Current USI Assistant Coach MacKenzi Dorsam ’15 M’18 was named first-team Academic All-America in 2015.
A second-team All-American on the field in 2019 by both the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association and Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association, Leonhardt is coming off a 2019 campaign that saw her go 21-9 overall with four saves, a 1.29 ERA, 243 strikeouts and a .187 opponent batting average.
Leonhardt tossed two complete-game shutouts in the NCAA II Midwest Region #1 Tournament, bringing her single-season total to a school-record tying 13 as well as her career mark to a school-record tying 33. She also holds the school record for career strikeouts (705) and wins (76).
Earning her sixth-career All-America honor, Leonhardt finished the year ranked second in the nation in complete-game shutouts, seventh in strikeouts, ninth in ERA, 20th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.71) and 25th in wins.
At the plate, Leonhardt hit .351 with 11 doubles, a triple, one home run and 30 RBIs. She ranked 33rd, nationally, and fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with four sacrifice flies, while her 13 sacrifice bunts tied for first in the conference and placed her 41st in the nation.
Leonhardt also was the GLVC Pitcher of the Year, unanimous first-team All-GLVC and first-team All-Midwest Region by both the NFCA and D2CCA.
In the classroom, Leonhardt has accumulated a 3.764 grade point average as a biology major at USI. She will be named Academic All-GLVC for the third consecutive year later this month and is a finalist for USI’s Female Student Athlete of the Year award.
USI, which was No. 25 in the final NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, finished the year with a 35-21 overall record and a 19-7 mark in GLVC play. The Screaming Eagles advanced to the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament for the fifth straight year and the sixth time in seven seasons before falling to eventual Midwest Region champion Grand Valley State University in the championship round of the NCAA II Midwest Region #1 Tournament.
