Big Ten Conference Softball Freshman of the Year

Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding college softball freshman in the Big Ten Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1985
Most recent	Alexis DeBoer, Washington

The Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year is a college softball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding freshman. The award has been given annually since 1985.

Winners

Season	Player	School	Position	Reference
1985	Tammy Connor	Indiana	OF	[1]
1986	Ndidi Opia	Northwestern	OF/P
1987	Chinazo Opia	Northwestern	P/U
1988	Brenda Bixby	Minnesota	P
1989	Terri McFarland	Iowa	P
1990	Patti Benedict	Michigan	OF
1991	Karren Jackson	Iowa	P
1992	Kelly Kovach	Michigan	P
1993	Tracy Carr	Michigan	U
1994	Kari Knopf	Iowa	IF
1995	Sara Griffin	Michigan	U
1996	Traci Conrad	Michigan	1B
1997	Melissa Gentile	Michigan	3B
1998	Brooke Siebel	Northwestern	U
1999	Kelsey Kollen	Michigan	2B
2000	Jessica Bashor	Iowa	C
2001	Wendy Allen	Ohio State	U
2002	Nicole Motycka	Michigan	P
2003	Stacy May	Iowa	P/3B
2004	Eileen Canney	Northwestern	P	[2]
2005	Samantha Findlay	Michigan	1B	[3]
2006	Tammy Williams	Northwestern	SS	[4]
2007	Nicole Pauly	Northwestern	2B	[5]
2008	Jordan Taylor	Michigan	P	[6]
2009	Adrienne Monka	Northwestern	1B	[7]
2010	Melanie Nichols	Ohio State	P	[8]
2011	Sara Moulton (softball)	Minnesota	P	[9]
2012	Haylie Wagner	Michigan	P	[10]
2013	Sierra Romero	Michigan	SS	[11]
2014	Sara Groenewegen	Minnesota	P	[12]
2015	Sabrina Rabin	Northwestern	OF	[13]
2016	Maddie Houlihan	Minnesota	U	[14]
2017	Kendyl Lindaman	Minnesota	C	[15]
2018	Meghan Beaubien	Michigan	P	[16]
2019	Danielle Williams	Northwestern	P	[17]
2021	Jaeda McFarland	Maryland	OF	[18]
2022	Ava Bredwell	Nebraska	C	[19]
2023	Taryn Kern	Indiana	2B	[20]
2024	Bridget Nemeth	Penn State	P	[21]
2025	Alexis DeBoer	Washington	1B	[22]

Winners by school

School	Winners	Years
Michigan	13	1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2018
Northwestern	9	1986, 1987, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2019
Iowa	5	1989, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2003
Minnesota	5	1988, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017
Indiana	2	1985, 2023
Ohio State	2	2001, 2010
Maryland	1	2021
Nebraska	1	2022
Penn State	1	2024
Washington	1	2025
Illinois	0	—
Michigan State	0	—
Oregon	0	—
Purdue	0	—
Rutgers	0	—
UCLA	0	—
Wisconsin	0	—

References

1. "Big Ten Conference Softball Record Book" (PDF). BigTen.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 12, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
2. "Michigan's Jessica Merchant Named 2004 Big Ten Player Of The Year". BigTen.org. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
3. "Northwestern's Cooper Named Big Ten Softball Player of the Year". BigTen.org. May 12, 2005. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
4. "Northwestern Sweeps 2006 Softball Postseason Awards". BigTen.org. May 11, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
5. "Northwestern's Cooper Named Big Ten's First Three-Time Player Of The Year". BigTen.org. May 10, 2007. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
6. "Big Ten co-champions Michigan and Northwestern Split Top Softball Individual Honors". BigTen.org. May 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
7. "Michigan and Northwestern Split Top Softball Individual Honors". BigTen.org. May 13, 2009. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
8. "Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State Share Top Softball Honors". BigTen.org. May 19, 2010. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
9. "Big Ten Announces Softball All-Big Ten Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. May 18, 2011. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
10. "Big Ten Announces Softball All-Big Ten Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. May 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
11. "Big Ten Honors Softball All-Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. May 8, 2013. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
12. "Big Ten Honors Softball All-Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners". BigTen.org. May 7, 2014. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
13. "Softball Award Winners Named". BigTen.org. May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
14. "Softball All-Conference and Award Winners". BigTen.org. May 11, 2016. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
15. "Big Ten Announces Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 10, 2017. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
16. "Big Ten Announces 2018 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 9, 2018. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
17. "Big Ten Announces 2019 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 8, 2019. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
18. "Big Ten Announces 2021 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 19, 2021. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
19. "Big Ten Conference Announces 2022 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 11, 2022. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
20. "Big Ten Conference Announces 2023 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 10, 2023. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
21. "Big Ten Conference Announces 2024 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
22. "Big Ten Announces 2025 Softball Postseason Honors". BigTen.org. May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.