Big Ten Conference Softball Player of the Year

Big Ten Conference Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding college softball player in the Big Ten Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1985
Most recent	Jordy Bahl, Nebraska

The Big Ten Conference Player of the Year is a college softball award given to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1985 season, with both pitchers and position players eligible. After the 1992 season, the Big Ten Conference Softball Pitcher of the Year award was created to honor the most outstanding pitcher.

Key

*	Awarded a College National Player of the Year award: the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

Winners

Season	Player	School	Position	Reference
1985	Lisa Ishikawa	Northwestern	P	[1]
1986	Barb Drake	Minnesota	P/C
1987	Vicki Morrow	Michigan	P/1B
1988	Michelle Bolster	Michigan	P
1989	Jenny Allard	Michigan	P/3B
1990	Terri McFarland	Iowa	P
1991	Kari Blank Karen Jackson	Minnesota Iowa	IF P
1992	Patti Benedict	Michigan	OF
1993	Patti Benedict (2)	Michigan	OF
1994	Michelle Venturella	Indiana	C
1995	Sara Griffin	Michigan	U
1996	Sara Griffin (2)	Michigan	U
1997	Debbie Bilbao	Iowa	P
1998	Traci Conrad	Michigan	1B
1999	Traci Conrad (2)	Michigan	1B
2000	Brooke Siebel	Northwestern	DP
2001	Melissa Taylor	Michigan	OF
2002	Wendy Allen	Ohio State	U
2003	Marissa Young	Michigan	U
2004	Jessica Merchant	Michigan	SS	[2]
2005	Garland Cooper	Northwestern	1B	[3]
2006	Garland Cooper (2)	Northwestern	1B	[4]
2007	Garland Cooper (3)	Northwestern	1B	[5]
2008	Tammy Williams	Northwestern	SS	[6]
2009	Tammy Williams (2)	Northwestern	SS	[7]
2010	Nikki Nemitz Maggie Viefhaus	Michigan Michigan	U 3B	[8]
2011	Amanda Chidester	Michigan	3B	[9]
2012	Amanda Chidester (2)	Michigan	1B	[10]
2013	Sierra Romero	Michigan	SS	[11]
2014	Sierra Romero (2)	Michigan	SS	[12]
2015	Sara Groenewegen	Minnesota	P	[13]
2016	Sierra Romero (3)	Michigan	SS	[14]
2017	Kendyl Lindaman	Minnesota	C	[15]
2018	Kendyl Lindaman (2)	Minnesota	C	[16]
2019	Kayla Konwent	Wisconsin	1B	[17]
2021	Lexi Blair	Michigan	OF	[18]
2022	Rachel Lewis	Northwestern	OF	[19]
2023	Taryn Kern	Indiana	2B	[20]
2024	Jess Oakland	Minnesota	SS	[21]
2025	Jordy Bahl	Nebraska	P	[22]

Winners by school

School	Winners	Years
Michigan	19	1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2021
Northwestern	8	1985, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2022
Minnesota	5	1986, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2024
Iowa	3	1990, 1991, 1997
Indiana	2	1994, 2023
Nebraska	1	2025
Ohio State	1	2002
Wisconsin	1	2019
Illinois	0	—
Maryland	0	—
Michigan State	0	—
Penn State	0	—
Purdue	0	—
Rutgers	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.