USA Softball has announced the Top 3 Finalists for the 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

The award is considered the most prestigious honor in college softball and recognizes outstanding athletic achievement among Division I softball players across the country.

Represented by two juniors and one senior from three NCAA Division I universities and three athletic conferences, the Top 3 Finalists for the 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year include Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl, Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady and Arkansas’s Bri Ellis — each of which will take the stage at Super Regionals this weekend.

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Jordy Bahl – Nebraska

Nebraska’s Jordy Bahl stands out as one of the top two-way players in NCAA Division I softball, proving dominant in both pitching and hitting. She ranks among the Top 10 nationally in eight key categories: batting average (.458), slugging percentage (.955), total bases (148), earned run average (ERA) (1.57), shutouts (7), strikeouts (254), strikeouts per seven innings (10.2) and wins (23). For her outstanding performance, Bahl has been recognized as both the Big Ten Pitcher and Player of the Year, in addition to earning four Big Ten Pitcher of the Week selections during the 2025 season.

NiJaree Canady – Texas Tech

Two-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and 2025 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, NiJaree Canady, has made a powerful impact as a two-way player in her inaugural season with the Big 12 Conference. In the circle, she dominates with a nation-leading 0.81 ERA and 3.44 hits allowed per seven innings. Her performance places her in the Top 10 nationally for several key metrics, including wins (2nd – 26), strikeouts (4th – 263 K) and strikeouts per seven innings (6th – 10.2). At the plate, Canady ranks among the Top 10 in the Big 12 Conference for slugging percentage (7th – .667 SLG) and OPS (8th – 1.124 OPS), while also leading the conference in ERA (0.81), opponent batting average (.144), wins (26) and earned runs allowed (21). Canady is the most recent recipient of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, winning it in 2024 while at Stanford University.

Bri Ellis – Arkansas

As the 2025 SEC Player of the Year, Bri Ellis from Arkansas is dominating the competition, leading the nation with a 1.189 slugging percentage and a .649 on-base percentage, while ranking second in the nation with 26 home runs. A true force at the plate, Ellis also stands on the NCAA leaderboard in batting average (4th – .475 BA), home runs per game (2nd – .50 PG), RBIs (7th – 72 RBI) and RBIs per game (5th – 1.38 PG). Among her SEC rivals, she claims the top spot in batting average (.475), slugging percentage (1.189), on-base percentage (.649), home runs (26), total bases (145) and walks (58). At Arkansas, Ellis has shattered single-season records in RBIs and home runs and is on track to set new program benchmarks in batting average and on-base percentage.

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The 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced on May 27 at the athlete banquet prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) set to take place at the Softball Capital of the World® May 29 – June 6.

Previous winners of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year include:

• Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 2002)
• Cat Osterman (Texas – 2003, 2005, 2006)
• Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State – 2004)
• Monica Abbott (Tennessee – 2007)
• Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech – 2008)
• Danielle Lawrie (Washington – 2009, 2010)
• Ashley Hansen (Stanford – 2011)
• Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma – 2012, 2013)
• Lacey Waldrop (Florida State – 2014)
• Lauren Haeger (Florida – 2015)
• Sierra Romero (Michigan – 2016)
• Kelly Barnhill (Florida – 2017)
• Rachel Garcia (UCLA – 2018, 2019)
• Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma – 2021, 2022)
• Valerie Cagle (2023)
• NiJaree Canady (2024)

Paired with the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is also in its 23rd season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, which is released every Tuesday throughout the regular season. Follow along with Division I NCAA Softball all season long at USASoftball.com.