Bri Ellis named the USA Softball Player of the Year

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (arkansasrazorbacks.com) – Arkansas Softball senior first baseman Bri Ellis made history on Tuesday evening when she was named the 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year during the Women’s College World Series Banquet at Science Museum Oklahoma.

Ellis became the first Razorback to win the award and just the fifth position player to earn the honor since the award’s inception in 2002, joining Stacey Nuveman (UCLA, 2002), Ashley Hansen (Stanford, 2011), Sierra Romero (Michigan, 2016) and Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma, 2021-22). She is the third SEC player to win the award alongside Lauren Haeger (Florida, 2015) and Monica Abbott (Tennessee, 2007).

The Houston, Texas, product put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in NCAA history. She batted .440 with 26 home runs, 72 RBI, 146 total bases, 69 walks, and 68 runs scored while posting a 1.090 slugging percentage, a .639 on-base percentage, and a 1.729 OPS. Her 26 homers, 72 RBI, 68 runs scored, 1.090 slugging percentage and .639 on-base percentage were single-season program records. She also tied the SEC single-season record with 26 round-trippers. Ellis finished the regular season ranked second nationally in home runs per game (0.51) and walks per game (1.42), becoming the first player to finish the regular season in the top two nationally in both categories since Jen Yee of Georgia Tech in 2010.

Through 58 games, Ellis homered once every 5.15 at-bats while walking once every 3.17 plate appearances. Her 1.729 OPS was the third-highest single-season mark nationally since the statistic was officially tracked in 2016. Ellis became just the sixth player in NCAA history to post a regular season batting average above .480 and hit 20+ home runs courtesy of a .487 batting average and 25 home runs.

In conference play, the right-handed slugger batted .397 with a league-leading 11 home runs and 29 RBI while drawing 27 walks and posting a .983 slugging percentage, .606 on-base percentage, and 1.589 OPS. Ellis reached base in 22 of the Hogs’ 24 SEC games while registering nine multi-RBI games and seven multi-hit games. She finished league play on a 20-game reached base streak. Defensively, the first baseman posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 124 putouts and seven assists. Ellis did not commit a single error in 307 chances during SEC play in her two seasons at Arkansas. Her selections marked the second consecutive year that Ellis earned first-team and all-defensive honors.

This season, Ellis was previously named National Player of the Year by Softball America and SEC Player of the Year. Additionally, she was a First-Team All-SEC selection and was a SEC All-Defensive Team honoree.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is voted on by coaching representatives of nine Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award. Along with Ellis, the Top 3 Finalists for the 2025 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year included Nebraska’s 2025 Big Ten Pitcher and Player of the Year, Jordy Bahl, and Texas Tech’s Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, NiJaree Canady.