Big Ten Conference Softball Freshman of the Year

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.

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

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	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	—