2025 Big Ten Softball Preview!

Could three new teams bring the Big Ten on the rise?

Softball season is here!

It came so fast! I was working on this project, and started a new full-time job, and had a bunch of basketball stories to write. And now suddenly there’s been three weeks of the season. So much has happened and it’s hard to keep track.

As much as I write about basketball, though, sometimes I enjoy softball even more.

For the next few weeks, Dream B1G will probably be focused on basketball. Stay tuned for next week’s very long Big Ten Tournament Preview. But once March Madness wraps up, it’ll be a whole lot of softball in this space (maybe a little bit of lacrosse mixed in as well).

For softball, the early-season tournaments are hard to watch and hard to follow. And, to be honest, a bit overwhelming for me to try to recap what’s happened so far. If anyone knows a good website to look at team schedules, please send it over!

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‘Cats back at the top?

Entering the season, Northwestern was projected to yet again be in contention for the Big Ten title. The Wildcats finished 20-3 in the Big Ten, winning the conference for the third straight year. Then they lost a stunning upset in the Big Ten Tournament, ultimately won by Michigan. That resulted in an annoyingly bad tournament draw, where they got crushed by top-seeded Texas.

They bring a lot of their team back this year.

Kansas Robinson was among the best hitters in the Big Ten last year by both traditional and advanced metrics (including Wins Above Average, estimating a hitters’ contribution to the team in conference play). She’ll command the Northwestern offense, along with Kelsey Nader. Northwestern lost surprisingly few hitters from last year. They also added first-year Kaylie Avvisato, who has been awesome.

But they have a big change in the circle. Ashley Miller graduated after one year with the ‘Cats, a brilliant year that earned her Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. Returning, however, is Lauren Boyd, a great pitcher in the 2023 season who missed all of last year with an injury. She’ll lead the staff in 2025.

So far, though, things have been rough. The offense hasn’t been up to snuff at all, and the ‘Cats have sputtered out to a 6-8 start that has them off the map. They’ll probably figure it out, like they always do, but it won’t be easy.

Michigan, however, could be the team to watch. They have more returning than any other Big Ten team, having lost just one hitter from last year. Ellie Sieler leads the offense, while Lauren Derkowski leads them in the circle as the ace.

Derkowski was nearly perfect in the Big Ten Tournament to lead Michigan to the NCAA Tournament in Bonnie Tholl’s second season.

Next is Indiana and Sarah Stone, Taylor Minnick and two-way Brianna Copeland. Indiana was less impressive in conference play, but their strong first half brought them to the tournament for the second-straight year. They’ll look to make it three, and could compete at the top of the Big Ten, especially with a friendly conference schedule.

And the Hoosiers are on a hot streak to start the year. They started 10-1 before losing twice on Sunday to a top-15 team.

Sleeper candidates

But we haven’t yet hit on perhaps the biggest story of the year in the Big Ten.

Jordy Bahl was the 2022 National Freshman of the Year at Oklahoma, and the winning pitcher in the national championship clinching game. In 2023, she was again the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, dominant in the postseason, and got herself a WCWS Most Outstanding Player award.

Then, she stunned the world.

Bahl opted to transfer from Oklahoma, and return to Nebraska, where she’s from a small town outside of Omaha. But 2024 was not what she expected. During the very first game of the season, Bahl tore her ACL.

Now, she’s back. And she’s brought the hype to Nebraska.

Bahl has already shown herself to be a force not just in the circle, but at the plate as well. She rarely hit at Oklahoma, but now, she’s batting over .500 with six home runs through 14 games. Her teammate Ava Kuszak, a transfer from Wisconsin, already has 10! Ten home runs!!

A couple other teams I’m keeping my eye on:

Penn State and Bridget Nemeth are for real. Nemeth won last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, and was by some measures the conference’s best pitcher. That led the Nittany Lions to the tournament for the first time in 13 years.

But it’s been a rocky start to the year for Penn State, after Nemeth was injured in her first appearance of the season. Her timeline is unknown. But we shall see if Penn State gets it together for conference play, and when Nemeth is able to return.

Purdue also brings back the second-highest share from 2024 behind Michigan. Though their offense was nothing to write home about last year (13th in the Big Ten) another year together could lead to some progress.

And their pitching duo of Julia Gossett and Madi Elish was surpringly good. A year ago, they had the second-fewest runs allowed in the Big Ten. Elish has been really good so far this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Purdue has some upsets up their sleeves.

Way out West

Three new teams are joining the Big Ten for 2025. And all of them could take over the top of the conference.

Oddly, USC does not and has never fielded a softball team. (Even though they have seemingly everything else, like rowing.) That leaves the Big Ten conference at 17 teams.

UCLA comes in as a historic program and a perennial contender. They’ve won 13 national championships, most recently in 2019. They reached the Women’s College World Series in three of the last four years. They have made the NCAA tournament, something that is a rare accomplishment for many Big Ten teams, every single year, except 1998 and 1986. And that’s it.

This year should be no different.

While Maya Brady has left, most of the rest are back. Kaitlyn Terry and Taylor Tinsley form a fearsome pitching duo. And there will be plenty of hitters to step up this year, as happens when you have Kelly Inouye-Perez as your leader.

A surprising loss to unranked Virginia is their lone blemish this year. Everyone and their mother thinks UCLA will win the Big Ten.

Oregon and Washington, two historically strong programs, should show off their strength in the Big Ten, and be very tough places for everyone else to play. But both teams, Washington especially, are down most of their 2024 team. It’ll be tough for them to adjust, but they should be up to the task.

It’s going to be quite a fun season!