Louisville Softball Welcomes Jennifer Leonhardt

University of Louisville softball coach Holly Aprile has announced that three-time NCAA Division II All-American, and Louisville native, Jennifer Leonhardt will join the Cardinals after a stellar career at the University of Southern Indiana.

The right-handed pitcher, and graduate of Louisville's Fern Creek High School, will play for the Cardinals while attending UofL's School of Dentistry.

The three-time NCAA Division II All-American led the University of Southern Indiana to the 2018 NCAA Division II national title and earned Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Series honors after finishing the postseason with a 12-1 record, 1.35 ERA, .152 opponent batting average and 96 strikeouts.

While at USI, Leonhardt built an impressive resume. The 2019 GLVC Pitcher of the Year helped the Screaming Eagles to three NCAA appearances, including the program's first regional championship in 2017 and their first-ever national championship in 2018. She was named the NFCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, the 2017 D2CCA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year, the GLVC Freshman of the Year and became the first pitcher in program history to earn All-America honors as a freshman.

As her senior campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Leonhardt carried a 7-3 record with a 1.63 ERA, .174 opponent batting average and 76 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work. The left-handed batter was also in the midst of a career-best season at the plate, producing a team-best .386 batting average with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 runs scored and 16 RBI.

Leonhardt finished her career at USI as the program's all-time leader in wins (83), strikeouts (787) and complete game shutouts (35) while standing second in saves (8) and innings pitched (730.2). At the plate, she registered a .327 career batting average with 87 RBIs and 74 runs.

Additionally, she is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and earned the GLVC's Postgraduate Scholarship Award. She was a four-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at USI and served as the co-president in 2019-20.

Leonhardt earned her bachelor's degree in biology from USI in May 2020.

Jennifer Leonhardt
Position: Pitcher
B/T: L/R
Hometown: Louisville, Ky.
Previous School: University of Southern Indiana
High School: Fern Creek

Head coach Holly Aprile on Jennifer Leonhardt
"Unique circumstances can bring about special opportunities, and the opportunity to have a student-athlete of Jennifer's caliber join our team is one of them. She is starting Dental School in the fall, so I anticipate some adjustments at times, but there's no doubt in my mind that Jennifer is up to the challenge. She had such a tremendous career at Southern Indiana and I want to thank Coach Kunkle and her staff for supporting her and helping her become such a strong young woman."

Jennifer Leonhardt on Louisville
"Coach Holly gave me this incredible opportunity to continue my softball career after I already thought it was over, and I'm so thankful for that. The staff and the girls have already made me feel welcomed and a part of the program. It's also very special that I get to end my career playing for my hometown crowd."

Jennifer Leonhardt's Career Highlights
In 2020: In the COVID-19 shortened season, played and started in all of USI's 19 games as a senior, making 11 appearances and nine starts inside the circle
• Went 7-3 with a 1.63 ERA, .174 opponent batting average and 76 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work
• Posted a season-high 15 strikeouts in USI's 2-1 win over Winona State, a game that ended up being the final contest of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign
• Led the GLVC and was 25th in the nation with nine complete games
• Second in the league and 35th, nationally, in total strikeouts (76)
• Named the GLVC Pitcher of the Week for the eighth time in her career after going 3-0 with a .149 opponent batting average and 26 strikeouts in USI's 5-1 week at the Midwest Region Crossover
• In the midst of a career-best season at the plate, producing a team-best .386 batting average with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 runs scored and 16 RBI
• Posted a .571 slugging percentage to go along with a .427 on-base percentage on the year

As a junior (2019): Earned second-team All-America honors by both the NFCA and D2CCA
• First-team All-Midwest Region by both NFCA and D2CCA;
• The GLVC Pitcher of the Year as well as unanimous first-team All-GLVC
• Collected first-team Academic All-America, Academic All-District IV and Academic All-GLVC laurels
• Went 21-9 in the circle with four saves and a GLVC-best 1.29 ERA
• Ranked ninth in the country in ERA and 25th in wins
• Ranked 16th in the nation and second in the GLVC in saves
• Tied for second, nationally, and was first in the conference with a school-record tying 13 complete-game shutouts
• Seventh in the nation with a league-high 243 strikeouts and was 20th in the nation with a league-low 4.71 hits allowed per seven innings
• Posting a GLVC-low 0.92 ERA and .187 opponent batting average in GLVC-only games
• Registered a career-year at the plate, posting a .351 batting average to go along with 11 doubles, a triple, one home run and 30 RBIs
• Ranked 41st in the nation in sacrifice bunts per game, while her 13 total sac bunts tied for first in the GLVC...also tied for 33rd, nationally, and fourth in the league with four sacrifice flies
• Led USI with 17 multi-hit games, including a season-high three hits twice, and recorded a season-best two RBIs eight times
• Named GLVC Pitcher of the Week three times and was the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Week once.

As a sophomore (2018): Named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA II Softball Championship
• Second-team All-America (Fastpitch News)
• Second-team All-Midwest Region (D2CCA)
• Second-team All-GLVC and Academic All-GLVC
• After going 14-11 with a 2.80 ERA, 181 strikeouts and a .214 opponent batting average during the regular season, Leonhardt dominated the postseason, going 12-1 with a 1.35 ERA, .152 opponent batting average and 96 strikeouts
• Posted a 10-5 mark in GLVC play with a 2.18 ERA, 118 strikeouts and league-best .195 opponent batting average
• Registered a dominating performance in the NCAA II Softball Championship, holding the No. 1 team in the nation to just one hit in USI's 1-0 victory.
• Followed that up with USI's first-ever postseason no-hitter when she allowed just one baserunner in USI's 3-0 win over No. 6 Angelo State
• Overall in the NCAA II Softball Championship, Leonhard was 5-0 with a 1.44 ERA, a .091 opponent batting average and 40 strikeouts in 34 innings of work
• In 31 of the 34 innings she pitched in the championship, Leonhardt allowed just three hits and no runs.
• On the year, she set single-season records for total strikeouts (277) and innings pitched (235.0).
• Finished the year with a 26-12 overall record, a 2.29 ERA and a .194 opponent batting average
• Led the GLVC and was fourth in the nation in total strikeouts
• First in the GLVC and 25th, nationally, in hits allowed per seven innings (4.97)
• Led the conference and seventh in the nation in wins
• Paced the GLVC and was 17th, nationally, in shutouts
• She led the GLVC in sacrifice bunts (15) and was sixth in the conference in triples (4)
• Hit .305 on the year with seven doubles, 27 RBIs and 28 runs scored
• Posted a .353 batting average with three doubles and seven RBIs during the postseason
• Led USI with a .389 batting average to go along with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored in the NCAA II Softball Championship
• Had at least 10 strikeouts in eight games, with a season-high 11 coming in three contests
• GLVC Pitcher of the Week in April.

As a freshman (2017): Became the first pitcher in program history to earn All-America honors
• Named second-team All-America by the NFCA and third-team All-America by D2CCA after posting a 29-4 record with a save and a 1.67 ERA
• NFCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year
• D2CCA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year
• GLVC Freshman of the Year, and first-team All-GLVC honoree after tallying 191 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .209 batting average
• Earned Academic All-GLVC honors
• Named GLVC Pitcher of the Week three times and was the Herosports.com National Player of the Week after blanking No. 1 and defending national champion North Alabama on three hits in her collegiate debut
•Made 40 appearances inside the pitcher's circle, starting 32 games en route to breaking the program record for wins in a single season
•Tossed 28 complete games and a GLVC-best 11 shutouts, ranking 10th in the nation
• Led the GLVC and was sixth in the nation in wins
• Second in the GLVC and 24th in the nation in strikeouts
• Registered a no-hitter in USI's 2-0, game-two victory over Illinois Springfield in April
• Went 5-0 with five complete-game wins, a shutout, a 0.80 ERA and a .211 opponent batting average in USI's run to the NCAA II Midwest Region title
• Went 13-0 with a .121 ERA and seven shutouts in GLVC games
• Posted a .266 batting average with four doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs
• Went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBIs in USI's 7-2 win over Saginaw Valley State in the NCAA II Midwest Region #2 Tournament clincher

HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Fern Creek High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where she earned varsity letters in softball and basketball
• Earned third-team All-State honors as a senior in 2016 after leading Fern Creek to the regional championship game.
• Hit .487 with a home run, 12 doubles and nine triples during her senior season
• Posted a 2.4 ERA with 250 strikeouts in 165 innings of work in 2016
• Earned first-team All-Metro (Louisville), All-Region
• Senior West Kentucky All-Star in 2016
• First-team academic all-state honoree in 2015
• Tied the KHSAA season record with 17 triples during the 2014 season
• Named to the District All-Tournament team multiple times and received multiple All-Sixth Region honors during her prep career
• Finished her career with more than 700 career strikeouts and was her class valedictorian.
• Competed for the Team Kentucky ASA Gold travel squad in 2015

University of Louisville Athletics

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