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News and Notes From the Big 12 Diamond

The 2025 Big 12 softball yearly awards feature five Big 12 programs claiming individual honors while 10 teams are represented across the All-Big 12, All-Freshmen and All-Defensive Team. Awards were voted on by the league's head coaches, who could not vote for themselves or their own players.

Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady (pitcher) and Gerry Glasco (coach) headlined the individual awards along with Arizona's Devyn Netz (player), Baylor's Shaylon Govan (scholar-athlete and batting champion) and Presleigh Pilon (defensive) and BYU's Ilove'a Brittingham (freshman) claiming honors.

Canady, the nation's leader with a 0.89 ERA, was a unanimous selection for her first Big 12 Pitcher of the Year award. The reigning National Player of the Year earned 16 Big 12 wins, which helped Texas Tech claim its first Big 12 title in program history with a 20-4 record. She threw the league's second-most strikeouts (237) during the regular season while surrendering just 32 walks with a 7.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio (fourth in the country). The native of Topeka, Kansas was recently named a USA Softball Player of the Year Top 25 candidate.

Netz appeared in the Wildcats' batting lineup in 51 of their 53 games while holding a .347 batting average. The USA Softball Player of the Year Top 25 Finalist tallied 36 runs while driving in the league's second-most 58 RBI this season. The two-way player from Sierra Madre, California pitched 133.0 innings and earned 20 wins inside the circle. She only surrendered 44 runs and had a 2.00 ERA during the 2025 season, after missing last year due to an injury.

Brittingham has been a force during her freshman campaign as she leads the Big 12 and ranks within the top 13 nationally with 67 RBI (No. 13) and 20 home runs (tied for 11th) in 47 appearances. The freshman led the Cougars with a 1.263 OPS while amassing 130 total bases in 155 at-bats.

Pilon had a .987 fielding percentage with 88 putouts this season. The senior infielder was involved in 18 of the Bears' 28 double plays this season. Pilon claims the program's second Defensive Player of the Year award, first picked up by Baylor during the 2017 season.

Govan joins her teammate as the second Bear to earn an individual Big 12 award this year, as she claimed two accolades. She is the first recipient of the Conference's Batting Champion title after leading the league with a .453 batting average in 24 Big 12 games. Additionally, the graduate senior was named this season's Scholar-Athlete of the Year after earning a GPA of 4.0 in the public health master's program.

Glasco led the Red Raiders to their first-ever conference title in the program's 34th season during his first season at the helm. The team enters the Big 12 Softball Championship with a 42-12 record, four wins away from tallying its most wins in a single season.

Eighteen student-athletes earned selections to the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams while 13 were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Arizona and Texas Tech tied with the most selections on the First Team with four players listed, while the Wildcats, Sun Devils and the Red Raiders had three Second Team selections apiece.

BU, OSU and TTU landed two selections each on the nine-member All-Defensive Team. This is the first time the Big 12 has honored a defensive team since 2015.

2025 Big 12 Softball Awards
Individual Of the Year:
Player: Devyn Netz, Arizona
Pitcher: NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech*
Freshman: Ilove'a Brittingham, BYU
Defensive: Presleigh Pilon, Baylor
Scholar-Athlete: Shaylon Govan, Baylor
Batting Champion: Shaylon Govan, Baylor
Coach: Gerry Glasco, Texas Tech

All-Big 12 Team
First Team
Dakota Kennedy, Arizona*
Devyn Netz, Arizona*
Miranda Stoddard, Arizona*
Sydney Stewart, Arizona*
Kenzie Brown, Arizona State*
Shaylon Govan, Baylor*
Ilove'a Brittingham, BYU*
Lindy Milkowski, BYU
Lily Owens, BYU*
Isabella Vega, UCF
Jessie Clemons, Iowa State*
Rosie Davis, Oklahoma State*
Amanda Hasler, Oklahoma State*
Ruby Meylan, Oklahoma State*
NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech*
Mihyia Davis, Texas Tech*
Alana Johnson, Texas Tech
Bailey Lindemuth, Texas Tech

Second Team
Kaiah Altmeyer, Arizona
Regan Shockey, Arizona
Jenna Sniffen, Arizona
Tiare Ho-Ching, Arizona State
Ashleigh Mejia, Arizona State
Tanya Windle, Arizona State
Lillie Walker, Baylor
Aubrey Evans, UCF
Sierra Humphreys, UCF
Tatum Johnson, Iowa State
Sereniti Trice, Iowa State
Olivia Bruno, Kansas
Tia Warsop, Oklahoma State
Lauren Allred, Texas Tech
Demi Elder, Texas Tech
Alexa Langeliers, Texas Tech
Kaylah Nelsen, Utah
Kennedy Proctor, Utah

Freshman Team
Jenna Sniffen, Arizona*
Tiare Ho-Ching, Arizona State
Ashleigh Mejia, Arizona State
Ilove'a Brittingham, BYU*
Beth Damon, UCF
Izzy Mertes, UCF
Isabella Vega, UCF*
Jessie Clemons, Iowa State
Karlee Ford, Iowa State
Sereniti Trice, Iowa State*
Bailey Lindemuth, Texas Tech
Hailey Toney, Texas Tech
Kennedy Proctor, Utah

All-Defensive Team
P: Devyn Netz, Arizona
C: Victoria Valdez, Texas Tech
1B: Shaylon Govan, Baylor
2B: Presleigh Pilon, Baylor
SS: Megan Bloodworth, Oklahoma State
3B: Tallen Edwards, Oklahoma State
OF: Dakota Kennedy, Arizona
OF: Presley Limbaugh, Kansas
OF: Mihyia Davis, Texas Tech

BIG 12 Softball Players of the Week

UCF's Isabella Vega (pitcher) and Arizona's Sydney Stewart (player) secured the final Big 12 softball weekly awards to end the 2025 regular season.

Vega opened last week's series at Kansas with her first career no-hitter as the Knights won 7-0 in Lawrence. She closed in Saturday's game, where she held the Jayhawks scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings during UCF's 5-4 win, picking up the decision. During her two appearances in the circle, she pitched 9.0 scoreless innings, threw six strikeouts while allowing just one hit. This is the freshman's second weekly honor this season.

Stewart led the Wildcats in their final regular season series against Houston with five hits. The junior hit a home run in the opener and drove in two runs before she went 3-for-3 on Saturday. During the week, she hit two home runs, was walked four times and had three RBI. Stewart claims her first weekly award and is the third player from Arizona to be named a Big 12 Player of the Week.