Arkansas’s FAYETTEVILLE Bri Ellis and Morgan Leinstock were named among the Top 100 players in the country by Softball America after their debut season as Razorbacks.
Ellis leads the club in home runs, runs scored, and RBI with 14, and he ranks No. 88 on the list as the sixth-best first baseman in the country. Ellis has hit.322 in his career. Her slugging percentage of.651 and on-base percentage of.444 also led the team. In addition to her First-Team All-SEC and All-SEC Defensive team awards, the Houston, Texas native was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Second-Team All-America last month. On March 12 and March 19, she won SEC Player of the Week for the second time in program history, making her the first Hog to do so. With a.989 fielding % on 359 total chances and 21 double plays turned, her defense was unrivaled at first base as well.
Leinstock’s name is shown at position 94. The native of Arizona finished 13–6 with a 2.14 ERA. Over 140.2 innings, she struck out 137 batters and held hitters to an avg. of just.220. She saved her best for SEC play, where she finished inside the league’s Top 10 with eight wins and two saves. Her 80.1 innings pitched was the tenth most in the conference, while her 2.00 ERA was the eighth best. Alongside Ellis, she was recognized by the NFCA last month as a Third-Team All-American, giving Head Coach Courtney Deifel multiple NFCA All-Americans for the third time (2021, 2022).
The University of Arkansas softball team’s Bri Ellis and Morgan Leinstock have been tabbed to National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s (NFCA) All-America teams, as announced by the organization Wednesday. Ellis (first base) is an All-America Second Team choice and Leinstock (pitcher) is a Third Team selection.
This marks the first All-America honors for Ellis and Leinstock, who both transferred into the program this season, and fourth consecutive season multiple Razorback student-athletes have been named to All-America teams. Thirteen of the program’s 14 All-Americans have been coached under Courtney Deifel.
Ellis made an immediate impact in her first season as a Razorback. She was tabbed to the All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Defensive Team, as well as NFCA All-South Region First Team. The junior led the squad in several statistical categories, including runs scored (36), home runs (14), RBI (47), total bases (97), slugging percentage (.651) and two-out RBI (17). Ellis finished the season with an impressive line of .322/.651/.444 (batting average/slugging percentage/on-base percentage). The Houston product became the first Hog in program history to win SEC Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks (March 12 and March 19). Her defense was also unmatched at first base with a .989 fielding percentage on 359 total chances and 21 double plays turned.
Leinstock made the most of her time in the circle during her lone year as a Razorback, earning All-SEC First Team and NFCA All-South Region Third Team honors. She ended her final collegiate season with a 13-6 record and a 2.14 ERA, 137 strikeouts, 140.2 innings pitched, eight complete games, three complete-game shutouts and a .220 opponent batting average. During SEC play, Leinstock finished amongst the best in the league, sitting fourth in saves (2), sixth in wins (8) and batters struck out looking (20), eighth in ERA (2.00), ninth in innings pitched (80.1) and batters struck out (66) and 11th in opponent batting average (.213).
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