Biography
OVERALL: Finished the the 2020 campaign as USI's all-time leader in career wins (83), strikeouts (787) and complete-game shutouts (35)...also ranks second in saves (8) and innings pitched (730.2), fourth in complete games (85) and sixth in career ERA (1.76)...offensively, she is tied for 11th all-time at USI in both hit-by-pitches (10) and triples (6); and 18th in RBI (87)...was a two-time Academic All-American...earned All-America honors in each of her first three seasons and was on track for All-America honors as a senior before the season was canceled due to COVID-19...also garnered the GLVC's Postgraduate Scholarship Award.
2020: Earned first-team Academic All-America, Academic All-District IV and Academic All-GLVC accolades...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...racked up 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...also was third in the league in ERA, while ranking second in the conference and 25th, nationally, in hits allowed per seven innings (4.18)...was second in the league and 35th, nationally, in total strikeouts; while her strikeouts per seven innings (7.7) was third in the league...led the GLVC and was 41st, nationally, in WHIP (0.95)...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...was having a career-year at the plate, racking up a team-best .386 batting average with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 runs scored and 16 RBI...had a .571 slugging percentage to go along with a .427 on-base percentage...began the season with a six-game hitting streak that saw her go 13-of-25 (.520) with two doubles, a home run and six RBI...had a five-game streak that saw her record a two hits...on the year, she hit safely in all but three of USI's 19 games and had at least two hits in nine games.
2019: Earned second-team All-America honors by both the NFCA and D2CCA...also was first-team All-Midwest Region by both NFCA and D2CCA; and was 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...also was 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...also had two combined shutouts...was seventh in the nation with a league-hight 243 strikeouts and was 20th in the nation with a league-low 4.71 hits allowed per seven innings...dominated the GLVC, posting a league-low 0.92 ERA and .187 opponent batting average in GLVC-only games...had 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...had a team-high nine-game hitting streak in early April that saw her hit .531 (17-32) with four doubles, a home run and 10 RBIs...led USI with 17 multi-hit games, including a season-high three hits twice, and recorded a season-best two RBIs eight times...was named GLVC Pitcher of the Week three times and was the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Week once.
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...continued to get better as the season progressed, posting a 10-5 mark in GLVC play with a 2.18 ERA, 118 strikeouts and league-best .195 opponent batting average...obliterated the field in the NCAA II Softball Championship, first by 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...also was first in the GLVC and 25th, nationally, in hits allowed per seven innings (4.97) as well as first in the conference and seventh in the nation in wins...led the conference and was 17th, nationally, in shutouts...was fourth in the conference and 13th, nationally, in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3)...offensively, 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...hit .353 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 a season-high six-game hitting streak and finished the year on a five-game hitting streak...had at least two hits hin 16 games, with a season-high four hits and four RBIs coming in USI's 9-0, five-inning win over Hillsdale in the NCAA II Midwest Region #1 Tournament...had multiple RBIs in five games during the year and four RBIs in two contests...was the GLVC Pitcher of the Week in April...had at least 10 strikeouts in eight games, with a season-high 11 coming in three contests.
2017: Had arguably the best freshman season in program history, becoming the first pitcher in program history to earn All-America honors...was 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...was the 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 racking up 191 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .209 batting average...also earned Academic All-GLVC laurels...was 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...had 28 complete games and a GLVC-best 11 shutouts, good enough for 10th in the nation...led the GLVC and was sixth in the nation in wins...also was second in the GLVC and 24th in the nation in strikeouts...her ERA was second in the league and 44th in the country...tossed 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-only games...handled herself at the plate, posting a .266 batting average with four doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs...was 3-of-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...also had two RBIs in USI's win over the Cardinals in the semifinals the previous day...was 2-of-3 with a double, home run and four RBIs in USI's win over Wayne State (Neb.) in March.
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 FCHS to the regional championship game...hit .487 with a home run, 12 doubles and nine triples during her senior season...also had a 2.4 ERA with 250 strikeouts in 165 innings of work in 2016...earned first-team All-Metro (Louisville), All-Region, and was a Senior West Kentucky All-Star in 2016...a first-team academic all-state honoree in 2015, Leonhardt tied the KHSAA season record with 17 triples during the 2014 season...was also 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.
TRAVEL: Competed for the Team Kentucky ASA Gold travel squad in 2015, helping her squad capture the championship in the Triple Crown Sports 16U East Coast Summer Nationals in Myrtle Beach South Carolina...enters USI with a few familiar faces as teammates after competing with fellow 2017 signees Taylor Ricketts, Shelby Maros, and Allison Schubert on the Team Kentucky ASA Gold travel team...had a 1.5 ERA and .430 batting average in 2015.
PERSONAL: Daughter of Russell and Jill Leonhardt.
