OKLAHOMA CITY — USA Softball has announced the Top 3 Finalists for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Widely regarded as the highest individual honor in NCAA Division I softball, the award recognizes exceptional athletic achievement throughout the collegiate softball regular season.
Previous winners of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 2002), Cat Osterman (Texas – 2003, 2005, 2006), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State – 2004), Monica Abbott (Tennessee – 2007), Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech – 2008), Danielle Lawrie (Washington – 2009, 2010), Ashley Hansen (Stanford – 2011), Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma – 2012, 2013), Lacey Waldrop (Florida State – 2014), Lauren Haeger (Florida – 2015), Sierra Romero (Michigan – 2016), Kelly Barnhill (Florida – 2017), Rachel Garcia (UCLA – 2018, 2019), Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma – 2021, 2022), Valerie Cagle (2023 – Clemson), NiJaree Canady (2024 – Stanford) and most recently, Bri Ellis (2025 – Arkansas).
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Representing three NCAA Division I programs and two athletic conferences, the Top 3 Finalists for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award are Nebraska’s Jordy Frahm (Sr.), UCLA’s Megan Grant (Sr.) and Florida State’s Isa Torres (Jr.). Two of the three finalists — Frahm and Grant — will compete in Super Regionals this weekend.
Jordy Frahm – Nebraska
Nebraska’s Jordy Frahm stands out as one of the nation’s top two-way players, excelling both in the circle and at the plate. Frahm ranks among the Top 10 nationally in six categories, including saves (1st – 12), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3rd– 8.04), earned run average (4th – 1.15), shutouts (4th – 8), strikeouts (9th – 225) and strikeouts per seven innings (10th – 9.6). For her dominant 2026 campaign, Frahm earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season, in addition to First-Team All-Big Ten recognition and three Big Ten Pitcher of the Week selections. She also returns as a Top 3 Finalist for the second-straight year following the 2025 season.
Megan Grant – UCLA
Megan Grant has delivered one of the most powerful offensive seasons in NCAA Division I history throughout the 2026 season. During the 2026 Big Ten Championship, Grant broke the NCAA single-season home run record with her 38th homer, surpassing the previous mark of 37 set by Lauren Espinoza of Arizona in 1995. She has since extended her total to 40 home runs on the season. A true force at the plate, Grant also shattered UCLA’s single-season home run record of 32 and now sits one home run shy of tying Stacey Nuveman’s program career record of 90 home runs. Nationally, Grant ranks among the Top 10 in several offensive categories, including total bases (2nd – 196), RBIs (4th – 86), runs scored (4th – 83), RBIs per game (5th – 1.48), batting average (6th – .473) and runs per game (6th – 1.43). She also leads the nation in home runs (40), home runs per game (.69), on-base percentage (.647) and slugging percentage (1.342).
Isa Torres – Florida State
Florida State standout Isa Torres has been one of the nation’s most complete players during the 2026 season, earning ACC Player of the Year honors after a dominant campaign at the plate and in the field. Torres ranks among the Top 5 nationally in batting average (3rd – .530), hits (3rd – 98), total bases (3rd – 181), doubles (5th – 21), on-base percentage (5th – .591) and runs per game (5th – 1.44). She also ranks in the Top 10 nationally in runs scored (7th – 78), triples (8th – 7), doubles per game (9th – .39) and slugging percentage (10th – .978). Among her ACC rivals, Torres leads the conference in batting average, hits, doubles and triples, while also earning 2026 ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors after posting a .989 fielding percentage at shortstop.
The 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced on May 26 at the athlete banquet prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) set to take place at the Softball Capital of the World® May 28 – June 5.
Paired with the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is also in its 24th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, which is released every Tuesday throughout the regular season with one final poll being released at the conclusion of the 2025 WCWS. Follow along with Division I NCAA Softball all season long at USASoftball.com.