UNI softball: Pupillo picks up NFCA Second Team All-Region honors

LOUISVILLE, Kent. --- UNI sophomore Alexis Pupillo has been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA) Second Team All-Midwest Region, as announced on Saturday afternoon.

A two-time First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) player, Pupillo earns her second NFCA All-Region selection after earning first team recognition in 2023. She is the 26th All-Region selection in program history, and the 18th under head coach Ryan Jacobs.

In her second season with the Panthers, Pupillo started all 50 games in either left field or behind the plate, notching a .324 batting average with 46 hits, seven doubles, as well as a league-high 19 home runs and 54 runs batted in. On the base pads, she also led Northern Iowa with 14 stolen bases and 40 runs scored.

Pupillo's 19 home runs in 2024 are tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history, while her 54 RBIs are fourth-most in a single UNI season. Defensively, her 173 putouts and eight assists registered a .958 fielding percentage.

Notably this year, Pupillo recorded her fifth career multi-home run game with two long balls and a career-high eight RBIs in a 9-8 victory over Longwood back in February. She also posted 13 games with multiple hits in 2024, including a pair of three-hit games against Longwood and Illinois State.

Pupillo has also left her mark in UNI's career record book, posting the program's best career slugging percentage (.811) and on-base percentage (.486), as well as the second-best career batting average (.371) and second-most career home runs (36) in Panther history.

A two-time MVC Player of the Week this season, Pupillo was named to the MVC and Plainsman Invite All-Tournament Teams for her performance, and was ranked 45th in Softball America's Preseason Top-100 Player Rankings.

The Panthers closed the 2024 season with a 33-17 record as MVC regular season runners-up, and runners-up in the MVC Tournament.

Calendar

Upcoming Events