Jennifer Leonhardt

Classroom

Jennifer Leonhardt has elected to utilize an extra season of eligibility following the shortened 2020 season due to the spread of COVID-19. After spending four seasons at the University of Southern Indiana, she graduated from USI magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology in May 2020. She is currently enrolled in the University of Louisville’s School of Dentistry where recently completed her first semester and was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

Leonhardt finished her career at USI as the only player in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America first team honors twice (2019, 2020). Her academic and athletic achievement were recognized when she was named a 2020 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Postgraduate Scholarship. The 2019 GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year graduated from USA with 3.80 grade point average and was a four-time GLVC Academic All-Conference honoree.

Character

Jennifer Leonhardt is extremely humble and a great teammate in every sense of the word.  She is unselfish, a very hard worker, and accountable to herself and others.

Leonhardt has a very positive vibe and great energy about her and she always encourages her teammates, doing all of this while juggling a tremendous academic workload. Leonhardt brings a lot of enthusiasm and is a true competitor and is a role model for the younger kids as both a person and an athlete.

Community

While at the University of Southern Indiana, Leonhardt was leader in the community, volunteering her time with the Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana to perform team-building exercises with the troops. She also volunteered with the Green Hart Project Louisville, partnering with the University of Louisville to encourage community members to participate in research regarding local environment impact on health; and twice visited elementary schools in the Salem, Virginia, as part of the NCAA II Softball Championship Community Engagement event to share her experience as a student-athlete and how to never give up on their dreams.

In her first semester at Louisville, she has continued her commitment to community service, collaborating with the Air Force Reserve to write letters to service members, the Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence as a senior citizen pen pal and working with the Louisville Urban League as part of the Cards Giving Drive.

Additionally, Leonhardt was a four-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at USI and was the co-president in 2020.

Competition

Leonhardt is entering her final season of competition and elected to utilize an extra season granted by the NCAA after the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign. 

The right-handed pitcher has built an impressive resume as a three-time NCAA Division II All-American. The 2019 GLVC Pitcher of the Year helped the Screaming Eagles to three NCAA appearances, including the program’s first regional championship in 2017 and their first-ever national championship in 2018. That year, she led the University of Southern Indiana to the NCAA Division II National Title and earned Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Series honors.

She made an immediate impact on USI’s program, earning 2017 NFCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, the 2017 D2CCA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year, the GLVC Freshman of the Year and became the first pitcher in program history to earn All-America honors as a freshman.

As her senior campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Leonhardt carried a 7-3 record with a 1.63 ERA, .174 opponent batting average and 76 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work. The left-handed batter was also in the midst of a career-best season at the plate, producing a team-best .386 batting average with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 runs scored, and 16 RBI.

Leonhardt finished her career at USI as the program’s all-time leader in wins (83), strikeouts (787) and complete game shutouts (35), while standing second in saves (8) and innings pitched (730.2).