WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State's Kinzey Woody has been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) DI National Freshman of the Year Top 25, it was announced Thursday afternoon.

Woody is just the second Shocker to make the NFCA National Freshman of the Year list, joining Addison Barnard in 2021.

A native of Westphalia, Mo., Woody is hitting .344 with 10 doubles, 12 home runs, 41 RBIs and 25 walks so far this season. Woody has 11 multi-hit games and 11 games with multiple RBIs. In American Conference games, she leads the league in batting average (.470), hits (31), slugging percentage (1.015), on base percentage (.557) and tied for the lead in home runs (10) and RBIs (27).

This year's finalists hail from 22 different universities and represent 11 NCAA Division I conferences from across the nation.

On May 7, the list will be trimmed to the top 10 and the three finalists will be released on May 20. The winner will be revealed on May 26.

The list of 25 was selected by the NFCA. The top 10, top three and winner are voted by the NFCA Division I All-America Committee. To be eligible, student-athletes must be nominated by their member head coach and in their first year of NCAA Division I collegiate competition as a true freshman or redshirt freshman. Nominated student-athletes remain in consideration for Top-10 selection.

The NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award was created in 2014 to honor outstanding athletic achievement among Division I freshmen softball student-athletes. The NFCA awards Freshman of the Year plaudits to a student-athlete from NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII and NAIA. For more information about all NFCA Awards, visit nfca.org.