No pressure, no diamonds
From The GIST College Sports (hi@thegistsports.com)
TGIF!
Yes, college football is technically back with Week 0 action this weekend…but the real fun doesn’t start for another week. While we wait for the gridiron action to truly get going, let’s check in on softball’s recent boom — and how the NCAA has fed its growth.
— Recent Oklahoma State softball grad and current Athletes Unlimited (AU) pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl, exclusively telling The GIST how her approach to the game has changed since turning pro. No pressure, no diamonds.
Softball
🥎 All the way up
The GIST: The fifth season of AU Pro Softball will reach its electrifying end on Sunday, when one of the country’s 60 best players will top the leaderboard to become the 2024 champion.
- From expansion to big-time investors, the league’s success reflects softball’s growth into mainstream sports culture — and much of that stems from the college game’s skyrocketing popularity.
The boom: Like NCAA women’s basketball and volleyball, softball has some serious, well-earned momentum — particularly driven by the Women’s College World Series (WCWS). The national tournament’s viewership and social media engagement stats keep rising, and major sports media organizations are taking notice.
- Powerhouse programs like reigning back-to-back-to-back-to-back champs Oklahoma are fueling the sport’s increasing reach. And just like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s NCAA success boosted the WNBA, softball stars are carrying their college attention with them to the pros.
The pipeline: All 60 of this season’s AU Pro Softball players are NCAA alumni, including 16 rookies who hung up their college cleats just last spring — and one of them made her mark on the pros right off the bat: Lexi Kilfoyl.
Softball
⭐ Just like senior year, but better
The GIST: Pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl played three years at Alabama and two at Oklahoma State — both WCWS mainstays. In her first pro season, Kilfoyl has earned enough weekly points to land within the league’s Top 4 for four straight weeks, thus allowing her to captain her team. She currently sits near the top of the leaderboard heading into the final weekend. What, like it’s hard?
- We chatted with Kilfoyl about her transition from the college game to AU’s diamond, with her insights demonstrating the NCAA’s power to push the game forward at all levels.
Q: What was your favorite part about playing softball in college?
A: All the friends I made along the way and the excitement of playing in front of so many people. College softball is honestly one of the highest highs…with such large, amazing crowds, and it was so much fun playing and performing on the [sport’s biggest] stage…with my best friends.
Q: How has the transition from NCAA to pro play been? How did playing in college set you up for success at the pro level?
A: The transition from NCAA to pro ball has been very different…. It’s a lot more challenging because you’re playing with the best of the best, but at the end of the day that’s what sports [are] all about: pushing yourself to your limit and seeing how great you actually are.
- One thing that’s very different coming from NCAA to the pros is the fact that you have to keep yourself accountable at the end of the day. Going to the gym, going to practice, all the extra work you put in is no longer seen by coaches or teammates. It’s only seen by you.
- Playing at Alabama and Oklahoma State set me up for tremendous success here because of the fact that we played so many good teams in the top two conferences of college softball…the Big 12 and SEC.
Q: We've seen huge growth in popularity in the WCWS — why should more people become college softball fans? And why should people tune into AU?
A: Fans should continue to watch women’s sports because of the passion and dedication that [we] give the game every single day. Coming off of the WCWS in June…fans should also tune into AU because they get the chance to watch all of their favorite athletes compete on the same field with each other instead of being on different teams.
🖊️ NWSL removes draft to champion players’ rights
Dropping two years earlier than expected yesterday, the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) newest collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is upsetting the set-up. Traditionally, incoming pros are selected in an annual entry draft, but the NWSL is flipping the script: Now, eligible players will select a team that “fits their needs and maximizes their opportunities.”
- The change effectively grants all players, even rookies, access to unrestricted free agency — an unprecedented move in North American sports and one that requires clubs to foster environments that athletes want to play in. Mic drop.
⚽ Women’s soccer upsets take center stage
Over on the pitch, unranked Buffalo shocked No. 7 Pitt 2–1 last night, with senior Bulls forward Jasmine Guerber playing hero with her 58th-minute game-winner. Elsewhere, No. 21 Virginia continued their rise by snagging an unexpected 2–1 dub over No. 3 Penn State. Tough night to be a Top-10 team from Pennsylvania…
🏀 Dartmouth men’s basketball union accuses school of unfair labor practices
The team’s union filed a grievance on Wednesday after the Ivy League institution reportedly refused to negotiate a CBA with the players — an effort to shift the case back to court in hopes of overturning the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) original decision. Messy.
- ICYMI: The NLRB’s March decision ruled that the hoopers were legally Dartmouth’s employees and, therefore, entitled to unionize and negotiate working conditions, like practice schedules, travel, and salary.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
🛍️ What to shop
Uninterrupted. Grab some swag from the athlete-driven brand that’s all about empowering players to tell their own stories.
📚 What to check out
A library book! Dive into the back-to-school spirit by following Instagram’s favorite librarian (and women’s sports fan), Mychal, who posts wholesome, uplifting library stories like this one.
🎃 What to prep for
Halloween. It’s still sizzling outside, but it’s never too early to prep for spooky season. Stumped for costume ideas? Why not go as your favorite athlete?
Today's email was brought to you by Katie Kehoe Foster, Lisa Minutillo, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Molly Potter. Fact checking by Ruth Lenzen. Ops by Lisa Minutillo and Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster and Alessandra Puccio. Managing edits by Dee Lab. Head of Content Ellen Hyslop.