SEGUIN, Texas -- Former Texas Lutheran softball standout Linzee Leal (Corpus Christi/Mary Carroll) is a nominee for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year and has been named one of six finalists for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Woman of the Year award the conference announced on Thursday.
The award recognizes the conference's senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership. Member schools were permitted to submit two nominations if at least one of the nominees was a woman of color or international student-athlete. Past Winners
To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2025 spring season, received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2025 term and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale) with the noted exception due to COVID-19 pandemic. A student-athlete who received an extension waiver or a season of competition/participation waiver in her primary sport due to cancellation of a 2020 and/or 2021 athletics season or championship may be nominated for the 2025 Woman of the Year, provided she otherwise satisfies nomination criteria.
Leal capped her incredible career by leading Texas Lutheran to one of the best seasons in program history that ended with the fourth Women's College World Series appearance in program history. Leal, a three-time All-SCAC honoree, finished the 2025 season with a .313 batting average, a home run, 15 RBI, 35 runs scored, and 38 stolen bases.
In her career at Texas Lutheran, Leal was a six-time SCAC champion (four regular season, two tournament) and two-time Women's College World Series qualifier, playing in 165 games for the Bulldogs. Leal finished with a .344 career batting average with 42 RBI and 115 career stolen bases, ranking fourth all-time in program history. Her 115 career stolen bases tie for the fifth most all-time in SCAC history. In 2024, Leal joined teammate Annie Kay in becoming the first two Rawlings Gold Glove winners in program history.
In the classroom, Leal was a three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection and a four-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree. She graduated in May 2025 with a 3.76 GPA as a Kinesiology (Sports Management) major with a minor in Business.
Leal was heavily involved on campus as a member of TLU Athletes in Action where she served as President and Co-President and a three-year TLU Student Athlete Advisory Committee representative while working on campus in the Alumni Development Office, serving on the TLU Football gameday operations crew, and serving as a TLU Admissions Ambassador. Leal, who won the Spirit of the Bulldog Student Engagement award in 2025, is also a member of the NSLS (National Society of Leadership and Success) and the Kinesiology Club. Leal was also chosen to be a keynote speaker at the groundbreaking of the Verne Lundquist Student Athletic Center in 2024.
The 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Woman of the Year will be announced later this month.
Information on all six nominees can be found here.
For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Facebook (@txlutheransoftball), Twitter (@TLUsoftball), and Instagram (@tlu_softball) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).
