2025 Softball Season In-Review

NEWARK, Del. - University of Delaware softball wrapped up another historic season in 2025, culminating with a CAA Regular Season Championship in its final year in the conference. The Fightin' Blue Hens finished with a record 38-16 and 23-4 in conference play.

AWARDS/HONORS
Sydney Shaffer

CAA Player of the Year
First-Team All-CAA
NFCA East Region First-Team
CSC Academic All America First-Team selection
All-ECAC Selection
Three-time CAA Player of the Week (Feb. 11, March 24, April 21)
NFCA National Weekly Honor Roll (March 25)
CAA All-Tournament selection
Ranked #51 in D1Softball's Top 100 Mid-Major Player Rankings
CSC Academic All-District selection

Billie Kerwood

CAA Pitcher of the Year
All-CAA First-Team
ECAC Pitcher of the Year
All-ECAC
NFCA East Region First-Team
Five-time CAA Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 11, March 18, March 31, April 14, April 21)
Ranked #24 in D1Softball's Top 100 Mid-Major Player Rankings
Ranked #97 in Softball America's Top 100 Player Rankings
Delaware Most Outstanding Female Athlete

Mary Beth Cahalan

CAA Defensive Player of the Year
NFCA East Region Third-Team
First-Team All-CAA
CAA All-Tournament Team
CSC Academic All-District selection

Morgan Hess

NFCA East Region First-Team
All-CAA First-Team
CSC Academic All America Third-Team
NCAA Lineup of the Week (March 12)
Three-time CAA Player of the Week (March 11, April 28, May 5)
Ranked #40 in D1Softball's Top 100 Mid-Major Player Rankings for the season
CSC Academic All-District selection

Katie Scheivert

Second-Team All-CAA
2025 CSC Academic All-District selection

Sorella Gallucci

Second-Team All-CAA
CAA All-Rookie Team

Ellie Talley

CAA All-Rookie Team

Chloe Blantz

CSC Academic All-District selection

Gianna Costaro

CAA Player of the Week (Feb. 25)

Josie Crossman

CAA Rookie of the Week (March 4)

RECORDS/MILESTONES
Team single-season records:

Conference wins in a season (23)
Conference wins in CAA history (23)
Hits (461)
Doubles (96)
Home runs (57)
RBIs (304)
Runs scored (336)
Total bases (748)
On base percentage (.390)
Slugging percentage (.519)
Extra base hits (163)
Run-rule victories (17)
Strikeouts - pitching (347)
Shutouts, tied (18)
Most First-Team All-Region selections (3)
Most All-Region selections, tied (4)
Most ECAC selections (2)
Most postseason conference honors (8)
Most conference first and second-team selections (6)
Most conference weekly honors (13)

Team single-game records

Runs scored in a conference game (19 vs Towson, May 1)
Runs scored in a conference opener (14 vs Drexel, March 7)
Largest margin of victory in a conference game (19-0 vs Towson, May 1)

Team streak records:

Consecutive conference wins (13)
Consecutive road wins in a season (9)
Consecutive victories by run-rule (5)
Consecutive games scoring at least one run (55)
Consecutive shutouts pitched, tied (5)
Consecutive conference games with double-digit runs (3)

Individual single-game records:

Doubles, tied: 3- Sorella Gallucci (March 9 vs Drexel)
Runs scored, tied: 4 - Katie Scheivert (May 1 vs Towson), Gianna Costaro vs Drexel (March 9 vs Drexel)
Strikeouts in a conference game, tied: 15 - Billie Kerwood (April 25 vs Monmouth)

Individual single-season records:

Home runs: 19 - Sydney Shaffer
RBIs: 57 - Sydney Shaffer
Total bases: 135 - Sydney Shaffer
Extra base hits: 33 - Sydney Shaffer
Batting Average: .421 - Sydney Shaffer
On base percentage: .540 - Sydney Shaffer
Slugging Percentage: .888 - Sydney Shaffer
OPS: 1.428 - Sydney Shaffer
Wins: 23 - Billie Kerwood
Strikeouts: 250 - Billie Kerwood

Individual career records:

Most wins by two teammates: 135 - Chloe Blantz and Gracelyn Frost

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Regular Season Championship
Two no-hitters in a season for the fourth time in program history
Conference Player of the Year
Conference Pitcher of the Year
Conference Defensive Player of the Year
ECAC Pitcher of the Year
Two Academic All-Americans
First ranked win in program history
First-time in program history with two 10-game win streaks
First school in CAA history with two consecutive seasons of at least 20 conference wins
First time in program history with at least 35 wins in back-to-back seasons

NOTES

The 2025 season was the program's 50th.
Delaware is one of two schools in the past two years to be nationally ranked in the top 10 in team ERA in each of the last two seasons (Tennessee).
The Blue Hens have earned multiple All-Conference pitcher selections in four consecutive seasons (2022 - Emily Winburn and Graceyn Frost, 2023 - Winburn and Taylor Wroten, 2024 - Winburn and Hess, 2025 - Kerwood and Hess).
UD became the first school in CAA history to earn a Defensive Player of the Year in four-straight seasons, doing so at four different positions (Hannah Garber - 2022 at third base, Kiara Mills - 2023 at first base, Julz Garber - 2024 in center field, Mary Beth Cahalan - 2025, catcher).
Delaware has earned a CAA Weekly Honor in all but one week it has played in.
Delaware has had four All-Region selections in four consecutive seasons.
Following the season, Kerwood signed with the Atlanta Smoke of Women's Professional Fastpitch and Morgan Hess signed with the Beveren Lions in Belgium.
Shaffer recorded her second career six-RBI game on May 1 against Towson - becoming the first player in program history with two six-RBI games in their career. She previously drove in six against Akron on Feb. 17.
Shaffer (64) and Scheivert (60) became the first pair of Delaware teammates to have at least 60 hits in the same season.
Shaffer (57) and Cahalan (45) became the first pair of Delaware teammates to have at least 40 RBIs in the same season.
Of the 10 individual seasons with the most runs scored in program history, four of them occurred in 2025 - Shaffer (49, second most) Blantz and Scheivert (42, fourth most), and Hess (36, 10th most).
Blantz played in 189 of the possible 201 games in her four-year career.
Cahalan, Scheivert, Shaffer, and Blantz all recorded their 100th career hit during the season. Scheivert is currently 20th all-time on Delaware's all-time hit list with 152.
Blantz finished her career with 105 career runs scored, the sixth player all-time with at least 100 runs scored in program history. Scheivert currently has 99 career runs scored.
Shaffer currently has 24 career home runs - tied with Brittney Mendoza for fourth most in program history. Anna Steinmentz holds the program record at 44.
Shaffer also ranks seventh in career RBIs at 102.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Michigan Win

Delaware defeated then-No. 20 Michigan, 8-2, on Feb. 7 for its nationally-ranked win in program history. Kerwood was the winning pitcher, with 4.2 IP and zero earned runs allowed. Shaffer went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Drexel Series - March 7-9

Delaware opened CAA-play with a series sweep of Drexel, including a 14-3 win in the opener - its most runs scored ever in a conference opening game. In the series, Delaware outscored Drexel 45-6, and scored double-digit runs in three-consecutive games for the first time since April 1976.

Stony Brook Series - March 14-16

UD swept a weekend series from Stony Brook to improve to 6-0 in the CAA. Kerwood earned the win in all three games and was the winning pitcher in five-straight games as Delaware capped off a 10-game win streak.

Elon Series - March 28-30

Delaware took a crucial series from Elon, 2-1. Delaware put up six runs in the first three innings against All-Conference selection McKenna McCard and won 9-1 in six innings in the opener. Shaffer, Hess, and Blantz all homered.
In the finale, Shaffer hit a leadoff home run in the first inning and scored the game-winning run on a sac fly in the eighth inning from Hess. Kerwood struck out 11 in eight innings as Delaware won 3-2.

UNCW Series - April 4-6

Delaware went 2-1 against UNCW on the road. Kerwood pitched a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts in game one.
In the rubber-match, Hess hit a home run and earned the win in relief with 2.2 shutout innings and five strikeouts. Shaffer hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning.

Delaware State Sweep - April 9

Delaware swept a doubleheader from Delaware State, 11-0 and 2-0. Hess took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in game one and Jamie Chandler had a pinch-hit RBI single, her first career hit in her first career at-bat after a season-and-a-half of battling injury.

North Carolina A&T Series - April 12-13

Delaware swept a weekend series from North Carolina A&T. Ryleigh Thomas hit her first career home run in the first game, giving Delaware 40 for the season to set a new program record. UD capped off the series with its fifth-straight shutout to tie a program record.

Villanova Win - April 15

Delaware defeated Villanova 12-2 in six innings, its largest over the Wildcats since winning 12-1 on March 23, 1989. Shaffer hit a game-ending three-run home run while Hess and Kerwood combined to allow zero earned runs.

Hampton Series - April 18-19

Kerwood threw a 5-inning no-hitter against Hampton on April 18. It was the fifth-consecutive run-rule victory for Delaware - a program record. UD won its 10th-straight game in the finale - its second 10-game win streak of the season. In the final nine games of the streak, Delaware outscored its opponents 83-8.

Monmouth Series - April 25-27

Delaware had a historic weekend against Monmouth. In the opener, Shaffer hit her 16th and 17th home runs of the year to set the single-season record. Kerwood tied a UD single-game conference record for strikeouts with 15 and recorded her 200th strikeout of the season. Hess pitched her second career no-hitter. This was the first time since 2000 in which Delaware has thrown multiple no-hitters in one season. The finale was Delaware's ninth-consecutive road win to set a program record in a season.

Towson Series - May 1-3

In the final series of the year, Delaware beat Towson 19-0 in the opener. It was Delaware's largest shutout victory since 1976 and its most runs scored ever in a conference game. UD scored 10 runs in the second inning, its largest scoring inning since scoring 16 in the second inning against Lehigh on April 6, 2022. UD won the regular season title on a walk-off double by Talley in game two and Hess pitched a shutout and drove in all four runs in the finale.

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University of Delaware Athletics

Players Mentioned

Chloe Blantz

Mary Beth Cahalan

Jamie Chandler

Gianna Costaro

Josie Crossman

Graceyn Frost

Sorella Gallucci

Julz Garber

Morgan Hess

Billie Kerwood

Katie Scheivert

Sydney Shaffer

Ellie Talley

Ryleigh Thomas

Emily Winburn

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