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There’s a lot going on in softball these days with competition starting in the Olympics this week and travel ball being right in the thick of its season, but we can’t overlook all the player movement happening at the collegiate DI level.
Yea… there was a LOT of it this week courtesy of transfers!
Here are some of the major transfers that have happened in the Power 5 Conferences which have become official… releases, including texts and photos, are from the new schools where the players have signed.
Schools are listed from newest to oldest over the week.
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Lady Vols Add Infielder Zaida Puni (July 18)
Tennessee softball head coach Karen Weekly has announced the addition of Oklahoma transfer infielder Zaida Puni to the Lady Vol program.
“Zaida was one of the most highly recruited players in the 2020 class,” Weekly said. “She has a powerful bat, exceptional defensive skills and a high softball IQ. The training she received in the OC Batbusters organization under Mike Stith and his staff is invaluable. She is a great to addition to our program and we’re exctied to coach her.”
A rising sophomore from Carson, California, Puni spent her freshman campaign in Norman, Oklahoma, as a member of OU’s 2021 national championship squad. She appeared in 15 games for the Sooners, hitting .357 (5-for-14) with three doubles, one home run, six runs scored and six RBIs during her rookie season.
Prior to Oklahoma, Puni starred for St. Anthony’s High School (Carson, Calif.) and the OC Batbusters travel club. She was ranked as the No. 25 player in the country by Extra Inning Softball and, as a junior, she batted .382 with 31 hits, 27 RBIs, 26 steals and 16 homers. In the summer of 2019, Puni helped lead the Batbusters to the 2019 18U USA World Fast Pitch Championship.
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Utah Softball Adds Graduate Transfer Shi Smith, First-team All-WAC pitcher, from Seattle Univ. (July 16)
Utah Softball head coach Amy Hogue has announced the second transfer addition to her 2022 roster this week, with graduate transfer pitcher Shi Smith officially joining the Utes’ program after spending the past four seasons at Seattle University. Smith comes to Salt Lake City with 34 career wins, fresh off a 2021 season in which she earned first-team All-WAC honors. Smith has one season of eligibility to play for the Utes.
“We are excited and blessed to announce Shi Smith will be joining our team as a graduate transfer,” Hogue said. “Shi is a spin pitcher who comes in with four years of experience in the circle. We were looking for a veteran pitcher, and we can’t wait to see Shi compete in the Pac-12 for the Utes!”
Smith has made 50 career starts among her 111 appearances, and has amassed a record of 34-21, with 11 saves, and an ERA of 2.85. Seattle U’s career leader in strikeouts per seven innings (7.45) and opponent batting average (.231), Smith led Seattle in 2021 with 31 appearances and career highs in wins (10) and saves (4), en route first-team All-WAC honors. She posted 3.24 ERA and held opponents to a .268 batting average with a team-high 114 strikeouts. Her top performance came against Dixie State (4/30), pitching five innings and allowing just one hit with four strikeouts in an 8-0 win. Smith earned the save in the WAC Tournament Championship win over New Mexico State (May 15).
As a junior in 2020 she led the WAC with 91 strikeouts in 64.2 innings and held batters to a conference-best .220 batting average. She threw the eighth no-hitter in program history in a 3-0 win over UC Davis (Feb. 21), setting a single-game school record with 15 strikeouts. Her sophomore year in 2019 produced a 9-4 record—tying her previous career high in wins—with a 2.47 ERA, and a single-season program record 7.34 strikeouts per seven innings, topping her own mark from 2018. As a freshman in 2018, Smith went 9-2 with a career-best 2.42 ERA, best in the WAC. She pitched three complete games and limited opponents to a WAC-best .210 batting average.
A 2018 graduate of Gresham (Ore.) High School, Smith was a four-time first-team all-league selection and claimed honorable mention all-state, as well as Oregon 6A Pitcher of the Year and league pitcher of the year as a senior. She competed for Oregon Blaze 18 Gold Bowman from 2014-2017.
The daughter of Joan and Rick Smith, Shi has an older brother, Ricky. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Seattle University in Humanities for Teaching with a Specialization in EDLS and Special Education in the spring of 2021.
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NC WolfPack Softball Adds Transfer Aisha Weixlmann (July 16)
NC State softball has added pitcher Aisha Weixlmann as a transfer from Winthrop.
“Aisha is someone our staff is excited about getting to campus in a few weeks,” said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. “The more we got to know her in the recruiting process, the more we got a clear understanding of the impact she wants to make on our pitching staff.
“She is a power pitcher that has great mound presence and two years of experience under her belt.”
Weixlmann earned Big South All-Freshman Team honors for the 2021 season. She led the squad with 27 starts (15-11 record), and ranked seven in the conference in wins (15), ninth in strikeouts (184) and 10th in ERA (2.89). Weixlmann was named Big South Conference Pitcher of the Week (April 12) after she tossed back-to-back shutouts against Presbyterian.
In the shortened 2020 season, she went 4-1 in 12 appearances and seven starts. She struck out 54 batters in only 47.2 innings pitched.
A product of Olympic High School, Weixlmann was named to the 2018 North Carolina Softball Coaches Association All-State team. She was also named conference tournament MVP, and her school’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
*** Scroll down to see to more Power 5 conference transfers (and one 2021 player signing)…