Final top-25 rankings, plus players to watch in the NCAA tournament

May 8, 2024 ndowd

The 2024 college softball regular season has officially come to an end after an exciting weekend.

Oklahoma State claimed its first regular-season Bedlam series win in Norman since 1993, downing Oklahoma in the first two games. Florida won its ninth series against Texas A&M since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2012. And top teams Texas and Tennessee kept rolling with sweeps against conference foes.

How high did the Cowgirls climb, and how far did the Sooners fall after the final installment of the Bedlam rivalry? Which teams have climbed up the rankings?

Here’s the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate top 25 poll of the regular season, plus players to watch as conference tournaments begin.

Players to watch

Lexi Kilfoyl, P, Oklahoma State

Kilfoyl boasts a 21-3 record with a 1.11 ERA, good for third-best in the nation, and 114 strikeouts. In the final Bedlam series, she helped her team by closing out the first two wins. In Game 1, she contributed with four innings in relief; she struck out two batters and surrendered only two hits. In the series-sealing Game 2, Kilfoyl retired three batters in three innings of work. Her stellar final season for the Cowgirls has helped lift her to being named a top 26 finalist for the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

Back ✌️ back punchouts from Lexi open the fifth in style 🤠#GoPokes | @lexikilfoyl pic.twitter.com/IEvoTtRszo

— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) May 4, 2024

Karli Spaid, IF, Miami (OH)

Spaid used her senior year to etch her name into softball history. She closed out the regular season with 34 home runs, which is tied for the second-most in NCAA history in a single season. Her 101 career total is also the second-most in NCAA history, behind only Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo (122). Spaid leads an exciting Redhawks offense that is the nation’s best in scoring per game (9.37), home runs per game (2.96) and slugging percentage (.757). Spaid was also named a top 26 finalist for the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award.