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University of Illinois Athletics

2025 Softball Roster

Chris Watkins Photography

22 Briana Bower

  • Position Right-Handed Pitcher
  • Height 5-9
  • Class Redshirt Junior
  • Hometown Lake in the Hills, Ill.
  • High School Huntley HS
  • Prev School Mississippi State
  • Instagram bri-bower
  • Twitter briana_bower22

Biography

NIL Opportunities 

2025 - Redshirt Junior

  • Appeared in four games
  • Recorded a 14.00 ERA
  • Tallied a strikeout at #8 Oregon (3/22/25) and against Valpo (4/16/25)

2024 - Junior

  • Appeared in 13 games, making five starts before season ending injury
  • Posted a 2-3 record in the circle
  • Recorded a 4.83 ERA with 23 strikeouts during her 37.2 innings pitched
  • Tossed one complete game against Belmont (2/9/24)
  • Fanned a season-high six strikeouts against Belmont (2/9/24)

2023 - Sophomore (Mississippi State)

  • Made four appearances with one start
  • Averaged 7.74 strikeouts per seven innings
  • Retired all three batters she faced in 1.0 inning vs. Bethune-Cookman (2/10/23) 
  • Struck out a career-high six batters in her first career win against MVSU (2/28/23) 
  • Three of her strikeouts were looking
  • Retired the only batter she faced at No. 24 Texas A&M (4/8/23) 
  • Allowed one hit in 2.0 scoreless innings against Memphis (4/19/23)

2022 - Freshman (Mississippi State)

  • Made six appearances, starting two games in the circle
  • Tossed 1.0 inning vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (2/11/22) while striking out two
  • Struck out two in 3.0 innings at Loyola Marymount (2/13/23) 
  • Threw 0.2 innings in relief against Georgia Tech (2/20/22) 
  • Threw 1.0 inning in relief against MVSU (3/2/22), retiring the side in order
  • Threw 1.0 inning in relief with two strikeouts against Alcorn State (3/6/22) 
  • Came on in relief at Middle Tennessee (3/30/22).

High School

  • The No. 33 prospect in the nation according to Extra Innings Softball and the No. 18 pitcher in the class
  • Named a First Team High School All-American in 2019 by both Extra Innings and MaxPreps
  • Was an NFCA Second Team All-Region selection the same year
  • Captained the Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area team in 2019 and was named the Northwest Herald and Courier News Player of the Year
  • Selected to the All-State, All-Conference and All-Area first teams
  • Struck out 104 batters over 74 innings as a freshman for Huntley High School with a 2.17 ERA
  • Accumulated a school-record 353 strikeouts in 212.1 innings as a sophomore, which ranked ninth in the nation that year, while leading her team to a 27-5 record
  • Team won the 4A Illinois State Championship that year and was ranked No. 17 in the nation
  • Threw 12 shutouts, four no-hitters and two perfect games along with 20 games of 10 or more strikeouts
  • Threw a two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in the title game
  • Did not play a junior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Played travel ball with Indiana Magic Gold and won the Triple Crown Sports 16U Elite Championship in 2019
  • Struck out 15 batters at PGF Nationals
  • Has totaled 538 strikeouts in her club career
  • Also played with USA Elite Select and was an Under Armour All-American
  • Also earned two letters in basketball.

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 22

    2024Junior

    Pitcher
    5'9"
    22
  • 22

    2025Redshirt Junior

    Right-Handed Pitcher
    5'9"
    22