LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Kiran Sanford has been voted the 2026 NFCA Division III Freshman of the Year, the Association announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Sanford, a first-team NFCA All-Region pitcher and both the Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, helped lead the Titans to 33 wins and an NCAA Regional championship this season. She quickly established herself as the staff ace, recording a team-best 16 wins and just four losses from 29 appearances (24 starts) and 139 innings.

The lefty from Two Rivers, Wis., tossed 10 complete games, six shutouts and one save. She struck out 168 and walked 27 — a 6.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio — and held opponents to a .215 batting average. Sanford fanned 30 percent of the 555 batters she faced, including a season-high 18 in a one-hit shutout of St. Norbert on March 7. She fanned 10 or more batters four times this season and won 16 of her first 17 collegiate decisions.

Tufts’ Paige Murphy (Region I), Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Abby Merchant (Region II), Nazareth’s Alexis Brown (Region III), Stockton’s Camryn Harry (Region IV), Muhlenberg’s Josie Hoffacker (Region V), Piedmont’s Anslee Saunchegraw (Region VI), Heidelberg’s Cara Meyer (Region VII), Bethany Lutheran’s Olivia Sanborn (Region IX) and East Texas Baptist’s Emma Boren (Region X) were the other nine regional finalists.

Seven of the finalists played in the NCAA Division III Regionals, while Hoffacker and Sanford both helped their teams advance to the Super Regional round. All 10 finalists earned NFCA All-Region honors this season, with eight voted to the first team in their respective region.

The award annually honors the outstanding athletic achievement of freshmen in NCAA Division III. The regional finalists and the winner are chosen by the NFCA Division III All-America Committee, which includes one representative for each of the 10 regions. To be eligible, student-athletes must come from an NFCA-member institution. 

Virginia schools Christopher Newport and Virginia Wesleyan are the only programs to win Freshman of the Year twice. Pitchers Kandis Kresinske (2016) and Hanna Hull (2017) earned the first two honors for the Marlins, while third baseman Kaitlyn Hasty (2019) and pitcher Jamie Martin (2022) got the nod three years apart for the Captains.

Sanford is the sixth pitcher to win the award in the 10 years it has been awarded.

NFCA Division III National Freshman of the Year winners

2026 – Kiran Sanford, P, Wisconsin-Oshkosh

2025 – Lilly Goldberg, P, Swarthmore

2024 – Tyler McNeley, P, Linfield

2023 – Debbie Hill, Utility/Pitcher, Trine

2022 – Jamie Martin, P, Christopher Newport

2021 – Kenzie Dore, DP, Husson

2020 – (no award)

2019 – Kaitlyn Hasty, 3B, Christopher Newport

2018 – Ashley Perez, C, UT Tyler

2017 – Hanna Hull, P, Virginia Wesleyan

2016 – Kandis Kresinske, P, Virginia Wesleyan

The NFCA is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention. 

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