On March 11, 2022, Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo became the all-time college softball home run record holder, hitting her 96th home run, surpassing the record held by Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain. She ultimately hit 122 home runs in her career at Oklahoma.
Let’s take a closer look at the greatest sluggers in NCAA Division I history.
Complete list of college softball home run leaders
Player Team Year Games Home Runs Jocelyn Alou Oklahoma 2018-22 267 122 Carly Spade Miami (OH) 2021-24 225 103 Tiare Jennings Oklahoma 2021-24 249 98 Lauren Chamberlain Oklahoma 2012-15 220 95 Addison Bernard Wichita State 2021-24 206 93 Mia Davidson Mississippi State 2018-22 270 92 Jessie Harper Arizona 2017-21 239 92 Katiyana Mauga Arizona 2014-17 239 92 Stacey Nueveman UCLA 1997, 99, 2001-02 264 90 Stacey Chambers Arizona 2008-11 250 87 Leah Braatz Arizona 1994-95, 97-98 271 85 Laura Espinoza Arizona 1992-95 251 85 Shelby Pendley Arizona/Oklahoma 2012, 13-15 236 84 Jesse Warren Florida State 2015-18 253 83 Danielle Gomez Louisiana 2003-06 249 83 Sierra Romero Michigan 2012-15 253 82
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College softball home run record
Jocelyn Alo leads the NCAA all-time list in home runs (122), slugging percentage (.987) and total bases (761), second all-time in RBIs (323) and fifth all-time in runs scored (281). After tying the NCAA Division I softball career home run record (95) against Texas State on February 20, teams carefully avoided the slugger, walking her 16 times in the next eight games. But Alo finally hit a record-breaking home run in the place she deserved best: her hometown of Hawaii. She ended up hitting another 26 home runs, taking sole possession of first place as the home run queen. Her senior season also saw her break the slugging percentage record, once again surpassing Chamberlain with a .987 batting average. She was named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year for consecutive years in 2021 and 2022.
Chamberlain achieved this milestone in a limited number of games. She played in just 39 games her junior season because of back and PCL injuries, but she still hit 95 home runs in 220 games. She was hitting a home run nearly every other game, leaving her with room for at least eight more. And they came everywhere, including the regular season, the NCAA Tournament and a memorable two-home run game in the Women’s College World Series Final.
In 2024, Miami (Ohio)’s Carly Spaid and Oklahoma’s Tiare Jennings passed Chamberlain for second and third on the all-time list.
Arizona’s Katiyana Mauga made a historic bid for the Chamberlain title but fell three short, as did fellow Wildcats Jessie Harper and 2022 Mississippi State graduate Mia Davidson. Still, Mauga certainly left her mark in the NCAA, conference and school record books. She is the only college softball player to have four seasons with 20 or more home runs in her career, hitting 20, 26, 21 and 25 home runs between her freshman and senior years. Mauga finished her illustrious career as the Pac-12 Conference’s all-time leader in home runs with 92.
She is tied for the most home runs hitter in Arizona program history, which may seem like an obvious one, but it’s worth mentioning. Mauga is one of six Arizona sluggers to rank among the top 13 all-time home run hitters. She joins Stacey Chambers, Leah Braatz, Lauren Espinoza and Harper as five of eight players with 85 or more career home runs.
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Stacey Nuveman had a long career at UCLA, redshirting in 1998 due to injury before being given a second redshirt to help the U.S. Olympic team win a gold medal in 2000 (and also playing for the USA Softball team the following summer). Nuveman led the nation with 31 home runs in 1999 and helped UCLA win another national championship, the Bruins’ eighth of 12 WCWS titles. Holding the school record for home runs at the winningest program in DI softball is quite an accomplishment.
Michigan State’s Sierra Romero leads the league in home runs with 82, but also holds the honor of being the all-time college softball grand slam leader. 13% of her home runs have been grand slams, and her 11 are the best in college softball lore, as are her 302 runs scored. And while she’s low in the top 10 on this list, she ranks in the top five all-time in slugging percentage with a career batting average of .882.
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Harper and Alo are the latest to make the top 10 in 2021.
Prior to that, new recruit Jessie Warren hit 21 home runs in her senior season in 2018, her 83rd career, and also led Florida State to its first national championship in program history and was named the 2018 Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player.
