Paige Lowary (born June 27, 1996) is an American former softball pitcher, originally from

Dallas Center, Iowa Dallas Center is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,901 during the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Dallas Center got its start in the year 1869, fo ...

. She attended Dallas Center-Grimes High School in

Grimes, Iowa Grimes is a city in Polk and Dallas counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 15,392 at the time of the 2020 Census. Grimes is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. History Grimes incorporated as a city on May 7, 1894. It is name ...

. She attended the University of Missouri in 2015 and 2016, before transferring to the University of Oklahoma. She holds the Sooner career record for saves (18) in just two seasons and for her full career ranks top-5 for the same category in all the NCAA Division I. At both universities, she was both a starting and relief pitcher for the school's respective

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

teams. During her junior season in 2017, Lowary led Oklahoma to the

2017 Women's College World Series The 2017 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 7, 2017, as the final part of the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 29 ...

final, where they defeated No. 1 Florida, 5–4 to claim the national championship. Lowary was chosen as the number-one pick in the National Pro Fastpitch draft and went on to play for the

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play th ...

for the 2018–2019 season.

Injury

In her second season at Missouri, Lowary was pitching against the Oregon Ducks softball team. She was struck by a ball off the bat of outfielder, Alyssa Gillespie. Gillespie's ball hit Lowary in the face, resulting in a serious injury. Lowary suffered emotionally afterwards and ended up transferring to Oklahoma. The coaching staff, including

Patty Gasso Patricia Marie Gasso ( née Froehlich; born May 27, 1962) is an American softball coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. She has been the head softball coach at the University of Oklahoma since 1995. She has led the Sooners team to seven national champ ...

and

Melyssa Lombardi Melyssa Lombardi is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Oregon Ducks softball, Oregon. Early life and education Lombardi graduated from University of Oklahoma in 1997 with a degree in Health and Sports Science. Coaching ...

, worked with Lowary to help her regain her confidence in the circle.

Career Statistics

External links

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Oklahoma bioMissouri bioUSA Softball BioChicago Bandits Bio

References

1996 births American softball players Softball players from Iowa Chicago Bandits players Living people Missouri Tigers softball players Oklahoma Sooners softball players People from Dallas County, Iowa {{Oklahoma-sport-stub