NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Maya Johnson added another national honor to her historic 2026 season Tuesday morning, earning Pitcher of the Year honors and First Team All-America recognition from Softball America.
Johnson becomes one of the nation's most decorated players after another dominant campaign in the circle for Belmont. Earlier this season, she was ranked the No. 1 overall pitcher in Softball America's April and May positional rankings after also being named a Preseason Second Team All-American by the publication. Johnson additionally earned Softball America Star Pitcher of the Week honors following the win over No. 15 Georgia.Â
The redshirt senior finished the year leading the NCAA in ERA (0.78), strikeouts (397), shutouts (15), strikeouts per seven innings (12.9), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.03).
Johnson closed the season with a 28-3 overall record across 215.2 innings pitched, allowing just 110 hits and 24 earned runs while striking out 397 batters and issuing only 36 walks.Â
Among her many accomplishments in 2026, Johnson received an AUSL Golden Ticket and was selected third overall by the Oklahoma City Spark. She also surpassed 1,000 career strikeouts during the season and finished her collegiate career leading the NCAA with 1,186 career strikeouts.
Johnson was also named a Top 10 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and earned recognition as the 2026 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Co-Female Amateur Athlete of the Year.
In conference play, Johnson was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year, earned First Team All-MVC honors, and was selected as the MVC Tournament MVP after helping lead the Bruins to another conference tournament title.
Last season, Johnson earned NFCA's First Team All-American and First Team All-Region honors while also being named a 2025 D1 Softball Second Team All-American.
