Odicci Alexander (born April 2, 1998) is an American professional

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player for the Bandits of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

(AUSL). She was the starting pitcher for

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

from 2017 to 2021, leading the team to their first-ever

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

in 2021 and making it to the semi-finals. After the 2021 season, Alexander was named Softball America Pitcher of the Year and was also nominated for an

ESPY Award The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...

for best female college athlete. She most recently played in the

Athletes Unlimited Softball Athletes Unlimited (also known by its abbreviation AU) is a women's professional sports organization based in the United States that organizes and administers competitions in the sports of basketball, softball, volleyball, and formerly lacrosse ...

where she won the 2023 championship as the top individual points leader.

Early life

Alexander grew up in Boydton, Virginia, and was raised by her grandparents. Her older brother, Isiah Maurice, played college basketball for

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

from 2016 to 2017. Alexander started playing softball at the age of 7 and taught herself how to pitch. She attended Park View High School, where she earned Second Team All-State honors as a sophomore. She was an accidental recruit, when then-James Madison Softball coach Mickey Dean attended one of her high school games in 2014 eyeing the pitcher on the other team but ended up offering Alexander a scholarship to JMU. Alexander also played for the Beverly Bandits club softball team.

College career

Freshman Year

Alexander made her debut for James Madison on February 10, 2017, against Charleston Southern where she recorded 8 strikeouts and led the team to a 13–3 victory. She finished the season with a 11–5 record, a 2.35 ERA, 6 shutouts, and 83 strikeouts. At the plate, Alexander had a .333 batting average with 49 hits, 36, RBIs, and 7 home runs. Alexander was named the 2017 CAA rookie of the year.

Sophomore Year

In her sophomore year, Alexander went 23–5 with a 1.95 ERA and 193 strikeouts. In addition, she batted .388 with 65 hits, 13 homeruns, and a team-best 47 RBIs. She was named the 2018 CAA Player of the Year as well as First-Team All CAA and First-Team All ECAC. In addition, Alexander was selected as a third-team NFCA All-American and first team NFCA All-Northeast Region.

Junior Year

During the 2019 season as a junior, Alexander went 24–1 with 178 strikeouts, 8 shutouts, and a career-high 1.70 ERA. She also batted .316 with 55 hits, 56 RBIs, and 14 homeruns. During the week of April 30, she was named USA Softball's Player of the Week for going 5-0 and pitching 14 innings with 15 strikeouts as well as batting .500 for the week. After shutting out Elon in the final round of the CAA Championship on May 10, Alexander was named the most outstanding player of the tournament. She helped JMU advance to their second-ever NCAA Super Regional before being eliminated after losing to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

twice. Alexander was again named an NFCA Third Team All-American, NFCA First Team All-Northeast, CAA Player of the Year, and ECAC Player of the year.

Senior Year

In a 2020 season that was shortened by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Alexander went 3–1 with 31 strikeouts, and batted .308 with 6 hits and 4 RBIs.

Redshirt senior year

Alexander chose to return for her fifth year of eligibility in 2021, and finished off her college career with her most successful season, despite not playing for a month, from March 12 to April 17, due to a hamstring injury. She finished 26–6 with 204 strikeouts and a 1.71 ERA, and batted .317 with 26 hits, 13 RBIs, and 2 home runs. During the week of May 4, Alexander was named D1Softball's player of the week after recording 25 strikeouts and allowing only one hit in two games, with one of them being a perfect game. On May 12, Alexander set a CAA tournament record for single-game strikeouts, recording 16 of them in a no-hitter against

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. On May 21, she threw a career-high and a JMU single-game record of 19 strikeouts against

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

in the NCAA Regionals. Starting in all three games against

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and winning two out of three, Alexander helped James Madison advance to their program's first

. In Alexander's

2021 Women's College World Series The 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 21 through June 10, 2021 as the final part of the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. 31 teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences after the Ivy League op ...

debut on June 3, James Madison upset number-one seeded

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

4–3 after eight innings. The next day, James Madison defeated

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

2–1 to advance to the semi-finals and become the first unseeded team in Women's College World Series history to win two games in the tournament. During the top of the seventh inning when Oklahoma State had runners on second and third base, Alexander fielded a bunt and proceeded to dive to tag out OSU's Scotland David at home plate to secure the victory for JMU. The play later went viral on the internet and was named the #1 defensive play of the tournament by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. Alexander ended her college career after JMU was eliminated in the semi-finals after losing twice in rematches against Oklahoma 3-6 and 1-7 respectively. After being pulled out in the fifth inning during the second semifinal match on June 7, she received a standing ovation from the crowd. She finished the tournament starting all four games that JMU played with 66 strikeouts on 1,057 pitches. Following the 2021 season, Alexander was named an NFCA Second-Team All American, Softball America Pitcher of the Year, D1 Softball Woman of the Year, CAA Pitcher of the Year, and was nominated for an ESPY award.

Professional career

On June 13, 2021, Alexander signed a professional contract with the

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride is a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida, and a former member of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Founded in 2009, they previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play their home ...

, joining former JMU players

Megan Good Megan Good (born October 13, 1995) is an American, former collegiate 4-time All-American, right-handed hitting softball pitcher, originally from Mount Sidney, Virginia. She attended Fort Defiance High School in Fort Defiance, Virginia. She l ...

and Jailyn Ford. She also signed to play in

second season beginning in August 2021. She made her pro debut on June 17 against

Team Mexico Team Mexico is a professional wrestling stable that was first formed in 2004 to compete in TNA Wrestling's America's X-Cup Tournament and has since returned to compete in other TNA X Cup Tournaments. History 2004 The original team consisted of ...

, recording 8 strikeouts in a 7–6 loss. She had her first win when she started in a 3–2 victory against

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

on June 23, pitching the entire game with 8 strikeouts, 4 hits, and 3 walks. She won the 2023

championship as the top individual points leader with 1,994 points. On January 29, 2025, Alexander was drafted in the tenth round, 40th overall, by the Bandits in the inaugural

draft.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Odicci Living people 1998 births James Madison Dukes softball players USSSA Pride players Japan Diamond Softball League players American softball players Softball players from Virginia Athletes Unlimited softball players