Paige Lowary (born June 27, 1996) is an American former

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) ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, 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 1 ...

. She attended Dallas Center-Grimes High School in

Grimes, Iowa Grimes is a city in Polk County, Iowa, Polk and Dallas County, Iowa, Dallas counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 15,392 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. Grimes is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines ...

. She attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 2015 and 2016, before transferring to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. 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 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

. 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 final, where they defeated No. 1

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, 5–4 to claim the national championship. Lowary was chosen as the number-one pick in the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

draft and went on to play for 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 ...

for the 2018–2019 season.

Injury

In her second season at Missouri, Lowary was pitching against the

Oregon Ducks softball The Oregon Ducks softball team represents the University of Oregon in NCAA Division I college softball. The Ducks compete in the Big Ten Conference and are led by head coach Melyssa Lombardi. Oregon plays their home games at Jane Sanders Stadiu ...

team. She was struck by a ball off the bat of outfielder, Nikki Udria. Udria’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 and United States women's national softball team. She has been the head softball coach at the University of Oklahoma since 1995. She ...

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

Arrest

Lowary was arrested on the morning of April 6, 2023 for eluding police. She was released 12 hours later that day on $5,000 bond.

Career Statistics

External links

* *
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 Sportspeople from Dallas County, Iowa {{Oklahoma-sport-stub