LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- San Diego State softball's Mac Barbara (Long Beach, Calif.) has been named to the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top 25, the NFCA announced Thursday. A redshirt freshman, Barbara is the first Aztec to be named to the initial Top 25 list.
Through 42 games, Barbara is batting .403 with 13 home runs, 49 RBIs, 11 doubles, an .806 slugging percentage and a .506 on-base mark. Among the NCAA leaders, Barbara ranks in a tie for 13th in RBIs (49), tied for 29th in total bases (104), 30th in slugging percentage (.806), tied for 42nd in home runs (13), 45th in on-base percentage (.506), tied for 46th in walks (28), tied for 69th in batting average (.403) and tied for 79th in hits (52).
Barbara's 13 home runs in 42 games are already tied for the seventh most in San Diego State single-season history. Barbara also ranks in a tie for third in RBIs (49), fourth in on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.806) and OPS percentage (1.312), sixth in batting average (.403), tied for sixth in walks (28), tied for seventh in home runs (13), eighth in total bases (104) and tied for eighth in extra-base hits (25).
Additionally, Barbara has reached base safely in 36 consecutive games, dating back to the Feb. 17 game against CSUN. The streak is the longest streak in the country this season (overall and active). On the year, Barbara has reached base safely in 40 of the team's 42 games, only failing to do so against Stanford on Feb. 11 and San Diego on Feb. 16.
Barbara began her career at Ole Miss, playing 12 games in 2020 during the COVID shortened season and in four games in 2021 before leaving to play for the Italian National Team.
On May 12, the list will be trimmed down to the top 10 and the three finalists will be released on May 26. The 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year will be announced on June 1.
San Diego State (30-12, 13-2 MW), which is 24th in the latest DISoftball rankings, travels to San Jose State for a series with games scheduled for 6 p.m. PT Friday, 3 p.m. PT Saturday and noon PT Sunday.