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2026 Softball Roster

Manny Valles
Manny Valles
Manny Valles
Manny Valles
Maci Johnson

25 Jessica Cantrell

  • Position Right-Handed Pitcher
  • Height 6-1
  • Class Sophomore
  • Highschool Elgin
  • Hometown Elgin, Texas
  • Club Team R/R

Biography

Awards:
  • 2X UTPB Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month (February 2026, April 2026)
  • College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Softball Team (2025-26)
2026 (Sophomore):
Named to the LSC Preseason Players to Watch list for pitchers for the second year in a row... Would go on to be named UTPB’s Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month in both February and April... Was 12-11 in 22 starts and 27 appearances in the circle... Started in 29 of 34 games overall, including seven starts at designated player.... Finished second in the LSC with 16 complete games and threw four shutouts... Allowed a 3.41 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, 151 hits, 95 total runs, 72 earned runs, 34 walks, 140 strikeouts, and a .259 opponents’ batting average in 148.0 innings pitched... Led the Falcons in every pitching category, including ERA, WHIP, wins, starts, appearances, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, and strikeouts... Offensively, she hit .179 with six runs, 12 hits, one double, four home runs, eight RBI’s, 25 total bases, six walks, two hit by pitches, a .267 on-base percentage and a .373 slugging percentage in 67 at bats.... Was tied for first on the team in home runs. In the LSC, she ranked fourth in strikeouts (ninth in strikeouts looking, 21), sixth in innings pitched, 14th in opposing batting average, 15th in ERA, and 12th in wins... Pitched all 10 innings in two games (2/27 vs. TAMUK & 3/39 vs. TAMIU), the most innings pitched in a single game in the LSC this season... Led the LSC with 14 batters struck out in one game (3/29 vs. TAMIU), and struck out double-digit batters in four games overall... Named UTPB's Women's Student-Athlete of the Month for Febuary. Cantrell made eight appearances in the circle with six starts during the first month of the season. She was 5-1 with five complete games, two shutouts, 55 strikeouts (7.97 K/9), a 1.74 ERA and a .99 WHIP. In all, she allowed 34 hits, 12 runs and 14 walks in 48.1 innings. After being named a LSC Pitcher to Watch for the second season in a row, Cantrell led the Falcons in starts, wins, complete games, inning pitched, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP during the month, and had at least one win in each of the first four weekends of the season. Cantrell also led the conference in ERA (1.74) and was second in opponents' batting average (1.92) and third in strikeouts (55) during the opening month. As impressive as she was pitching, Cantrell also contributes to the team offensively. In eight games and 24 at bats during the month, she totaled eight hits, five RBI's, three runs scored, two home runs and two walks. She hit .333 with a .385 on-base percentage and a .583 slugging percentage. Most importantly, Cantrell led the Falcons to a 9-6 overall record during the first month of the season, including marks of 5-1 at home and 2-4 in the LSC. In all, the Falcons began the season 7-2, marking their best start to a season in program history since at least 2011. Cantrell began her season with a four-hit, complete-game shutout featuring 10 strikeouts in a 4-0 season-opening victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Cantrell then tossed her second complete game in as many days and allowed eight hits, one run and two walks while striking out a career-high 12 batters in a 10-1 win over Adams State University. In all during opening weekend, Cantrell was 2-0 with two completes games, one shutout, a 0.72 ERA and 25 strikeouts across 19.1 innings. In UTPB's home opener, Cantrell struck out nine batters and allowed just three hits in a 5-1 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Cantrell helped UTPB close out its first weekend of LSC action with a 2-0 shutout win – her fourth complete game and second shutout of the season – in game one at Midwestern State University. It was the Falcons' first road conference win since April 21, 2023, at Texas A&M International University. Lastly, in UTPB's first home conference game of the season, Cantrell pitched all 10 innings and allowed three hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts in a 2-1 extra-inning win over Texas A&M University-Kingsville. It was the first win for UTPB against TAMUK since March 4, 2017... Named UTPB's Women's Student-Athlete of the Month for April. Cantrell made nine appearances and seven starts in the circle during April. She was 5-3 with five complete games, two shutouts and a 3.04 ERA. In all, she allowed 50 hits and 29 runs, and struck out 36 batters while walking only eight in 50.2 innings. Cantrell pitched a complete game during all four weekends of the month and helped UTPB win at least one game in five straight series (No. 12 Angelo State University, Sul Ross State University, Western New Mexico University, St. Edward's University, Midwestern State University), picking up a win in each of those series. Offensively, two of Cantrell's three hits during the month went for a home run (.529 SLG). Cantrell's list of highlights in April is long. Cantrell led UTPB to its first-ever win against Angelo State in San Angelo (won game two 3-2). It was the Falcons' first nationally-ranked win since April 22, 2022. Cantrell threw exactly 100 pitches and allowed six hits and two runs while not issuing a single walk against the Rambelles. It was arguably the biggest win of her career so far. Cantrell was then the winning pitcher when UTPB surpassed its win total in Lone Star Conference play from each of the last two seasons (5th LSC win of the season) in a 4-0 game-one win vs. Sul Ross. The win against the Lobos not only saw Cantrell shine in the circle with a two-hit, one-walk shutout, but also at the plate as she aided her own cause with a solo home run in the fifth inning. She struck out seven Lobos, threw 95 pitchers, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. The only other previous batter to reach against her was via a two-out walk in the second inning. Cantrell tossed four 1-2-3 innings and faced 24 batters against SRSU, just three over the minimum. Lastly, Cantrell pitched a one-hit shutout to help UTPB break the previous program record of eight LSC wins set in 2022, earning the record-tying win in an 8-0 game-one win vs. Midwestern State. Cantrell also threw the first of UTPB's first back-to-back shutouts in LSC action in program history vs. MSU, while her game-one win vs. MSU was UTPB's first run-rule win in LSC play since March 2022. Cantrell was nine-up, nine-down through three perfect innings, but a bunt single to lead off the top of the fourth inning was the Mustangs' lone baserunner of the game. Cantrell ended the game just as she started it, with nine straight outs, finishing the contest with a line of one hit, no runs and no walks against her... Named to the Fall 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll... Named to the 2025-26 Academic All-District® Team, selected by College Sports Communicators.

2025 (Freshman):
Named to the 2025 LSC Preseason Players to Watch list for pitchers... As a true freshman she made a total of 23 appearances in the circle... Pitched 135.0 innings and totaled 103 strikeouts to go along with an ERA of 3.94... Was 5-13 with 11 complete games and one shutout in 17 starts in her first collegiate season... Allowed 161 hits, 98 total runs, 76 earned runs and 44 walks while posting a .295 opponents' batting average... Ranked first on the Falcons in ERA, wins, starts, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts as a freshman... At the plate she registered one run, four hits, a double and four RBI's to go along with a .400 batting average and a .455 on-base percentage across 10 at bats.... Defensively she had just one error in 50 chances (.980 FLD%) and was second on the team with 41 assists... Named to the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Elgin (HS):
Played high school softball at Elgin High School in Elgin, Texas... Posted a career 1.67 earned run average to go along with 869 career strikeouts in 457.2 innings pitched... Recorded 279 strikeouts as a senior and was named the District 23-5A Pitcher of the Year.

Personal:
Made the Dean's List in each of her first three semesters at UTPB... Spent the summer after her freshman year coaching a select team.

Statistics

Season:
2026

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 25

    2025Freshman

    Right-Handed Pitcher
    6'1" 201 lbs
    25
  • 25

    2026Sophomore

    Right-Handed Pitcher
    6'1" 0 lbs
    25