Softball Star Lauren Chamberlain Wants to Help Pro Game Hit it Big

OU’s Lauren Chamberlain ended her collegiate career as the all-time women’s softball leader in home runs. Now she advances into the pro game, where she hopes to help National Pro Fastpitch hit it out of the park.

Largely behind the power bat of Chamberlain, the Sooners finished the 2015 season with a record of 49-9 and their fourth consecutive Big 12 Championship. OU won the Big 12 every season Chamberlain was a Sooner and a combined record of 211-36 over the last four seasons.

The senior first baseman hit 30 home runs in both her freshman and sophomore seasons, and with 27 this past season she became the NCAA career leader in home runs with 95. That to go along with 254 runs batted in in her spectacular collegiate career and a slugging percentage of .960.

“By using social media to connect with more fans on a daily basis, I think it is going to help the (NPF) tremendously.” —Lauren Chamberlain

Those who know the young slugging softball player say her personality is as big as the numbers she puts up. As the No. 1 0verall pick of the USSSA Pride, one of five teams that make up the National Pro Fastpitch women’s softball league, Chamberlain would like to use her giant popularity to bring more recognition and support to a league that has struggled to gain a lot of traction in the growing world of professional athletics.

According to a Sports Illustrated.com article by Kayla Lombardo this week, Chamberlain built up a sizeable social media following in her four years in Norman. The 22-year-old from Trabuco Canyon in Southern California, has more than 100,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram, Lombardo writes.

“I know it is part of my job to interact with fans and get more eyes and ears on the NPF and just keep the league moving in a positive direction,” Chamberlain said in an interview with SI.com’s Lombardo. “By using social networks to connect with more fans on a daily basis, I think it is going to help the league tremendously.”

The NPF has gone through several different iterations since its debut in 1991. The last 10 seasons, however, have posed a big struggle for the league, which has seen it numbers go down both in media coverage and in star players, a number of whom have turned to international competition.

One of Chamberlain’s teammates on the Pride, who are out of Kissimmee, Fla., is former Texas Longhorn All-American pitcher Cat Osterman.