2024 • SENIOR SEASON
Awards: Had a breakout season on one of college softball’s biggest stages, finishing the year as an NFCA Third Team All-Great Lakes Region selection… Garnered recognition as a Second Team All-Big Ten choice in the postseason… Picked up College Sports Communicators Academic All-District laurels.
Season: Contributed one of the most dominant offensive seasons on the 2024 Nittany Lion roster, finishing as the team leader in OPS with a 1.071 mark in the category… Started and played in all but one Penn State contest, amassing 54 in total… Hit .340 on the year with a .444 on-base percentage as well as a .627 slugging percentage… Totaled 50 hits or more for the fourth consecutive season, finishing with 51, while cranking double-digit homers for the second season in a row, finishing with 11… Added 10 doubles and finished tied for the team lead in runs batted in with 41, joining teammates Maddie Gordon and Liana Jones… Was the most consistently effective defensive catcher in the Big Ten Conference, maintaining a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage for the first time in her career, logging 326 putouts and 18 assists without an error.
Rankings: Finished 10th in the Big Ten Conference with a .627 slugging percentage… Ranked ninth in the league in hit-by-pitches with nine and 13th in the league in HBP per game with 0.17… Hit the 15th-most home runs in the Big Ten, leaving the yard on 11 separate occasions.
vs. Marshall (2/9): Made her Penn State debut in dominant fashion, finishing the game 2-for-2 with a run scored, a double and a pair of RBI. vs. Ohio (2/10): Became Penn State’s first home run hitter of 2024 in a 2-for-3 performance which included a pair of runs scored, three RBI and a double in addition to her lid-lifting homer. vs. Coastal Carolina (2/16): Had a season-high pair of doubles in a 2-for-4 effort that included a pair of RBI. Cornell (3/15): Was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored, a home run and three RBI in the dominant win over the Big Red. Indiana (3/22): Set the tone in the Indiana series with a solo homer in the opener, going 1-for-2 in the eventual 2-1 PSU victory. Bucknell (3/26): Hit the first Penn State grand slam of the 2024 campaign against the Bison, finishing the game 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, a double and five RBI in addition to her stellar scoreboard shot. at Nebraska (4/7): Recorded a season-high 14 putouts in the series-clinching, extra-inning victory against the Cornhuskers. at Wisconsin (4/19): Was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored, a home run and pair of RBI in the series-opening victory. NCAA Regional vs. UAlbany (5/18): Was a perfect 2-for-2 with a run scored in PSU’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2011.
BEFORE PENN STATE
Joined the Penn State softball program following three seasons at Stephen F. Austin… Most recent season in 2023 proved to be her most productive, hitting for a .315 average while ranking second in the Western Athletic Conference and 14th nationally with a whopping 18 home runs on the year… Published a team-leading OPS of 1.111 in 2023, coupling her superb eye at the plate with an elite ability to hit with power… Cultivated a career .336 batting average with 37 home runs and 34 doubles while supplementing her offensive production with a .992 fielding percentage defensively... Was a two-time conference champion at Stephen F. Austin in both the Southland and WAC... Named SFA’s Female Breakout Athlete of the Year in 2021... Landed the Murray Shaw Academic Award for Softball in 2021 and 2023... Earned multiple appearances as an Easton/NFCA Scholar Athlete... Picked up Second Team All-Conference honors in the Southland in 2021, as well as the WAC in 2022 and 2023... Appeared on the WAC All-Defensive Team in 2023... Garnered a spot on the WAC Softball All-Tournament Team in 2023.
HIGH SCHOOL
Was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas... Totaled 188 hits, 128 RBI and 107 runs scored across four varsity seasons, posting a .483 average... Belted 15 home runs in her high school career as well as 45 doubles and 19 triples... Was a three-time 6A Bi-District Champion and Area Finalist... Named to the All-Metroplex squad in Dallas/Fort Worth in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons... Named the District 7-6A Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2016... Was a Texas Girl’s Coaches Association 6A honoree in 2018 and 2019... Named a TWSA All-State Honorable Mention catcher in 2016 and 2018... Was the District 5-6A Catcher of the Year in 2017 and 2018... Picked up First-Team All-District laurels in 2019... Named to the Academic All-District Team in all four years of her high school career.
PERSONAL
Born in the fall of 2000 in Southlake, Texas, Gaby Garcia is the daughter of Mary and Francisco Garcia... She has one younger sibling, a sister named Lizzie who is four years her junior... As a student at Carroll High School, Garcia was an active member of her chapter of the National Honor Society, graduating Cum Laude... While at Penn State, Garcia will pursue a graduate certificate in business management foundations in the Smeal College of Business... She is a member of Penn State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and NCSC, in addition to participating in Beta Gamma Sigma, an international business honor society... At the end of her softball career, she hopes to become a pediatric nurse practitioner for a children’s hospital... In her free time, she enjoys drawing, watching movies, and spending quality time with family and friends.