Kelsey Vining Eickman was a four-year member of the softball team at the University of Montevallo from 2014 to 2018. The Plano, Texas, native burst onto the scene during the inaugural season in 2015 and was named the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year after starting all 52 games in the outfield and batting .377. As her career progressed in 2016, Vining Eickman posted a .483 batting average, which still stands as the school record, to earn a spot as a finalist for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year, among other accolades. In 2017, Vining Eickman claimed Montevallo's first Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year title as she batted .406 with five triples, five home runs and 38 runs-batted-in. In her final season on the bricks, Vining Eickman was named to the NFCA and D2CCA All-American teams as she batted .467 with a school-record 55 runs scored, a school-record 71 base hits, 16 doubles and 39 runs-batted-in. With Vining Eickman’s career finished, her name can be found throughout the record book as the all-time career leader in at-bats, 578, batting average, .427, runs scored, 179, hits, 247, doubles, 46, triples, 14, total bases, 375, runs batted in, 115, stolen bases, 126 and on-base percentage, .494. Vining Eickman’s awards and accolades while at Montevallo include PBC Freshman of the Year, three-time PBC All-Conference selection, one-time All-GSC selection, 2017 PBC Player of the Year, three-time NFCA All-Region selection, 2015 NFCA Freshman of the Year Finalist, four-time D2CCA All-Region selection, three-time NFCA All-American, 2016 and 2018 NFCA Player of the Year Finalist, NFCA Scholar-Athlete, three-time PBC Bronze Scholar, GSC All-Academic team, three-time PBC honor roll, GSC honor roll and a GSC All-Decade Team selection. Following her career at Montevallo, Vining Eickman was drafted 29th overall by Future 1s in the 2018 American Softball Association draft.
