Bri Ellis Notches First Pro Hit Despite Battling Back Pain

Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON www.si.com/onsi/softball

In the second game of her professional career, Bri Ellis recorded her very first hit and RBI for the Talons. A liner to left field drove in Caroline Jacobsen to put an insurance run on the board. 

Coming off her historic senior year campaign with Arkansas Razorbacks, she was third in the nation in home runs with 26, which was an Arkansas single-season program record. She scored 68 runs on 59 hits and added 72 RBIs. The standout first baseman also ranked first in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.639) and slugging percentage (1.090). 

Ellis was even the first player in Arkansas program history to win USA Softball’s 2025 Player of the Year (POY). 

But in a video posted to her TikTok account, Ellis detailed the grueling pain and exhaustion her body was feeling at the end of her collegiate career, where Arkansas advanced to Super Regionals. 

With one day of rest between the end of her collegiate career, heading to Oklahoma City to accept her POY award, and moving on to Chicago for AUSL camp, she displayed worry about the future of her success at the plate. Battling plantar fasciitis in both of her feet and fighting back spasms, she felt the pressure of joining a league full of legends. 

Despite the pain, she came through for the Talons on Sunday, in their 6-3 win over the Bandits. Ellis homered once every 5.15 at-bats and walked once every 3.17 plate appearances through 58 games this past season.

She’s been walked three times already, and though we haven’t seen any Bri Bombs yet,  it’s thrilling to see her already thriving as a professional.