Gwen Svekis Announces Retirement from Professional Softball

Alexandra Lewis

Aug 22, 2024

Catcher Gwen Svekis is retiring from professional softball after six years.

Svekis was an original member of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, becoming the second player to sign with the league in November 2019. She was a part of the Player Executive Committee from 2020-21.

Svekis began her pro career with the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch League in 2018 and earned All-NPF recognition the following year.

She competed with the Toda Medics of the Japanese Diamond League in 2023, posting a .312 batting average with 24 hits, including six home runs and three doubles. She also helped Team USA to a first-place finish at the 2023 WBSC World Cup Group A event in Dublin, Ireland.

Svekis has competed in every AU Pro Softball Championship season and its 2022 AUX competition. She placed in the Top 15 four times, including two fifth-place finishes in 2023 and 2020. She has a career .252 batting average with 52 hits, 12 home runs, and 35 RBIs heading into the final week of the 2024 season.

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Svekis had a .337 career batting average with 45 home runs and 169 RBIs at the University of Oregon from 2015-18. She is among Oregon’s career leaders in RBIs, home runs, and walks. She was named the 2018 NFCA Catcher of the Year and received All-America First Team honors that season. As a Duck, she was a three-time NFCA All-Region honoree and two-time All-Pac-12 Conference performer. She holds the Oregon single-game record with nine RBIs and ranks second on the single-season list with 17 home runs set in 2018.