Replacing the Texas Longhorns school record holder in home runs (74) and RBI (283) is no easy task, but former Arizona State Sun Devils catcher Samantha Swan is ready and willing to follow the standout career of Reese Atwood by returning to the Austin area, signing with the Horns on Wednesday.
The former powerlifter was a standout at Georgetown before signing with Arizona State in 2023 as a top-50 national prospect.
In Tempe, Swan struggled at the
plate as a part-time starter at catcher during her freshman season, batting .214. It wasn’t for a lack of identity — Swan only struck out three times in 70 at bats, an incredible strikeout rate of just over four percent that established a contact baseline in the batter’s box that allowed Swan to slash .299/.343./.422 during a breakout sophomore season.
As junior, Swan was even better as Arizona State as the Sun Devils made the Austin Super Regional and took the first game against the Longhorns when Swan went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the 4-1 Game 1 win over Texas, finishing the season at slashed .383/.700/.450 with 69 hits, 55 RBI, 12 home runs, 21 doubles, 39 runs scored, 126 total bases, 15 walks, and nine stolen bases, notching a 1.151 OPS, 25 multi-hit outings, and 14 multi-hit performances to earn first-team All-Big 12 recognition.
Swan projects as the starter catcher for Mike White during her final season of eligibility as the Horns reload to defend their back-to-back national championships.
