On June 20, BYU softball coach Gordon Eakin announced the addition of Hailey Shuler to the 2026 roster.
The sophomore spent her freshman season at Duke, playing 20 games and finishing with a .273 batting average and 3-1 pitching record.
"I actually never would have imagined myself here," Shuler said after the Blue & White scrimmage earlier this week. "Entering the transfer portal, I knew that coach Eakin would believe in me and give me the opportunity to show people what I can do."
"Making it to the World Series is definitely my biggest [goal]," she said. "I want to help the team win in anyway possible. I'm just putting my work in order to get them closer to the postseason and World Series."
Last season, the Cougars finished 32-17 (13-11 Big 12) and No. 6 in the Big 12.
"I'm really excited," Shuler said in anticipation for this upcoming season. "I feel like we're going to surprise a lot of people."
Shuler grew up playing both soccer and softball, eventually leaning toward the latter.
"I've always just had a passion for it," she said. "Ever since [picking softball] I've just put my all into it. I knew I could go far in the sport."
Shuler credits her support system as a major reason why she's been able to be so successful and play at the college level. She relied on "being able to lean on my friends and family when things got hard, and knowing that they had my back —they definitely pushed me to become the best softball player ever.
"Just knowing that my parents had my back no matter what, and were always willing to practice with me, that was definitely a big thing," Shuler added.
Her support system doesn't end there. Shuler praised the team environment, expressing that "[the environment] definitely made me play the most loose that I've ever played in my entire life."
She continued to praise her teammates explaining "how welcoming they are and knowing that they all believe in me just makes me believe in myself and gives me confidence to just do what I can do."
Shuler also credits her teammates for being part of the reason she ended up at BYU from the transfer portal.
"I also know a lot of girls on the team, and they made it seem like it was one of the best places ever," she said. "It definitely was one of the other things that convinced me."
When asked about what she's brought to the team, Eakin said, "She was a two-fer. She's not only a quality pitcher that can come in and give us some quality innings, she can flat play."
Softball has been struggling with keeping their pitching staff healthy, facing several injuries last season and into the offseason.
While she's been pitching during the Blue & White scrimmage series, Eakin believes that she's a utility player.
"When she's not pitching, what I see early on, is she will play," Eakin said. "She's gonna make our hitting lineup stronger, our defensive lineup stronger, and our pitching staff stronger."
During the Blue & White scrimmage, Shuler pitched three innings, giving up one hit and striking out one. Batting, she stepped up to the plate 5 times, collecting one hit.
Softball has three more Blue & White scrimmages before fall play starts on Oct. 2 against Snow College at 6:30 p.m.