(We made a list. We checked it twice. From now until New Year’s Eve, we are counting down the top ten headlines of 2018. Today, we look at #10 on our list.)
10. Missouri fires Ehren Earleywine
The 2018 season was mere days from beginning when the Missouri Tigers made a splash that resounded around the softball world. Longtime head coach Ehren Earleywine – who assembled nearly 500 wins during his eleven-year career with the Tigers – was fired on January 26th.
At the time of Earleywine’s firing, Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk noted that the school had ‘lost confidence in Coach Earleywine’s leadership to foster the type of healthy environment we expect for our student-athletes…”
Earleywine’s firing came after a tumultuous couple of years that included a four-month investigation in 2016 that resulted in a finding of no Title IX violations. That investigation came to public light when several members of the Tigers’ softball program staged a protest and threatened to miss games in support of the coach.
Under Earleywine’s guidence, the Tigers reached three Women’s College World Series’ during his tenure and advanced to the NCAA tournament in each of his eleven seasons.
The timing of Earleywine’s firing was particularly curious as it occurred less than two weeks before the opening of the program’s 2018 season. Earleywine’s assistant coach, program alum Gina Schneider Fogue, took the reins of the Tigers on an interim basis and led the squad to a 28-27 record during the regular season. The Tigers finished in last place in the SEC standings, missing the conference tournament that they hosted in Columbia, but earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. The team’s selection to the NCAA field of sixty-four earned much criticism nationwide.
Earleywine’s sudden firing also had long-lasting effects on the team’s roster, as several standout players elected to transfer even before new head coach Larissa Anderson was hired after the season. Offensive starters Amanda Sanchez, Rylee Pierce, and Braxton Burnside all elected to transfer after the year, to LSU; Arizona; and Arkansas, respectively. Lauren Rice, who led the squad in innings pitched and strikeouts a year ago, also chose to transfer.
