Prior to joining the staff at Stanford, Merchant spent seven seasons on staff at Minnesota, working under Allister. During her time in Minneapolis, she was part of the coaching staff that led the Golden Gophers to the first #1-overall national ranking in program history.
In addition to her ten years of coaching at Stanford and Minnesota, Merchant’s coaching resume includes a multi-year stint at Massachusetts and a single season on staff at Michigan, her alma mater.
During her playing career, Merchant earned a pair of all-American honors and was part of the Wolverines squad that won the National Championship in 2005. She played professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch league from 2005-08.
The Stanford Cardinal finished the 2019 season with a 33-20 overall record, including an 8-13 mark in PAC-12 play. The overall and conference win totals were the program’s highest since the 2013 season; the Cardinal’s at-large selection to the NCAA tournament also marked the squad’s return to the postseason for the first time since that same ’13 campaign.
