McCall Salmon has rounded out her inaugural staff at Central Michigan after being hired to lead the Chippewas earlier this summer.
Brittini Merchant, a CMU program alum, and Sara Driesenga, a Michigan graduate, were announced as assistant coaches for the program last week. Driesenga will serve as the program’s pitching coach, while Merchant will work with the program’s outfielders and both will have a role in hitting instruction.
Merchant spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Division II Davenport under Salmon, and helped lead that program to a 2017 berth in the NAIA World Series and back-to-back second place finishes in the conference standings in 2018 and ’19 during the program’s inaugural years at Division 2. Merchant’s coaching resume also includes stints on staff at Minnesota, Northwestern, and SIU-Edwardsville.
​Driesenga spent five years on the Michigan Wolverines roster, amassing more than seventy pitching wins during her career. She finished her Wolverine tenure with a 71-26 overall record and ten saves, as well as participating in a trio of Women’s College World Series appearances. She earned a trio of all-conference and all-region honors during her career. Driesenga’s coaching resume includes a stint as volunteer assistant coach at Eastern Michigan before that program was dismantled.
Central Michigan finished the 2019 season with a 22-28-1 overall record that included an 11-9-1 conference result. As a unit, the Chippewas batted .254, while the pitching staff collected a 6.10 cumulative ERA.
