Author: jmcleod

Longtime softball fans will undoubtedly remember Nicole Trimboli. A Nebraska Cornhusker legend and longtime professional star, Trimboli was an All-Star at both the collegiate and professional levels. A three-time all-conference selection during her career at Nebraska, Trimboli led the Huskers to the 2002 Women’s College World Series and earned a trio of National Pro Fastpitch championships during her 9-year pro career. After her retirement as a player, the former slugging star spent several years in the dugout as a coach. A six-year stint as head coach at Regis University ended in 2016, though she did dip her toes back into…

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Jeff Franquet has been hired as the new head coach at Delaware State. Franquet spent four years as the head coach at Central Connecticut State from 2009-13, winning 115 games during his tenure to set the program’s all-time wins record. Franquet led the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament in 2013 and recorded the squad’s first-ever postseason win in a victory over Northwestern State that same year. Prior to his tenure at CCSU, Franquet’s coaching resume also includes three years as the head coach at Division II Georgian Court; a three-year stint as the inaugural head coach at Jacksonville; and…

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The NCAA has denied Auburn pitcher Makayla Martin’s appeal for a waiver for a medical redshirt. Appearing in fifteen games on the season, Martin participated in one game more than the NCAA limit to qualify for a medical redshirt. After the NCAA denied Martin’s initial request for a waiver, Auburn appealed the decision and were again denied. Martin suffered a broken bone in her hand at the beginning of conference play this season and did not pitch again during the year. She finished the season with a team-leading 1.31 ERA and eighty-six strikeouts in eighty innings of work. For her career…

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Bellarmine University will move to Division I, beginning the four-year transition during the 2020-2021 athletic year. The school announced the realignment plans earlier in June. The Knights of Bellarmine currently compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the Division II level. The program will join the ASun Conference in Division I, moving that league’s membership to ten teams in seven states. The Knights’ addition to the ASun’s softball ranks will move the league to nine competing teams on the diamond. The Bellarmine softball program finished the 2019 season with a 22-27 overall record and a 10-16 mark in GLVC play. After…

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UPDATE 07/08/19: Yale softball officially announced Ricciardone’s hiring in a press release today. ORIGINAL STORY: Laura Ricciardone will join the Yale coaching staff as the program’s top assistant coach. ​Ricciardone spent the last three seasons as part of the coaching staff at South Florida, including the previous two years as a full-time assistant coach for the Bulls. In a post published on her social media pages, Ricciardone said, in part, “Thrilled to be headed back home to New England and getting to work with the incredible staff and student athletes at Yale. To my Bulls family, the last three years have…

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UPDATE 06/28/19: Ole Miss officially announced Schuette’s hiring in a press release today. ORIGINAL STORY: Eastern Illinois head coach Kim Schuette will be named the new pitching coach at Ole Miss, sources have informed JWOS. David Johnson of Rebels247 was the first to report the news of Schuette’s hiring. Schuette had been the head coach at Eastern Illinois since the fall of 2016, her second stint leading the program. Including her first stint leading the program, a tenure that stretched from 2006-13, Schuette owns a career record of 312-271-1 and is the Panthers’ all-time winningest coach. During her inaugural tenure at…

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Former Oklahoma catcher Lea Wodach has been named the new pitching coach at Louisiana-Monroe, the school announced on Thursday. Wodach spent the 2019 season as a student assistant under Patty Gasso at Oklahoma, after completing her playing career with the Sooners that included a pair of national championships. A four-year standout during her playing career that stretched from 2015-18, Wodach steadied the Sooners’ pitching staff from behind the plate and played a role in the squad’s back-to-back national titles in 2016 and 2017. Though a hand injury dampened her impact in her junior season, Wodach ended her career as a…

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Santa Clara has hired Gina Carbonatto as the program’s new head coach. Carbonatto spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at UC Davis, helping the program to eighty-nine victories and playing a role in the program’s ascent from a sub-.500 record in 2017 to 39 wins on the 2019 season. During her tenure on the Aggies’ staff, the program saw eighteen all-Big West honorees. Prior to her stint on staff at UC Davis, Carbonatto spent two years on the coaching staff at Pacific, her alma mater. Her resume also includes a three-year term at Washington, where she served…

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Even casual softball fans will remember Stacey Nelson. The former Florida Gators ace pitcher ended her career in Gainesville as one of the inarguable greats in that program’s lore. A three-time All-American during her career as a Gator, Nelson twice earned the SEC’s Pitcher of the Year award and ended her career in the all-time top 10 in pitching victories and games played. During her stellar four-year career in Gainesville, Nelson posted a program best 0.99 ERA, with sixty shutouts and 1,116 strikeouts, the latter a record that stood for more than ten years before it was broken by Kelly…

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Former UCLA great Ally Carda has departed the Cal Poly coaching staff after four years with the Mustangs. A university spokesperson confirmed Carda’s departure. Carda is a member of Team USA, and her departure from coaching is in direct relation to the forthcoming 2020 Olympics. The school spokesperson confirmed the connection between the two, saying, “She is moving on to pursue more full-time training to earn a spot on the Olympic team for next summer.” The former UCLA great was recently named as a replacement player for the USA roster for the Pan Am Games, set to take place in…

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