Rounding Third Softball

After 25 years leading the program at West Liberty University, Herb Minch is stepping down. The longtime head coach guided the Hilltoppers to 564 victories during his time. Minch led WLU to conference titles in 1999, 2019, 2021 and 2022, while earning NCAA Division II Tournament bids in 2019 and 2021. Assistant coach Nikki Nuzum has been named interim head coach.

Shawnee State has named Kristen Bradshaw their new head coach. Bradshaw remains in her hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio after previous coaching stops at Wright State, University of Rio Grande, and the last eight years at Portsmouth High School.

Samantha Henderson has been named Interim Head Coach at Oakland. She joined the Grizzlies Staff in 2020 as an assistant coach. Henderson served as a Graduate Assistant at her alma mater Detroit Mercy before joining the staff at Oakland.

The Southeatern Conference has released their complete schedule for the 2024 season.

Conference play begins March 8 and runs through May 5. The 2024 SEC Tournament is scheduled for May 7-11 at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, AL.

The complete 2024 SEC Schedule can be found at https://www.secsports.com/…/2024-sec-softball-schedule…

Marina Demore has been named interim head coach at Nevada. Demore has worked on staff for the Wolf Pack as an assistant the past two seasons. She previously had stops on staff at Northern Kentucky, Fresno State, UC Riverside, and Loyola. Demore takes over for former head coach Linda Garza who departed the program last month to lead the program at Fresno City College.

Like the Jeffersons, the University of West Georgia is moving on up. The Wolves will be making the transition to Division I. Currently a member of Division II and the Gulf South Conference, UWG will move to the Atlantic Sun Conference and DI on July 1, 2024. West Georgia Softball finished the 2023 season 13-40.

Titan Alum Gina Oaks Garcia is returning to the program at Cal State Fullerton. She has been hired as an assistant coach. Oaks Garcia spent the past six seasons as head coach at DIII Claremont Mudd Scripps College where her staff were named Conference Coaching Staff of the Year in 2018 and 2023. She had previously been on the coaching staff at CSUF after a standout playing career where she was a two-time All-American.

While Cal and Stanford are on their way to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC might not be on their way to Cal and Stanford.

Reports are surfacing that a scheduling component of the western schools being added to the conference is that their Olympic Sports (i.e. Softball) would travel to Dallas to compete to reduce travel costs for all programs. While new ACC add Southern Methodist would supply facilities for the endeavor, the proposal lacks a softball specific solution as SMU does not offer the sport. Such a proposal could in fact eliminate conference home games for the Bears and Cardinal.

Maryland has hired their next head coach after a national search.

Oakland Head Coach Lauren Karn has been named to lead the Terrapins. Karn led the Grizzlies for six seasons registering two winning campaigns during that time while compiling a 121-125 overall record. The 2022 Oakland Squad won the Horizon League Tournament Title and advanced to the NCAA Postseason going 26-17 on the way to the Evanston Regional.

Coaching Insiders had indicated to RTS that University of Maryland Baltimore County Head Coach Chris Kuhlmeyer was expected to be a serious candidate for the position being in the UM System. He has led UMBC to four straight conference championships and NCAA Postseason appearances. Maryland opted to go outside the system and landed on Karn.

Linda Garza has resigned as head coach at Nevada to accept a similar position at Fresno City College. She departs DI for JUCO after two seasons leading the Wolf Pack. During that time the program went 48-54 and 17-29 in Mountain West play. Garza had previously served as the head coach at Fresno State before coming to Reno.