Howard University has announced that Odicci Alexander has joined their coaching staff. One of the top stories in the 2021 season, Alexander pitched her James Madison team through a historic run to the Women’s College World Series. Alexander has played on the professional level since finishing her collegiate career and also served as a volunteer assistant coach at North Carolina. She joins a Bison squad that won the MEAC Championship and advance to the NCAA Postseason in 2022.
JUCO Mainstay Eastman Headed For DII
RTS has confirmed through multiple sources that Texas A&M-Kingsville will name Doug Eastman their new head coach. Eastman spent the past eight seasons running the powerhouse JUCO program at Yavapai College. While coaching the Roughriders he earned 343 wins. The 2022 YC squad finished 57-6 with a fifth-place finish at the NJCAA DI National Championship. Eastman replaces Craig Nicholson who departed TAMUK for the head coaching position at Akron.
NJCAA Gets ESPN Deal
The National Junior College Athletic Association has announced a multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN to begin with the 2022-2023 sports season. Under the agreement multiple NJCAA National Championships and regular-season contests will be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform. This will include 20 regular-season softball games and the NJCAA DI National Championship Finals.
Fernandez Promoted At UCLA
UCLA announced that Lisa Fernandez has been promoted to Associate Head Coach. Fernandez, a Bruin and World Softball Legend, has been part of the UCLA Coaching Staff the past 24 years. Heading up the Bruin Pitching Staff, she has been named to three National Coaching Staffs of the Year, and seven times been named as part of the Regional CSOY. UCLA last won a National Championship in 2019.
Southern Miss Names Poole New Head Coach
Southern Miss has announced Natalie Poole as their new head coach. Poole joins the Golden Eagles after stepping down at Memphis in June after 11 seasons.
RTS reported last month Poole had been engaged by Southern Miss. She also interviewed on July 25 and was a finalist for the head coaching job at Tennessee Tech, but ultimately was runner-up for that position. Sources also have confirmed that Jones College Coach Chris Robinson had orginally accepted the position to lead USM, but reversed course and stayed with the JUCO.
Poole, a well-connected political cog in the sport, compiled a 241-340 record while leading Memphis. The Tigers last season were 16-38.
Southern Miss is coming off a 29-23 season in 2022 under former head coach Brian Levin who departed the program in July. Levin has since joined the coaching staff at Iowa.
Wagner Named New Goshen Coach
Goshen College has named Luke Wagner their new head coach. Wagner spent the last 11 seasons leading the program at DIII Rhodes College. He compiled a record of 217-172-2 with the Lynx. Wagner takes over an NAIA program at Goshen that finished the 2022 season 24-28.
Japan Downs USA On Their Home Turf
Japan downed USA today in a deciding Game 3 of the Japan All-Star Series in Yokohama. The hosts shutout the USA Women’s National Team 1-0. Japan won the series opener 2-1 on August 6. USA responded August 7 with a Game 2 victory 3-2 to tie the series. Both contests took pace in Fukushima. The deciding Game 3 and series championship was then secured by No. 2 World Ranked Japan over the current No. 1 ranked USA.
Wheat Joins Bryant Staff
RTS has confirmed that Mary Karen Wheat will be named the new assistant coach at Bryant University. Wheat has spent the last three seasons at University of Rochester. During her tenure UR appeared in the DIII World Series in 2021, leading to her being named National Assistant Coach of the Year after that season. Wheat will serve as the Bulldogs pitching coach.
Hall of Fame Coach Evans Named New Head Coach At UCSB
UC Santa Barbara has named Hall of Fame Coach Jo Evans as the next Gauchos leader. RTS reported last month that Evans was the top target for UCSB.
Evans spent 26 seasons coaching the program at Texas A&M. In 37 seasons as a collegiate head coach she has compiled a record of 1,300-714-2. She is 11th in the NCAA for total career wins.
UC Santa Barbara finished the 2022 season 15-39 and 6-21 in Big West play.
Transue Named Assistant Coach At Binghamton
Former Missouri assistant coach Michaela Transue has landed her next coaching job joining the staff at Binghamton. Long-thought as embedded in the Missouri Softball program having been with the Tigers in various positions since 2018 while also having competed for Head Coach Larissa Anderson at Hofstra, she spent just one year in a full-time assistant coach role in 2022 before moving on. Binghamton finished last season 22-23 and 7-8 in American East Conference play.