Rhode Island Rams softball

For all University of Rhode Island sports, see Rhode Island Rams.

Rhode Island Rams
University	University of Rhode Island
Head coach	Whitney Goldstein (3rd season)
Conference	Atlantic 10
Location	Kingston, RI
Home stadium	URI Softball Complex
Nickname	Rams
Colors	Keaney blue, navy blue, and white [1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
1983

The Rhode Island Rams softball team represents the University of Rhode Island in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). The Rams are currently led by head coach Whitney Goldstein. The team plays its home games at URI Softball Complex located on the university's campus. ^[2]

History

Despite making the NCAA Division I softball tournament in their first season in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1983, the Rams have failed to return to win either a regular season or a conference tournament championship. By failing to win the latter, they have also failed to return to the NCAA tournament.

In the 1983 tournament, Rhode Island was placed in the Northeast Regional, where they were eliminated by UCLA in two games, both 1–0 extra inning losses. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

The Rams have won several awards during their stint in the Atlantic 10. In 1994, Melissa Jarrell was named A–10 Coach of the Year. ^[6] The program has won three A–10 Player of the Year awards, doing so in 1994 with Anne Kelsen and in 1997 and 1998 with Kellie Cookus. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

In April 2014, six former players, two then-active players, and one assistant coach came out with accusations of alleged bullying by former head coach Erin Layton. The accusers claim abuse was overlooked by University of Rhode Island administration for years, with only a brief administrative leave as punishment. Several players and assistants reported mental and physical abuse dealt out by Layton. ^{[10] [11] [12]} Despite the allegations, Layton received both a contract extension in July 2014 as well as the full support of the school, who stated that complaints were taken seriously and no wrongdoing was found to have occurred. ^[13] Layton left the program after the 2015 season.

Rhode Island in the NCAA Tournament

Year	Record	Pct	Notes
1983	0–2	.000	Northeast Regional
TOTALS	0-2	.000

Coaching history

Years	Coach	Record	%
1978–1984	Nancy Langham	164–70–1	.700
1985–1992	Sue Tougas	131–201–3	.396
1993–1999	Melissa Jarrell	156–189–2	.452
2000–2002	Kim Staehle	70–89–1	.441
2003–2005	Christina Sutcliffe	44–88	.333
2006–2008	Deb Smith	44–100	.306
2009–2015	Erin Layton	87–260–2	.252
2016–2021	Bridget Hurlman	61–167	.268
2022–present	Whitney Goldstein	34–66–1	.342

Roster

2024 Rhode Island Rams roster
	Pitchers 28 – Ashley Arnold – Freshman 20 – Ashley Hibbard – Sophomore 12 – Anna Jardin – Freshman 11 – Liz Lynchard – Graduate Student 72 – Noelle Sterner – Junior 18 – Avery Vale-Cruz – Freshman 29 – Lauren Wasikowski – Sophomore 16 – Cameron Whiteford – Junior 22 – Katie Zaun – Junior Catchers 2 – Kylie Bulinski – Sophomore 8 – Natalie Maleitzke – Freshman 25 – Vicki Viaclovsky – Senior		Outfielders 10 – Leilyn Alvarez – Junior 31 – Mandi Hanewich – Sophomore 34 – Hannah Hernandez – Sophomore 7 – Skyler Rapuano – Graduate Student 5 – Sydney Yoder – Graduate Student Infielders 17 – Riley Frickleton – Freshman 9 – Elena Gonzalez – Graduate Student 23 – Maddie Melice – Senior 30 – Emily Power – Junior 27 – Zoe Rensel – Freshman 3 – Cassie Swenson – Graduate Student 13 – Becca Zawistowski – Sophomore Utility 4 – Casey Miller – Sophomore
Reference: [14]

Season by season results

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Rhode Island Rams (AIAW)(1978–1982)
1978	Nancy Langham	15–7
1979	Nancy Langham	24–6
1980	Nancy Langham	23–7
1981	Nancy Langham	26–12
1982	Nancy Langham	27–14–1
Rhode Island Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference)(1983–present)
1983	Nancy Langham	28–10		2nd	NCAA Regionals
1984	Nancy Langham	21–11
1985	Sue Tougas	22–19–1	3–7	5th
1986	Sue Tougas	27–23–1	6–4	5th
1987	Sue Tougas	11–27	5–5	4th
1988	Sue Tougas	16–31	5–7	5th
1989	Sue Tougas	16–28	6–6	T–4th
1990	Sue Tougas	16–21	5–7	5th
1991	Sue Tougas	12–28–1	1–9	6th
1992	Sue Tougas	11–24	7–3	2nd
1993	Melissa Jarrell	15–29	2–8	5th
1994	Melissa Jarrell	27–28	7–3	2nd
1995	Melissa Jarrell	23–26	5–5	4th
1996	Melissa Jarrell	25–22	10–6	3rd
1997	Melissa Jarrell	25–20–1	7–8–1	6th
1998	Melissa Jarrell	21–29	7–8	5th
1999	Melissa Jarrell	20–35–1	6–10	6th
2000	Kim Staehle	20–30–1	6–9	7th
2001	Kim Staehle	30–30	9–11	5th
2002	Kim Staehle	20–29	13–9	T–2nd
2003	Christina Sutcliffe	21–22	8–8	6th
2004	Christina Sutcliffe	15–31	2–8	7th
2005	Christina Sutcliffe	8–35	3–11	8th
2006	Deb Smith	20–27	8–12	T–6th
2007	Deb Smith	10–35	3–14	11th
2008	Deb Smith	14–38	4–16	11th
2009	Erin Layton	14–37	3–17	11th
2010	Erin Layton	19–35	8–12	T–6th
2011	Erin Layton	7–46	2–18	1th
2012	Erin Layton	21–32–1	5–14–1	10th
2013	Erin Layton	10–37	3–18	11th
2014	Erin Layton	13–32–1	6–11–1	8th
2015	Erin Layton	3–41	1–21	10th
2016	Bridget Hurlman	12–32	3–18	10th
2017	Bridget Hurlman	11–31	8–13	8th
2018	Bridget Hurlman	12–35	3–17	8th
2019	Bridget Hurlman	17–29	6–14	8th
2020	Bridget Hurlman	4–16	0–0	N/A	Season cut short due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021	Bridget Hurlman	5–22	2–12	8th
2022	Whitney Goldstein	11–35	4–19	9th
2023	Whitney Goldstein	23–31–1	12–13	6th
2024	Whitney Goldstein	0–0	0–0
Total:		791–1,230–10 (.392)
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

^{[15] [16]}

See also

• List of NCAA Division I softball programs

References

1. "Color Palette". 2023 Rhode Island Rams Brand Guide (PDF). May 2, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
2. "URI Softball Complex - Home of Softball". University of Rhode Island.
3. "Division I Softball Championship Results" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org.
4. "UCLA Softball History" (PDF). static.uclabruins.com.
5. "FINAL 1983 Women's Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). web1.ncaa.org.
6. "2010 Rhode Island Softball Media Guide by University of Rhode Island Athletics - Issuu". issuu.com. May 20, 2010.
7. "Anne Kelsen (2004) - Hall of Fame". University of Rhode Island.
8. "URI announces latest athletics Hall of Fame class". The Providence Journal.
9. Archivist, Times Leader (May 19, 1997). "Distinction Was No Surprise To Some Kellie Cookus Had A Hard Time Envisioning Herself As The Best At Anything". Times Leader.
10. Bagni, Adam (April 16, 2014). "Softball players, assistant coach say they were bullied at URI". WJAR.
11. "Toxic athletic programs may be common, but that's why UMD must reform". The Diamondback. November 7, 2018.
12. Wolff, Alexander (September 29, 2015). "Are these the final days for abusive coaches?". Sports Illustrated.
13. "URI Renews Contract of Softball Coach Accused of Abuse". July 17, 2014.
14. "2024 Softball Roster". University of Rhode Island.
15. "Softball Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of Rhode Island.
16. "2023 Softball Standings". atlantic10.com.

External links

• Official website