Sam Houston Bearkats softball

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Sam Houston Bearkats softball
Softball current event.svg 2023 Sam Houston Bearkats softball team
Sam Houston State word mark.png
University Sam Houston State University
Head coach Garrett Valis
Conference C-USA
Location Huntsville, TX
Home stadium Bearkat Softball Complex (Capacity: 400)
Nickname Bearkats
ColorsOrange and white [1]
   
NCAA Tournament champions
NAIA: 1981
NCAA DII: 1982
DI NIT: 1993
NCAA WCWS appearances
NAIA: 1981
NCAA DII: 1982 • 1983 • 1984
NCAA Tournament appearances
NCAA DII: 1982 • 1983 • 1984
NCAA DI: 2007, 2019
Conference tournament championships
1988 • 2007
Regular-season conference championships
1988 • 1990 • 1993

The Sam Houston Bearkats softball team represents Sam Houston State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in Conference USA. The Bearkats are currently led by head coach Garrett Valis. The team plays its home games at the Bearkat Softball Complex located on the university's campus. [2]

Contents

History

Early history (1980–1990)

Sam Houston softball first began in 1980. The team was immediately successful as it saw a 19–5 record in its very first season. In only its second season, the team captured its first of three national titles in the 1981 NAIA national softball championship with a 1-0 victory over the Emporia State Lady Hornets. [3] Beginning with the 1982 season, the Bearkats moved up to NCAA Division II but saw no signs of slowing down as they earned three straight DII College World Series berths, with another national title in 1982. [4] [5] Following their third consecutive WCWS season in 1983, SHSU softball continued to win, and reached DII regionals the next two years. [4] In 1987, the team failed to make a regional appearance despite a successful 34-26 campaign. This was the first season the softball team did not reach the playoffs since the team's first year. In the 1988 season, the Bearkats were invited to play in the Southland Conference, where the softball team reached the conference tournament in the next three years, including two conference championship seasons.

Rebuilding (1991–2001)

Throughout the early part of the '90s the softball team continued to be a force, earning at least a top 2 conference finish through the 1993 season. In 1993, Sam Houston would win the last of its three claimed national titles, winning the Women's NIT softball tournament. [3] After this successful season, however, the program would begin its run of mediocrity and never saw a top 4 conference finish again until current head coach Bob Brock took over in 2002.

The Bob Brock era (2002–present)

Bearkat Softball had never seen as much stability in the head coach position as it has since 2002, as Bob Brock is still the most tenured coach in Sam Houston's history. In Bob Brock's 14 seasons, he coached the softball team to 9 Southland Tournament berths. The 2012 season was his most successful as the Bearkats lost a thriller to Northwestern State in the conference title game. [6]

Year-by-year results

YearHead coachCollegiate
Record		Conference
Record		Notes
Independent (Lone Star Conference in Other Sports)
1980Wayne Daigle19–5–
1981Wayne Daigle32–11–NAIA Women's College World Series Champions
1982Wayne Daigle40–6– Division II Women's College World Series Champions
1983Wayne Daigle43–17–NCAA Division II Women's College World Series (2nd Place)
Gulf Star Conference - NCAA Division II
1984Brenda Marshall32–220–0
1985Brenda Marshall37–1110–4NCAA Division II Regionals
1986Brenda Marshall39–1614–6NCAA Division II Regionals
Gulf Star Conference - Begin NCAA DI Play
1987Kalum Haack34–2613–7
Southland Conference
1988Annie Westfall49-1713–1Conference Regular Season Champions
SLC Tournament Champion
1989Annie Westfall37–209–32nd, Conference Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Place
National NIT (8th place)
1990Annie Westfall25–349–3Conference Regular Season Champions
SLC Tournament, 3rd Place
1991Marty Blowers37–2318–62nd, Conference Regular Season
1992Marty Blowers41–2118–102nd Conference Regular Season (T)
1993Marty Blowers39–1524–4Conference Regular Season Champions
National NIT Champions
1994Marty Blowers18–35–113–18–16th Regular Season
1995Marty Blowers19–3315–175th Regular Season
1996Marty Blowers23–2512–125th Regular Season
1997Laniegh Clark14–329–157th Regular Season
1998Laniegh Clark14–354–2210th Regular Season
1999John Garris18–386–2110th Regular Season
2000John Garris18–384–229th Regular Season
2001John Garris20–342–2510th Regular Season
2002Bob Brock11–319–188th Regular Season
2003Bob Brock23–3312–156th Regular Season,SLC Tournament, 3rd Place
2004Bob Brock29–2317–93rd Regular Season,SLC Tournament, 3rd Place
2005Bob Brock29–2519–72nd Regular Season,SLC Tournament Finalist
2006Bob Brock18–3011–167th Regular Season
2007Bob Brock38–2620–102nd Regular Season,SLC Tournament Champion
NCAA Division I Regional (1 win–2 losses)
2008Bob Brock30–3115–157th Regular Season,SLC Tournament, 1st Round
2009Bob Brock28–2615–146th Regular Season,SLC Tournament, 3rd Place
2010Bob Brock21–2813–169th Regular Season
2011Bob Brock22–3214–157th Regular Season
2012Bob Brock29–2114–62nd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Finalist
2013Bob Brock37–3417–103rd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Finalist
2014Bob Brock27–2715–113rd Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Round
2015Bob Brock19–2810–153rd (West)
2016Bob Brock21–3113–143rd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round
2017Bob Brock24–2714–132nd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round
2018Bob Brock24–3313–142nd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round
2019Garrett Valis35–2322–5SLC Regular Season Champions, SLC Tournament Champions, NCAA Regionals
2020Garrett Valis11–172–3Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Garrett Valis19–3014–136th Regular Season, SLC Tournament, Second Round

Postseason appearances

Conference tournaments

Sources: [7]

YearHead CoachRecord%Notes
Southland Conference Tournament Results
1988Annie Westfall4–01.000Tournament Champion
1989Annie Westfall2–2.500Semi-Finalist
1990Annie Westfall2–2.500Semi-finalist
1991-95 No Conference Tournament
2003Bob Brock2–2.5003rd Round
2004Bob Brock2–2.5003rd Round
2005Bob Brock3–2.600Finalist
2007Bob Brock4–1.800Tournament Champion
2008Bob Brock0–1.0001st Round
2009Bob Brock2–2.5002nd Round
2012Bob Brock3–2.600Finalist
2013Bob Brock5–2.714Finalist
2014Bob Brock1–2.3332nd Round
Total31–20.60812 Appearances

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Bearkats have appeared in one NCAA Division I Tournaments. Their combined record is 1–2.

YearRoundOpponentResult/Score
NCAA Division I Tournament Results
2007 First Game
Second Game
Third Game		 Texas A&M
Louisiana–Lafayette
Texas A&M		L 5–9
W 2–1 (8)
L 0–11

Source: [7]

NIT Division I Tournament results

In 1993, the Bearkats appeared in the Division I NIT softball tournament. They won the tournament championship with a record of 3–0.

YearRoundOpponentResult/Score
NCAA Division I Tournament Results
1993First Game
Second Game
Third Game		DePaul
Princeton
Chicago–Illinois		W 7–2
W 3–0
W 3–2

Source: [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Athletic Branding". Sam Houston State University Department of Marketing and Communications. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Sam Houston State Softball Stadium". GoBearkats.com. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
  3. 1 2 "Important Dates in SHSU history". GoBearkats.com. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  4. 1 2 "Sam Houston State Softball Record Book: Year-by-Year" (PDF). Sam Houston State Athletics. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  5. ↑ "Sam Houston State Bearkats National Titles". GoBearkats.com. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  6. ↑ Jimmy Watson (2013-05-11). "NSU claims SLC softball tournament crown". Shreveport Times. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  7. 1 2 3 "Southland Conference 2015 Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. pp. 28–38. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
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