The Sam Houston Bearkats softball is the 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 play their home games at the Bearkat Softball Complex located on the university's campus.

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. 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. Following their third consecutive WCWS season in 1983, SHSU softball continued to win, and reached DII regionals the next two years. 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. 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.

Year-by-year results

Year Head coach CollegiateRecord ConferenceRecord Notes Independent (Lone Star Conference in Other Sports) 1980 Wayne Daigle 19–5 – 1981 Wayne Daigle 32–11 – NAIA Women's College World Series Champions 1982 Wayne Daigle 40–6 – Division II Women's College World Series Champions 1983 Wayne Daigle 43–17 – NCAA Division II Women's College World Series (2nd Place) Gulf Star Conference - NCAA Division II 1984 Brenda Marshall 32–22 0–0 1985 Brenda Marshall 37–11 10–4 NCAA Division II Regionals 1986 Brenda Marshall 39–16 14–6 NCAA Division II Regionals Gulf Star Conference - Begin NCAA DI Play 1987 Kalum Haack 34–26 13–7 Southland Conference 1988 Annie Westfall 49–17 13–1 Conference Regular Season Champions SLC Tournament Champion 1989 Annie Westfall 37–20 9–3 2nd, Conference Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Place National NIT (8th place) 1990 Annie Westfall 25–34 9–3 Conference Regular Season Champions SLC Tournament, 3rd Place 1991 Marty Blowers 37–23 18–6 2nd, Conference Regular Season 1992 Marty Blowers 41–21 18–10 2nd Conference Regular Season (T) 1993 Marty Blowers 39–15 24–4 Conference Regular Season Champions National NIT Champions 1994 Marty Blowers 18–35–1 13–18–1 6th Regular Season 1995 Marty Blowers 19–33 15–17 5th Regular Season 1996 Marty Blowers 23–25 12–12 5th Regular Season 1997 Laniegh Clark 14–32 9–15 7th Regular Season 1998 Laniegh Clark 14–35 4–22 10th Regular Season 1999 John Garris 18–38 6–21 10th Regular Season 2000 John Garris 18–38 4–22 9th Regular Season 2001 John Garris 20–34 2–25 10th Regular Season 2002 Bob Brock 11–31 9–18 8th Regular Season 2003 Bob Brock 23–33 12–15 6th Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Place 2004 Bob Brock 29–23 17–9 3rd Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Place 2005 Bob Brock 29–25 19–7 2nd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Finalist 2006 Bob Brock 18–30 11–16 7th Regular Season 2007 Bob Brock 38–26 20–10 2nd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Champion NCAA Division I Regional (1 win–2 losses) 2008 Bob Brock 30–31 15–15 7th Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 1st Round 2009 Bob Brock 28–26 15–14 6th Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Place 2010 Bob Brock 21–28 13–16 9th Regular Season 2011 Bob Brock 22–32 14–15 7th Regular Season 2012 Bob Brock 29–21 14–6 2nd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Finalist 2013 Bob Brock 37–34 17–10 3rd Regular Season, SLC Tournament Finalist 2014 Bob Brock 27–27 15–11 3rd Regular Season, SLC Tournament, 3rd Round 2015 Bob Brock 19–28 10–15 3rd (West) 2016 Bob Brock 21–31 13–14 3rd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round 2017 Bob Brock 24–27 14–13 2nd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round 2018 Bob Brock 24–33 13–14 2nd (West), SLC Tournament, Second Round 2019 Garrett Valis 35–23 22–5 SLC Regular Season Champions, SLC Tournament Champions, NCAA Regionals 2020 Garrett Valis 11–17 2–3 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Garrett Valis 19–30 14–13 6th Regular Season, SLC Tournament, Second Round

Postseason appearances

Conference tournaments Sources: Year Head coach Record % NotesSouthland Conference Tournament Results 1988 Annie Westfall 4–0 1.000 Tournament Champion 1989 Annie Westfall 2–2 .500 Semi-Finalist 1990 Annie Westfall 2–2 .500 Semi-finalist1991-95 No Conference Tournament 2003 Bob Brock 2–2 .500 3rd Round 2004 Bob Brock 2–2 .500 3rd Round 2005 Bob Brock 3–2 .600 Finalist 2007 Bob Brock 4–1 .800 Tournament Champion 2008 Bob Brock 0–1 .000 1st Round 2009 Bob Brock 2–2 .500 2nd Round 2012 Bob Brock 3–2 .600 Finalist 2013 Bob Brock 5–2 .714 Finalist 2014 Bob Brock 1–2 2nd Round Total 31–20 12 Appearances

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

Year Round Opponent Result/ScoreNCAA Division I Tournament Results 2007 First GameSecond GameThird Game Texas A&MLouisiana–LafayetteTexas A&M L 5–9W 2–1 (8) L 0–11

Source:

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.

Year Round Opponent Result/ScoreNCAA Division I Tournament Results 1993 First GameSecond GameThird Game DePaulPrincetonChicago–Illinois W 7–2W 3–0 W 3–2

Source:

See also List of NCAA Division I softball programs

References

External links