The South Florida Bulls softball team represents University of South Florida in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the American Conference. The Bulls are currently led by head coach Ken Eriksen. The team plays its home games at USF Softball Stadium located on the university's main campus in Tampa, Florida.
USF's softball team has won two national championships, both coming before softball was an NCAA sanctioned sport. They won in the American Softball Association in 1983 and 1984. They have also won 11 conference championships, eight of which were regular season titles and three of which were in the conference tournament. They have reached 19 NCAA tournaments
History
Pre-NCAA Before softball officially became an NCAA sport in 1985, the Bulls (known as the Lady Brahmans until 1987) played in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and the American Softball Association. Unfortunately, not many records exist from this era of USF softball, and 1985 is recognized by the school as the first official season of the team as that is the year they joined the NCAA. However, it is known that the team's actual first season of play was in 1973 and that the team went to the AIAW Quarterfinals in 1976 and 1981. Hildred Deese was USF's only head coach for this entire era; she also coached the USF volleyball team from 1979–1983. After the AIAW disbanded in 1982, the American Softball Association (now USA Softball) took over as the top collegiate governing body for the sport. The Lady Brahmans won the national championship in both years of the ASA before joining the NCAA in 1985, making them the first team in USF history to win a national championship.
Early NCAA years (1985–1996) Hildred Deese continued as head coach for the early years of USF in the NCAA. For most of these years, USF competed without a conference affiliation as their main conferences during this time did not sponsor softball as a sport, but they joined the softball-only Southern Atlantic Softball Alliance in 1995 along with big-name teams like Florida State. Although the Bulls finished with a winning percentage of .500 or better during every year of Deese's tenure, they were not selected for the NCAA tournament until her final year coaching the team in 1996, in which they won their first conference title.
Ken Eriksen era (1996–present) Following Deese's retirement, she was replaced by Ken Eriksen, who played on the USF baseball team from 1981–1984. Under the new coach, the Bulls won the SASA title in 1997 and 1998, with the 1998 team finishing with a .803 win percentage, the best record in team history to that point. Conference USA started sponsoring softball in 2000, so the Bulls left SASA after 1999. They had less success in CUSA and never won a title in that league, but started to become mainstays in the NCAA tournament during their time in the conference, reaching the tournament in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2003, Leigh Ann Ellis became the first USF softball pitcher to throw a perfect game.
The Bulls left Conference USA for the Big East starting in 2006, and reached their first NCAA Super Regional that year where they fell to UCLA. The Bulls won their first Big East title in 2008. In 2011, the new USF Softball Stadium opened. USF's 2012 season was their most successful since joining the NCAA. Pitcher Sara Nevins threw a perfect game in March, the Bulls hosted a Super Regional for the first time, and secured their first-ever NCAA Women's College World Series berth. USF won their first conference tournament in 2013 (albeit the SASA did not have a conference tournament while USF was a member) before joining the American Athletic Conference (now known as the American Conference) in 2014.
Sara Nevins threw another perfect game in 2014 en route to another NCAA tournament appearance. USF won its first American Athletic Conference crown in 2016, then won again in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, Ken Eriksen temporarily took a leave of absence from the team to coach the USA national team for the 2020 Summer Olympics and assistant coach Jessica Moore was named the interim coach. The season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Eriksen returned the following year.
In 2021, Eriksen became the first USF coach in any sport to lead his team to 1,000 wins, doing so during a no hitter pitched by Georgina Corrick (the first of two no hitters Corrick pitched in back-to-back days). Corrick is not only considered the greatest USF softball player of all time, but also one of the greatest college softball players ever. She holds USF's all time records in many categories including wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, and opponent batting average. Despite an injury that prevented her from playing in the conference or NCAA tournaments, Corrick's 2022 season was one of the most dominant college softball seasons ever, achieving a 37–5 record with 21 shutouts and 34 complete games, 418 strikeouts, an ERA of 0.51, and two perfect games. She was unanimously named the 2022 NCAA Pitcher of the Year and was the first college softball pitcher to win a Triple Crown.
Coaching history YearsNameRecordWin percentage 1973–1996 Hildred Deese 686-355 1997–2019, 2021–present Ken Eriksen 1,083–561–1 2020Jessica Moore (interim)16-9
Season-by-season results YearConferenceGames playedRecordWin percentageConference recordHead coachPostseason/Notes1973Independent (AIAW)1310–3.769N/AHildred Deese19741813–5.7221975116–5.54519763930–9.769AIAW Quarterfinal19772110–11.47619783118–13.58119794232–10.76219803721–16.56819816037–23.617AIAW Quarterfinal19825640–16.7141983Independent (ASA)6752–15.776ASA National Champions19843831–7.816ASA National Champions1985Independent (NCAA)5943–16.72919865039–11.78019875132–19.62719885226–26.50019894822–26.45819904527–18.60019915335–18.66019925134–17.66719934628–18.60919945130–21.5881995Southern Atlantic Softball Alliance4929–20.5929–319965341–12.77410–2NCAA Regional19976350–13.79412–0Ken EriksenNCAA Regional19987157–14.80311–1NCAA Regional19997044–26.6296–62000Conference USA7341–33.56213–920017743–34.55814–11NCAA Regional20025824–33–1.4149–1320037354–19.74019–8NCAA Regional20047460–14.81118–5NCAA Regional20057142–29.59217–11NCAA Regional2006Big East 7550–25.66717–3NCAA Super Regional20076644–22.66715–520086444–20.68816–4NCAA Regional20095634–22.60712–1020105324–29.4539–1320115433–21.61113–520126450–14.78117–5Women's College World Series20136145–16.73818–3NCAA Regional2014American Conference6043–17.71713–5NCAA Regional20155636–20.6436–1020166145–16.73815–3NCAA Regional20175632–24.5719–820186239–23.62914–7NCAA Regional20196041–19.68317–4NCAA Regional20202716–9.6400–0Jessica Moore (interim) Season cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic20215031–19.63316–7Ken Eriksen NCAA Regional20226145–16.73812–5NCAA Regional20235632–24.57110–7Total 2,7111,785–925–1.659367–173 21 AppearancesBold indicates tournament wonItalics indicate Conference Championship
Championships
National Championships SeasonLeagueRecordHead coach 1983 American Softball Association 52-15 Hildred Deese 1984 American Softball Association 31-7 Hildred Deese
Conference Championships SeasonConferenceConference recordHead coach 1997 Conference USA 12–0 Ken Eriksen 1998 Conference USA 11–1 Ken Eriksen 2008 Big East Conference 16–4 Ken Eriksen 2016 American Athletic Conference 15–3 Ken Eriksen 2018 American Athletic Conference 14–7 Ken Eriksen 2019 American Athletic Conference 17–4 Ken Eriksen
Conference Tournament Championships SeasonConferenceLocationHead coach 2013 Big East Conference Tampa, FL Ken Eriksen
Coaching staff NamePositionYears with team Ken Eriksen Head coach 23Jessica MooreAssociate Head Coach6Tommy SantiagoAssistant coach2Morgan GrossAssistant coach2 Kristen Wyckoff Volunteer assistant coach 2 Michele Latimer Senior athletic trainer 15Reference:
Perfect Games and No Hitters
Perfect Games USF pitchers have thrown five perfect games in school history:
Leigh Ann Ellis, March 11, 2003, vs. Canisus Sara Nevins, March 11, 2012, vs. Toledo Sara Nevins, May 4, 2014, vs. Temple Georgina Corrick, March 6, 2022, vs. Florida A&M Georgina Corrick, April 30, 2022 vs. Houston
No Hitters Bulls pitchers have also thrown 29 no hitters (not including no hitters that were also perfect games):
Lori Romero, 1985 Lori Romero, 1986 Monica Triner, 1996 vs. Bradley Monica Triner, 1996 vs. Penn State Jessi Kowal, 2000 vs. St. Louis Leigh Ann Ellis, 2003 vs. Ball State Danielle Urbanik, 2004 vs. UAB Kristen Gordon/Bree Spence, 2007 vs. ETSU Cristi Ecks, Capri Catalano & Courtney Mosch, 2009 vs. Hofstra Sara Nevins, 2012 vs. Central Connecticut Sara Nevins, 2012 vs. Pittsburgh Lindsey Richardson, 2013 vs. Maine Sara Nevins, 2013 vs. Pittsburgh Lindsey Richardson, 2013 vs. Providence Lindsey Richardson, 2013 vs. Marshall Sara Nevins/Erica Nuun, 2014 vs Illinois State Sara Nevins, 2014 vs. UMass Sara Nevins, 2014 vs. UConn Sara Nevins, 2014 vs. UCF Erica Nuun, 2015 vs. Illinois State Georgina Corrick, 2018 vs. UNF Georgina Corrick/Vivian Ponn, 2020 vs. FIU Georgina Corrick, 2021 vs. North Dakota Georgina Corrick, April 30, 2021 vs. ECU Georgina Corrick, May 1, 2021 vs. ECU Georgina Corrick, 2021 vs. Baylor Georgina Corrick, 2022 vs. ECU Payton Dixon, 2023 vs. Houston Julia Apostolakos/Alex Wright, 2024 vs. Bethune-Cookman
Awards and honors
All-Americans First team Leslie Kanter, 1986 Dawn Melfi, 1992 Georgina Corrick, 2022
Second team Lisa Wunar, 1987 Monica Triner, 1998 Monica Triner, 1999 Holly Groves, 2004 Sara Nevins, 2012 Erica Nuun, 2016 Georgina Corrick, 2019
Third team Leigh Ann Ellis, 2004 Tiffany Stewart, 2005 Sara Nevins, 2013 Sara Nevins, 2014 Georgina Corrick, 2021
National awards NFCA National Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick, 2022
Softball America Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick, 2022
NFCA Golden Shoe Award Alexis Johns, 2022 NCAA Pitching Triple Crown
Georgina Corrick, 2022 (first pitching triple crown in NCAA history)
Conference awards Sources:
Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Leigh Ann Ellis, 2004
Conference USA Freshman of the Year Bree Spence, 2005
Big East Pitcher of the Year Sara Nevins, 2013
Big East Freshman of the Year Cristi Ecks, 2006 Capri Catalano, 2008
American Conference Player of the Year Juli Weber, 2016
American Conference Pitcher of the Year Sara Nevins, 2014 Erica Nunn, 2016 Georgina Corrick, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
American Conference Freshman of the Year Juli Weber, 2014 Georgina Corrick, 2018
American Conference Defensive Player of the Year Macy Cook, 2019
National Team members Monica Triner, 2000 Leigh Ann Ellis, 2005–06 Kourtney Salvarola, 2011–13 Lee Ann Spivey, 2013 Erica Nuun, 2013 Sara Nevins, 2013–15 Astin Donovan, 2015–16 Lauren Evans, 2017–present Georgina Corrick, 2017–present Karla Claudio-Rivera, 2017–present Monica Santos, 2017–present Kathy Garcia, 2022–present Camille Ortiz, 2022–present
USF Athletic Hall of Fame
Monica Triner, 1996-99 (inducted 2011) Sara Nevins, 2011-14 (inducted 2019)
USF Softball Hall of Fame Softball is one of USF's only sports to have its own Hall of Fame outside of the USF Athletic Hall of Fame. The inductees as of 2022 are: