Kathy StrahanTitle: Head Coach Experience: 17th Year Alma Mater: Michigan State, '79 Email:kstrahan@csus.edu Bio:
Head coach Kathy Strahan enters her 17th season at Sacramento State while guiding the team in its seventh season in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. Strahan’s coaching tenure with the Hornets has spanned three conferences as she guided the team from the Western Athletic Conference (1993-96) to the Big West Conference (1997-02), and now the PCSC (2003-pres.).
An accomplished program builder with a reputation for academic excellence and integrity in her softball program, Strahan was named head coach at Sacramento State in June of 1992. By guiding the Hornets to a position among the NCAA’s upper echelon programs throughout her Sacramento State career, Strahan has strengthened her already-impressive credentials among Div. I coaches. In October of 2003, the Sacramento State softball program was ranked 40th by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in the USA Today/NFCA All-Time Top 50 poll.
A 25-year veteran of major college softball, Strahan has compiled a 703-661-3 (.515) career record. Her 703 victories are good for 21st all-time on the NCAA list among active head coaches with at least five years of Div. I experience. In 16 years with the Hornets, Strahan has tallied a 456-416-2 record.
Under Strahan’s guidance, the Hornets made their third NCAA Regional appearance last season (1993, 1995, 2008), and the team has now posted five 30-win seasons in the last six years. Sacramento State has yet to finish below the .500 mark in conference play since joining the PCSC in 2003. Over a stretch of six consecutive seasons (2001-06), the Hornets improved their record each year, culminating in a 35-20 mark in 2006.
Last season, Sacramento State finished the regular season with a 32-21 overall record, a 14-6 PCSC mark, and the program’s first conference championship since joining the Div. I ranks in 1990. The Hornets were finally able to get over the hump after finishing second in the PCSC standings three consecutive years (2005-07). In addition, Sacramento State was a bubble team three straight years (2004-06) for a bid to the NCAA Regionals, but did not get an invitation.
The 2008 season marked a historic year in which the team averaged 5.5 runs per game and posted nine offensive team records, including batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.371), slugging percentage (.443), hits (461), runs (293), home runs (34), doubles (71), RBIs (261) and total bases (656). Moreover, the batting average was the 16th best mark in the nation, the runs per game ranked 18th and slugging percentage 34th.
The Hornets won each of their final eight conference games of 2008 to catapult themselves from fourth place in the league standings to first over a two-week span. For her efforts, Strahan was named the PCSC Coach of the Year for the first time.
The Lansing, Mich., native also captured Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in her first season at Sacramento State in 1993. Her efforts led the Hornets to a berth in the NCAA Championships in 1993, the first postseason bid for any program in Sacramento State’s Div. I history to an NCAA Championship event. Two years later, Strahan guided the 1995 squad to a 40-15 record and a No. 8 ranking in the final polls. During that same year, the Hornets hosted a regional for the first time in the Div. I era and finished first in the nation with a 0.76 team ERA.
Consistent with her commitment to challenge and growth, she has taken a leading role in establishing major regular-season tournaments at Sacramento State. In its 16th year, the 2008 Capital Classic, hosted by Sacramento State, featured a field of nine teams (from six different states) last season, including softball powers Cal, Ohio State and Oklahoma. This year’s field includes Cal, BYU, UNLV, Colorado State, Cal Poly and Dartmouth.
Before coming to Sacramento State, Strahan turned dormant programs into national powers at Cal State Dominguez Hills (1984-85) and San Jose State (1986-92). In the process, her teams regularly captured individual and team academic honors.
An honors graduate twice herself, Strahan has consistently recruited and produced outstanding student-athletes. Each of the last five years, at least eight Sacramento State players have been named to the PCSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, and nine players on last season’s squad finished the academic year (2007-08) with at least a 3.0 gpa.
The softball team has traditionally posted some of the highest cumulative grade point averages in the 20-sport Sacramento State athletics program since Strahan’s arrival. Eleven times in the last 12 years, at least one of her players has earned NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors, including three last year (Hilary Johnson, Kayla Meeks and Amanda Meyer).
In addition to academic honors, Strahan’s athletes have thrived on the field. At Sacramento State, Strahan coached Susie Bugliarello to three All-America selections from 1995-97, Tami Blunt to an All-America selection in 1993, and Lindy Winkler to an All-America selection in 2006. Bugliarello pitched for Italy at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
Winkler went on to win a National Pro Fastpitch championship with the New England Riptide in the summer of 2006. Former Hornet Katie Cichy was drafted in 1999 by the Durham Dragons of the Women’s Professional Softball League in the third round (15th overall pick). In December of 2003, Nicole Deatherage was drafted by the Sacramento Sunbirds of the National Pro Fastpitch League.
The 1989 Big West co-Coach of the Year, Strahan posted a 201-187-1 record in seven years (1986-92) at San Jose State. During that span, Strahan’s teams had just two losing seasons. Under her direction, the Spartans arrived on the national scene in 1990, finishing 34-28 and earning the program’s first-ever NCAA postseason berth. San Jose State also made its first-ever appearance in the national top 20, earning the 11th spot and remaining in the top 20 all season long.
In 1992, the Spartans finished 33-24 and advanced to the NCAA West Regional. San Jose State climbed as high as ninth that year, finishing 13th in the final NCAA poll, duplicating the team’s 1991 national finish after a 32-24-1 season. Her San Jose State teams won 30 or more games each of her last four seasons and won 20 or more each season of her seven-year tenure.
Strahan began her head coaching career at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1984. After a 10-34 season, she led the Toros to a 36-24 record and a national ranking as high as sixth during the 1985 season.
Prior to her stint at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Strahan spent four years as an assistant coach at Santa Monica Community College (1983), Housatonic Community College (1982) and Michigan State (1980-81).
Strahan was a shortstop for the Raybestos Brakettes of Stratford, Conn., the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) national champions in 1977, ‘78 and ‘80. She was also a member of the United States’ gold-medal winning team at the 1979 Pan American games, while also playing with the 1978 U.S. World Championships team.
A standout softball and basketball player at Michigan State, she was a member of the 1976 Michigan State AIAW national championship team. Strahan was inducted into the Michigan Amateur Softball Association’s Hall of Fame in 1995. Six years later, in 2001, Strahan was inducted into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame.
Strahan served on the NCAA Regional Softball Committee for five seasons and the USA Today Softball Poll ranking committee. She was also a member of the Pacific Region softball committee and the NCAA certification committee.
Strahan earned her bachelor’s (1979) and master’s (1982) degrees from Michigan State in physical education, graduating with honors both times. In addition, she authored a 224-page book, Coaching Girls Softball, detailing how to coach softball to girls ages 7-13.
Kathy Strahan
