The longest tenured softball head coach in Sacramento State history, Kathy Strahan begins her 21st season at Sacramento State in 2013 while guiding the team into its first year in the Big Sky Conference. Strahan’s coaching tenure will now have spanned four conferences as she guided the team from the Western Athletic Conference (1993-96) to the Big West Conference (1997-02), the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (2003-12) and now the Big Sky.
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. A 29-year veteran head coach of major collegiate softball, Strahan has compiled a 801-758-3 (.514) career record. On the final day of the 2012 regular season, she became the 52nd softball head coach in NCAA history (for all divisions) to achieve the 800-win milestone. Her 801 victories are good for 20th on the NCAA’s list of active head coaches. In 20 years with the Hornets, Strahan has tallied a 554-513-2 record.
Under Strahan’s guidance, the Hornets have made three NCAA Regional appearances (1993, 1995, 2008), and the team has posted at least 27 victories seven times in the last 10 years. In fact, Sacramento State never finished below the .500 mark in conference play during its 10-year tenure in the PCSC. The Hornets combined for a 119-76 record in PCSC play, and the squad finished lower than second place in the league standings just twice in the team’s final eight years in the conference. Over a stretch of six straight years (2001-06), the Hornets improved their overall record each season, culminating in a 35-20 mark in 2006.
Last year, Sacramento State finished the season with a 27-19 overall record and a 10-9 mark in the PCSC. The team’s .587 overall winning percentage ranks as the fifth best mark since Sacramento State joined the Div. I ranks in 1990. In addition, the Hornets posted the best fielding percentage in school history (.979), a mark which also ranked second in the nation. Five different players finished the season hitting better than .320, and the team’s nine-game winning streak (March 4-18) matched the program’s second longest streak during the Div. I era. Senior catcher Marissa Navarro was named second team all-Pacific Region, becoming the 10th Sacramento State softball player to receive Div. I all-region honors.
During the two-year stretch between 2010 and 2011, Strahan headed a youth movement that saw the Hornets start at least six underclassmen (freshmen and sophomore) every game of both seasons. Despite the rebuilding project, Sacramento State combined to post a 25-15 record in conference play and racked up 16 all-conference awards, six of which were first team selections. That included sweeping a four-game series on Loyola Marymount’s home field for the first time in school history in 2010, and winning nine of the last 12 games of the season in 2011.
In 2009, the Hornets finished with a 28-23 overall record, a 14-6 mark in the PCSC and eight players were named to the all-conference team. A school-record five of those players were named to the first team. The Hornets won each of their last eight games of the season and narrowly missed out on their second consecutive conference championship, finishing one game behind Portland State (15-5). In addition, the team tied the program record with 34 home runs. The 2009 squad averaged 1.51 doubles per game, which ranked as the 15th best mark in the nation.
In 2008, 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 still owns eight offensive team records, including batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.371), slugging percentage (.443), hits (461), runs (293), home runs (34), 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.
Before coming to Sacramento State, Strahan turned struggling programs into nationally ranked teams 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 nine years, at least five Sacramento State players have been named to the PCSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, including 13 last season which matched a program record. Eleven players on the current roster finished the fall semester with overall grade point averages of 3.0 or better.
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. Fifteen times in the last 16 years, at least one of her players has earned NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors, including two last year (Alyssa Nakken and Lauren Blair). In fact, Nakken received the honor four straight years while Blair has received the award three consecutive seasons.
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 in both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
A total of seven Sacramento State players have played in the professional ranks during Strahan’s tenure. That includes Jamie Schloredt and Izmena Cabrera, who both played for the National Pro Fastpitch League’s (NPF) Chicago Bandits in the summer of 2009. Cabrera was also selected to play for Puerto Rico’s national team in 2009.
Winkler went on to win a NPF 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 2003, Nicole Deatherage was drafted by the Sacramento Sunbirds of the National Pro Fastpitch League, and Gina Givogri won a gold medal at the 1994 Pan American Games while playing for the United States.
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 Area Sports Hall of Fame. She will be inducted into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame again on July 25, 2013, as a member of the 1974-75 Lansing Laurels Fastpitch softball squad.
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
