NEW FACES IN CHARGE IN THE AMERICAN
Three coaches from The American are set to make their head coaching debuts during the 2020 season. Laura Valentino will lead UConn after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Duke. Valentino has additional coaching experience at Charlotte and Fairfield. Crissy Strimple takes over the helm at Tulsa after spending the previous eight seasons as the associate head coach of the Golden Hurricane. Strimple, a former Tulsa standout, also enjoyed prior assistant coaching stints at Arkansas and Central Arkansas. Jessica Moore has assumed the title of interim head coach at USF while Ken Eriksen coaches the U.S. Women’s National Team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Moore has been on staff with the Bulls for four seasons after a previous stop at Idaho State.
THE AMERICAN IN THE PRESEASON RANKINGS
Three teams from the American Athletic Conference were featured in major preseason national softball polls for the 2020 season that were released on Jan. 28. USF and Houston each garnered votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, while Tulsa also joined its conference counterparts in the initial NFCA rankings.
LOOKING TO BUILD OFF 2019 SUCCESS IN 2020
The American sent three teams to the 2019 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, as USF (NCAA Tallahassee Regional), Houston (NCAA Austin Regional) and Tulsa (NCAA Stillwater Regional) each took part in last season’s tournament. USF and Tulsa are tied for the most NCAA Regional appearances in conference history, as each institution has reached the postseason four times since The American was officially formed prior to the 2014 campaign (Tulsa joined The American in 2015). Tulsa finished 30th in the final 2019 NCAA RPI, with USF slotted 32nd and Houston 36th.
CORRICK’S HISTORIC REPEAT IN 2019
USF junior pitcher Georgina Corrick became the first softball player in The American to repeat as a major award winner by claiming her second straight American Pitcher of the Year honor last season. In Corrick’s first two seasons in Tampa, she has compiled an impressive 40-15 record with a 1.38 ERA and four saves. Corrick, named to the 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, has limited opponents to a .183 batting average against in 73 career appearances (57 starts), striking out 424 in 385.2 innings pitched.
PERRIGAN, MCCLELLAN CHASING AMERICAN HR MARK
Wichita State junior catcher Madison Perrigan and ECU redshirt senior Tate McClellan are both within range of establishing the career home runs record in The American. Perrigan (30) and McClellan (28) enter 2020 trailing former USF standout Lee Ann Spivey (2014-16, 35) for the all-time conference home run crown.