MISSOURI STATE
Head Coach H
ead coach Holly Hesse enters her 26th season leading the Bears’ program as the winningest coach in Missouri State history with a 646-639-2 record. Her tenure includes two regular-season MVC titles, five MVC tournament crowns and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Hesse recorded her 300th win in 2000, her 400th win in 2004, her 500th in 2007 and joined the 600-victory club with the Bears’ 7-2 triumph over Sam Houston State on February 17, 2012. Missouri State’s 40-17 record in 2006 included a second-place MVC regular season finish at 18-4, marking the 12th season during Hesse’s guidance the Bears finished in the top five of the conference standings. The Bears’ march to the MVC Tournament championship included three wins by the score of 4-0, and marked the fourth MSU conference tournament title under Hesse’s guidance. Missouri State advanced to the Los Angeles Regional, as the Bears made their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament under Hesse. The 2006 team’s 40 wins surpassed the school’s previous top win total of 38 set by Hesse’s 1994 squad. The 2006 season marked the sixth 30-win season under Hesse, who has guided the Bears to an average of nearly 26 wins per season since her arrival in 1989. Hesse’s most successful stretch at Missouri State came from 1994-98, when her teams averaged 32 wins per season, won an MVC regular-season championship and three tournament championships. The Bears advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons from 1996-98. Off the field, Hesse has been active in promoting both the sport of softball and women’s sports in general. She is one of the founding faculty members of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy, and served as president of the Springfield chapter of the Women’s Intersport Network (WIN) from 2009 to 2012. A 1982 graduate of Creighton University, Hesse came to Missouri State after two years as an assistant coach at her alma mater. Hesse was a standout pitcher at Creighton, where she was the school’s first 20-game winner, helping the Jays to three consecutive College World Series appearances. A native of Waukon, Iowa, Hesse won an incredible 161 games as a pitcher for Waukon High. She was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Pitchers’ Hall of Fame in 1979.
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2014 Softball Guide