SIU Edwardsville Cougars
Founded1974
UniversitySouthern Illinois University Edwardsville
Athletic directorDerrick Brown (interim)
Head coachBen Sorden (2nd season season)
ConferenceOVC
LocationEdwardsville, IL
Home stadiumCougar Field
aka Cougar Stadium (Capacity: 800+)
NicknameCougars
ColorsRed and white[1]
   
NCAA Tournament champions
D II: 2007
NCAA WCWS appearances
D II: 2006, 2007
AIAW WCWS appearances
D II: 1980, 1982
NCAA Tournament appearances
D I: 2014
D II: 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Conference Tournament championships
OVC: 2014
GLVC: 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008
Regular Season Conference championships
OVC: 2015
OVC West Div.: 2014
GLVC: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007
GLVC SW Div.:1997, 1998

The SIU Edwardsville Cougars softball team represents Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in NCAA Division I college softball. They compete as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE plays its home games at Cougar Field, located in the southwest corner of the campus.[2]

History

Sources:[3][4][5][6][7]

Through 2018, the SIUE softball team had had only two head coaches in its history.

The program was begun by Cindy Jones in 1974–75. In fourteen seasons, Jones' teams were 376–201, with two trips to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Division II National Tournament[8] and two invitations to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship tournament while competing as a Division II independent.

Coach Sandy Montgomery took over the Cougars in 1989, with SIUE continuing as an independent and earning its third invitation to the Division II playoffs before joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) in 1996. In thirteen seasons as members of the GLVC, the Cougars won or shared seven regular season division or conference titles and five conference tournament championships. They earned ten trips to the NCAA Division II playoffs, including two spots in the Division II College World Series, and won the NCAA Division II National Softball Championship in 2007.

In 2008–09, SIUE athletics began the transition into Division I, and the Cougars joined the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in 2011.

On April 9, 2014, the Cougars defeated the Saint Louis Billikens 4–1 at SLU. The win was Coach Sandy Montgomery's 900th coaching win, making her the 39th coach in NCAA softball history to reach that milestone.[9] Coach Montgomery's record since assuming the reins in 1989 through the end of the 2014 regular season is 914–462–2.

On May 10, 2014, the softball Cougars became the first SIUE team to win an OVC championship in any sport. Rain and thunderstorms shortened the tournament, played at University Field at Jacksonville State, with the losers bracket being cancelled, while the 2nd seeded Cougars and the 4th seeded Murray State Racers were the last two undefeated teams. The Cougars scored early, with four home runs in the first two innings, and defeated the Racers 12–1, with the game halted after 6 innings by the mercy rule.[10] The squad also became the first SIUE team to qualify for an NCAA Division I tournament since the 1982 men's soccer team, when that sport had been the university's only Division I program before the school's transition to Division I for all sports began in 2008.[11]

In late July 2018, Sandy Montgomery suddenly announced her early retirement.[12] Assistant coach Jessica Jones was named as interim head coach for the 2019 season.[13]

On August 24, 2022, Coach Ben Sorden was named the new Cougars head softball coach. [14]

Records by year

Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
SIU Edwardsville (Division II Independent[3]) (1975–1985)
1975 Cindy Jones 10–9
1976 Cindy Jones 4–11
1977 Cindy Jones 16–9
1978 Cindy Jones 15–10
1979 Cindy Jones 15–16
1980 Cindy Jones 36–20AIAW DII WCWS (t-9th)
1981 Cindy Jones 30–14
1982 Cindy Jones 39–20AIAW DII WCWS National Runnerup
1983 Cindy Jones 33–17
1984 Cindy Jones 38–8
1985 Cindy Jones 40–13NCAA Regional
1986 Cindy Jones 25–22
1987 Cindy Jones 36–19
1988 Cindy Jones 39–13NCAA Regional
Cindy Jones: 376–201 .652
1989 Sandy Montgomery 35–24–1
1990 Sandy Montgomery 34–13NCAA Regional
1991 Sandy Montgomery 35–16
1992 Sandy Montgomery 22–21
1993 Sandy Montgomery 23–24
1994 Sandy Montgomery 18–25–1
1995 Sandy Montgomery 24–19
SIU Edwardsville (Great Lakes Valley Conference (Div. II)[4]) (1996–2008)
1996 Sandy Montgomery 34–1712–62nd
1997 Sandy Montgomery 39–1323–01st Southwest
1998 Sandy Montgomery 33–2322–51st SouthwestNCAA Regional
1999 Sandy Montgomery 33–1713–31st
2000 Sandy Montgomery 39–1916–6t-3rdNCAA Regional
2001 Sandy Montgomery 41–1717–52ndNCAA Regional
2002 Sandy Montgomery 51–1217–21stNCAA Regional
2003 Sandy Montgomery 44–1117–31stNCAA Regional
2004 Sandy Montgomery 35–1915–53rdNCAA Regional
2005 Sandy Montgomery 41–1515–33rdNCAA Regional
2006 Sandy Montgomery 52–1116–41st Div. II WCWS
2007 Sandy Montgomery 49–819–5t-1stNCAA Div. II Champion
2008 Sandy Montgomery 49–1119–52ndNCAA Regional
SIU Edwardsville (Division I Independent[3]) (2009–2010)
2009 Sandy Montgomery 40–10
2010 Sandy Montgomery 27–24
SIU Edwardsville (Ohio Valley Conference[5]) (2011–current)
2011 Sandy Montgomery 28–3019–114th
2012 Sandy Montgomery 23–2913–168th
2013 Sandy Montgomery 35–1317–52nd West
2014 Sandy Montgomery 30–2319–51st WestNCAA Regional
2015 Sandy Montgomery 43–1620–61st
2016 Sandy Montgomery 28–2615–114th
2017 Sandy Montgomery 41–1313–3t-2nd
2018 Sandy Montgomery 25–2114–85th
Sandy Montgomery: 1,051–540–2 .660336–108 .757
2019 Jessica Jones 16–288–148th
Jessica Jones: 16–28 .8528–14 .364
Total:1,415–743–2 .656

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

All–Americans

Through the years, fifteen Cougar softball players were named Division II All–Americans:[15]

In 2017, Haley Chambers-Book became the Cougars' first Division I All-American.

References

  1. ↑ "Ohio Valley Conference Style Guide" (PDF). June 20, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  2. ↑ "OVC Member Institutions". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "SIUE Softball Archives". SIUE Cougars. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "GLVC Softball Archive". Great Lakes Valley Conference. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "OVC Softball Records" (PDF). Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Division II Softball Championship History". NCAA. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  7. ↑ "AlestleLive Sports Blog". The Alestle. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ "1979-80 Winter & Spring Championship Results" (PDF). NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP NEWSLETTER. Washington, DC: ASSOCIATION FOR INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS FOR WOMEN. Summer 1980. p. 17 (p 143 of PDF). Retrieved 2017-02-20.
  9. ↑ "Sandy Montgomery Notches 900th Win In Illustrious 26 Year Career". NCAA. April 8, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rain ousts EIU; SIUE wins OVC softball title". Journal-Gazette & Times-Courier. May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Cougars rout Murray State for OVC Tourney title". The Telegraph. May 11, 2014. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ "COLLEGE SOFTBALL: Montgomery retires after 30 seasons, 1,051 victories as SIUE coach". The Telegraph. July 27, 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "SIUE Announces 2018 Fall Softball Schedule". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "SIUE Softball Names Sorden as New Head Coach". SIUE. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  15. ↑ "SIUE Softball All-Americans". SIUE Cougars. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
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