Ricci Woodard Last College: New Mexico State '91 Position: Head Coach Experience: Ninth Season

Texas State head softball coach Ricci Woodard enters her tenth season with the Bobcat program.

The Bobcats enter 2010 as the defending Southland Conference Champions, who made a name for themselves during the 2009 season.

Texas State beat five Big 12 teams in 2009, padding its resume after earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Waco Regional. The Bobcats run ruled No. 13 Northwestern in its first game, proving that the Bobcats could take on the best in the nation.

Chandler Hall earned Southland Conference Freshman and Pitcher of the Year honors, while senior Alex Newton earned the Southland Conference Softball Player and Student-Athlete of the Year awards. Both players received Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region team honors.

Texas State had six players named to the 2009 SLC All-Conference teams, as the Bobcats finished the season 40-18 for their second 40+ win season since 2003.

Woodard's teams have compiled an overall 341-183-1 record while going 191-53-1 in Southland Conference play, in her nine seasons at Texas State. Woodard was named the 2008 Southland Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in her career, after leading her team to a first place showing at the end of the regular season.

Under Woodard's guidance her student-athletes have appeared in nine straight Southland Conference Tournaments and three NCAA Tournaments.

In 2008, the Bobcats recorded a 35-18 record. They started the conference schedule winning eight straight games, and ended the season winning five of their last six games, going 25-5 in the SLC.

While leading her team to a first place finish, Woodard had eight of her players named to the SLC All-Conference Team to lead all teams. Senior pitcher Ragan Blake was a First Team selection and was named SLC Pitcher of the Year. Newcomer McKenzie Baack was named SLC Hitter of the Year.

In 2007, Texas State finished 32-26 overall and 18-12 in the SLC, including a 3-0 win at No. 18 Texas. The Bobcats also advanced to the final day of the Southland Conference Tournament before falling to tournament champion Sam Houston State. In 2006, the Bobcats finished 34-22 overall, going 18-5 in conference play to finish second place in the regular season standings.

Texas State also defeated No. 1 ranked Texas before a record crowd of over 1,100 at Bobcat Field. The Longhorns were one of five 2006 opponents for the Bobcats that made the NCAA Tournament Field. As the second seed in the 2006 SLC Tournament, the Bobcats defeated Nicholls and Northwestern State, but fell to UT Arlington in a loser's bracket game.

Texas State struggled to a 26-27 overall mark in 2005, the only season Woodard has failed to finish above .500 on the season. However, the Bobcats still showed they were among the Southland's best, going 18-8 in conference play to finish tied for second in the standings.

In 2004, Texas State finished 37-20, for second place in the SLC. With the 37 victories Woodard became the all-time wins leader among Texas State softball coaches as she passed Pam Wuestenberg, who guided the first ten Bobcat softball teams, for the record with her 172nd win.

Woodard guided the Bobcats to a 46-18-1 record in 2003. Finishing 21-5-1 in the SLC, the Bobcats placed second in the regular season race, but still earned an NCAA Tournament bid. It marked the second year Woodard's team played in an NCAA regional tournament. The Bobcats went 3-2 in the Austin Regional, falling to eventual Women's College World Series participant Texas in the regional finals after earning wins over Arizona State, Northwestern and Hawai'i.

2002 brought the second straight SLC regular season championship to San Marcos as the Bobcats posted a 37-22 overall record and went 23-4 in the SLC. The SLC title was the fourth in the program's then-17 year history. The season also marked the second-consecutive year that Woodard was honored as the SLC Coach of the Year. In 2001, Woodard took the helm at Texas State as the program's fourth head coach and immediately had unprecedented success. The Bobcats had their best record in program history (54-12), a regular season SLC title, an SLC Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Texas State advanced to the regional finals before bowing out to eventual 2001 NCAA National Champion Arizona.

Woodard has had three former players play in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league, including Nicole Neuerburg, Kristen Zaleski and Alex Newton. Zaleski, was named the 2005 NPF Most Valuable Player.

Prior to coaching her current post with Texas State, Woodard served as an assistant coach at the University of Oregon for four seasons. In her first collegiate coaching experience, Woodard helped the Ducks to three consecutive national top 25 finishes and three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Woodard started her coaching career working with high school teams. Prior to becoming a Duck, she worked as head coach at Midland High School. The Bulldogs won a district title for the first time in school history under Woodard's guidance.

She successfully started a softball program at Brazosport High School in Freeport before going to Midland and eventually entering college coaching.

As a player, Woodard played infield at Central Arizona Junior College, where she served as team captain. She transferred to New Mexico State and graduated with a B.S. in education in 1991.

Woodard played high school ball at Carlsbad (NM) High School, where her team won three New Mexico High School State Championships during her four years.