Ken Eriksen

Ken Eriksen is an American softball coach who is the current head coach of the University of South Florida Bulls and former manager of the United States women's national softball team.^[1]

Ken Eriksen

Eriksen in 2018
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	South Florida
Conference	AAC
Record	1,006–521–1 (.659)
Biographical details
Born	New York, New York
Alma mater	South Florida
Playing career
1981–1984	South Florida
1986–1992	Clearwater Bombers
1993–1995	Larry Miller-Toyota
1996–1997	Tampa Smokers
Position(s)	Catcher, Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
College Softball
1989–1996	South Florida (asst.)
1997–present	South Florida
National Softball
2002–2011	Team USA Women's Softball (asst.)
2011–2021	Team USA Women's Softball
Head coaching record
Overall	1,181–543–1 (.685)
Tournaments	With South Florida: NCAA: 26–27 (.491) Conference: 23–24 (.489) With Team USA: Total record: 175–22 (.888)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As Player: 2x Sun Belt Conference (1982 regular season and tournament) 1x ASA Men's Fastpitch (1997) As Coach: With South Florida: 2x Conference USA (1997, 1998) 2x Big East (2008, 2013) 3x American Athletic Conference (2016, 2018, 2019) With Team USA: 2x ISF World Championship (2016, 2018) 6x World Cup of Softball (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) 2x Pan American Games (2011, 2019)
Awards
As Player: First team All-world (1992) As Coach: 3x American Athletic Conference coach of the year (2016, 2018, 2019)
Records
Winningest coach in University of South Florida history (all sports)
Medal record Player for Men's Softball at the Pan American Games 1991 Santiago Head Coach for Women's Softball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Team competition Head Coach for ISF Women's World Championship 2012 Whitehorse 2014 Haarlem 2016 South Surrey 2018 Chiba Head Coach for World Cup of Softball 2011 Oklahoma City 2012 Oklahoma City 2013 Oklahoma City 2014 Irvine, CA 2015 Irvine, CA 2016 Oklahoma City 2017 Oklahoma City 2018 Irvine, CA 2019 Columbus, GA Head Coach for Softball at the Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara 2015 Toronto 2019 Lima Assistant Coach for Women's Softball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team competition Assistant Coach for ISF Women's World Championship 2002 Saskatoon 2010 Caracas Assistant Coach for World Cup of Softball 2005 Oklahoma City 2009 Oklahoma City 2010 Oklahoma City Assistant Coach for Softball at the Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo

Early life and education

Eriksen graduated high school from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York. Eriksen attended the University of South Florida where he was a member of their baseball team from 1981 to 1984.^[2] He graduated from USF in 1984 with a degree in political science. He later returned to South Florida to earn his master's degree in public administration.^[1]

Playing career

While at USF, Eriksen played in five different positions, mainly as a pitcher and a catcher. He amassed a career .315 batting average and 2.48 ERA.^[1]

After graduating, Eriksen began playing fastpitch softball. In 1986 he was signed by the Clearwater Bombers of the American Softball Association, where he played until 1992. Eriksen also played for the Larry Miller-Toyota team of the ASA from 1993 to 1995 and the Tampa Smokers from 1996 to 1997, after which he retired from playing to become the head coach of USF softball. He also played for the United States men's national softball team where he won silver at the 1991 Pan American Games.^[1]

Eriksen was named a First Team All-World catcher in 1992.^[1]

Coaching career

South Florida

While still within a six-year stint with the Clearwater Bombers, Ken Eriksen became the assistant coach of his alma mater's softball team in 1989 under legendary coach Hildred Deese, who led the Bulls to back-to-back national championships in 1983 and 1984.^[3] After Deese retired, Eriksen took over as the second softball coach in USF history in 1997. Under his guide, the Bulls have won eight conference titles, made 15 NCAA tournament appearances, and a Women's College World Series appearance in 2012. Also during his time as coach, USF pitchers have thrown three perfect games and 19 no hitters (not including no hitters that were also perfect games).^[4] The Bulls have completed 16 seasons with 40 or more wins under Eriksen, including six seasons with 50 or more wins and one of those seasons coming with 60 or more wins.^[5] He became the 28th coach in NCAA Division I softball history to win 1,000 games on April 30, 2021, with pitcher Geogina Corrick throwing a no hitter in the win over conference foe ECU.^[6]

Team USA

Eriksen was named as an assistant coach for the United States women's softball team in 2002. With him as an assistant, Team USA won gold medals at the ISF Women's Softball World Championship twice, World Cup of Softball twice, Pan American Games once, and Olympic Games once. In 2011, Eriksen became the head coach of Team USA. Since he took over, the team has won gold medals at the ISF Women's Softball World Championship twice, World Cup of Softball six times, and Pan American Games twice.^[7]

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
South Florida Bulls (Conference USA) (1997–2005)
1997	South Florida	51–13	12–0	1st	NCAA Regional
1998	South Florida	57–14	11–1	1st	NCAA Regional
1999	South Florida	44–26	6–6	3rd
2000	South Florida	41–33	11–7	3rd
2001	South Florida	43–34	12–9	T-3rd	NCAA Regional
2002	South Florida	24–33–1	9–11	5th
2003	South Florida	54–19	17–6	2nd	NCAA Regional
2004	South Florida	60–14	18–5	3rd	NCAA Regional
2005	South Florida	42–28	15–9	4th	NCAA Gainesville Regional
South Florida Bulls (Big East Conference) (2006–2013)
2006	South Florida	50–25	17–3	2nd	NCAA Los Angeles Super Regional
2007	South Florida	44–22	15–5	2nd
2008	South Florida	44–20	16–4	1st	NCAA Gainesville Regional
2009	South Florida	34–22	12–10	T-4th
2010	South Florida	24–29	9–13	9th
2011	South Florida	33–21	13–5	4th
2012	South Florida	50–14	17–5	3rd	Women's College World Series
2013	South Florida	45–16	18–3	2nd	NCAA Gainesville Regional
South Florida Bulls (American Athletic Conference) (2014–Present)
2014	South Florida	43–17	13–5	2nd	NCAA Tallahassee Regional
2015	South Florida	36–20	6–10	5th
2016	South Florida	45–16	15–3	1st	NCAA Tallahassee Regional
2017	South Florida	32–24	9–8	4th
2018	South Florida	39–23	14–7	1st	NCAA Gainesville Regional
2019	South Florida	41–19	13–2	1st	NCAA Tallahassee Regional
2021	South Florida	31–19	16–7	2nd	NCAA Gainesville Regional
2022	South Florida	45–16	12–5	3rd	NCAA Tallahassee Regional
South Florida:		1,006–521–1 (.659)	301–142 (.679)
Total:		1,006–521–1 (.659)
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

References

1. "Ken Eriksen". GoUSFBulls.com. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
2. "2021 Baseball Media Guide JD (PDF)" (PDF). USF Athletics. p. 103. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
3. Company, Tampa Publishing. "They're trying to keep the memory of the Clearwater Bombers alive. It might be a uphill battle". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
4. "2021 Softball Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). USF Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
5. "Eriksen Reassumes USF Head Coach Role". USF Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
6. "Corrick Nearly Perfect as Eriksen Reaches Milestone win 1,000". USF Athletics. April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
7. . Archived from the original on December 1, 2018.