Sarah Dawson (softball)

Sarah N. Dawson (born January 22, 1975) is an American, former collegiate All-American, softball pitcher and head coach.^[2] She played college softball for Louisiana–Monroe and is the Southland Conference career leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP and innings pitched. She ranks top-10 all-time in NCAA Division I for career shutouts (9th) and innings (5th).^[3]

Sarah Dawson

Biographical details
Born	(1975-01-22) January 22, 1975 (age 49)^[1] San Diego, California
Playing career
1994–1997	Northeast Louisiana
1997	Orlando Wahoos
1999–2000	Akron Racers
Position(s)	Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999	Marshall (assistant)
2000–2002	Louisiana–Monroe (assistant)
2003–2012	Louisiana Tech
Head coaching record
Overall	221–338
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Southland Conference Freshman of the Year (1994) 2× Southland Conference Player of the Year (1994, 1997) 2× Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year (1996, 1997)

After graduating from college, Dawson played three years of professional softball for the Orlando Wahoos/Akron Racers.^[4][5][6] Dawson served as an assistant softball coach at Marshall and Louisiana–Monroe,^[7] before serving as the head softball coach at Louisiana Tech from 2003 to 2012.^[8][9]

Early life

Dawson attended Christian High School San Diego in El Cajon, California, where she played softball for her mother, legendary California high school softball coach Roma Dawson.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Playing career

She played college softball for Louisiana–Monroe team from 1994 to 1997. She is the Southland Conference career leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP and innings pitched and was named Southland Conference Freshman, Player and Pitcher of the Year during her career.^{[14][10][5][15]} She ranks top-10 all-time in NCAA Division I for career shutouts (9th) and innings (5th).^[16] After graduating from college, Dawson played three years of professional softball for the Orlando Wahoos/Akron Racers franchise of WPSL.^[4][5][6]

Coaching career

While head coach at Louisiana Tech, Dawson compiled a record of 221–338, and led the Lady Techsters to a WAC conference championship and a berth in the 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament.

Statistics

^{[17][18][19][20]}

ULM Warhawks

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1994	27	19	51	45	36	15	1	332.2	210	70	40	41	290	0.84	0.75
1995	27	16	45	42	34	12	0	284.2	173	68	44	49	306	1.08	0.78
1996	21	11	33	32	31	16	0	224.1	144	38	25	28	238	0.78	0.76
1997	45	10	58	54	50	31	0	400.2	190	44	30	46	446	0.52	0.59
TOTALS	120	56	187	173	151	74	1	1242.1	717	220	139	164	1280	0.78	0.71

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (Western Athletic Conference) (2003–2012)
2003	Louisiana Tech	16–42	6–14	5th
2004	Louisiana Tech	27–33	10–11	4th
2005	Louisiana Tech	18–49	2–16	7th
2006	Louisiana Tech	18–31	6–11	6th
2007	Louisiana Tech	22–38	3–15	7th
2008	Louisiana Tech	37–29	7–10	4th	NCAA Regional
2009	Louisiana Tech	15–23*	9–8*	4th
2010	Louisiana Tech	26–21	11–10	4th
2011	Louisiana Tech	17–39	6–15	6th
2012	Louisiana Tech	25–33	8–12	6th
Louisiana Tech:		221–338 (.395)	68–122 (.358)
Total:		221–338 (.395)
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

* Louisiana Tech vacated 19 wins (including 3 WAC games) in 2009 by NCAA action.

References

1. "Sarah N Dawson". California Birth Index, 1905–1995. from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
2. "1997 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
3. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
4. Macur, Juliet (July 2, 1997). "Calm belies Dawson's fiery spirit". Orlando Sentinel. from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
5. Young, Al (July 13, 1997). "Call it number crunching". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 37. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
6. Butler, Jason (May 11, 1999). "Racers new pitcher ready to reign again". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. p. 17. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
7. "Louisiana–Monroe names assistant softball coach". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. October 27, 1999. p. 26. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
8. "One on One with Sarah Dawson". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. April 18, 2004. p. 28. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
9. McElwee, Natalie (March 28, 2012). . Louisiana Tech University. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
10. Babcock, Patricia (March 21, 1997). "Dawson women draw expertise from mother". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 25. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
11. Zieralski, Ed (April 20, 2010). "She's been mom, motivator, matriarch". The San Diego Union-Tribune. from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
12. "Dawson retires from Christian". East County Sports. June 4, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
13. "It's orange-blossom time". Highland Park News-Herald & Journal. July 21, 1968. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
14. "2014 ULM Softball Guide". Issuu.com. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
15. "ULM to honor next set of greats". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. September 27, 2005. p. 18. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Newspapers.com  .
16. "Division I Softball Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
17. "Final 1994 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
18. "Final 1995 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
19. "Final 1996 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
20. "Final 1997 Softball Statistics Report" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.

External links

• Louisiana Tech bio