Jan. 31, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY - San Diego State assistant head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz has been named to the 2011-12 Women's National Team coaching pool, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and USA Softball recently announced. Nuveman Deniz is one of 24 coaches in the pool.
The assistant coaches for the women's and junior women's national team events this summer will be selected from this pool at a later date. The selection committee for the Women's National Team will continue to open the coaches' pool every two years due to the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championships biennial cycle.
"It's a tremendous honor to be named to the USA Softball coaching pool," Nuveman Deniz said. "I've had the pleasure of representing my country on the national and international stage as a player and it was an incredible experience. To have an opportunity to do it as a coach would be quite humbling."
Entering her third season with the Aztecs, Nuveman Deniz serves as the team's recruiting coordinator, while working predominately with the SDSU hitters. In Nuveman Deniz' two years on Montezuma Mesa, San Diego State has advanced to the NCAA Regionals in both 2009 and 2010, while compiling a combined 67-36 (.650) record.
Over her two seasons as an assistant coach, the Aztecs have improved their batting average from .275 in 2008 (the year before she arrived) to .294 in 2010, and also in runs per game (3.98 to 4.14), home runs per game (0.23 to 0.50) and slugging percentage (.348 to .404).
Nuveman is a three-time Olympic medalist, winning gold in 2000 and 2004, and silver at the 2008 games in Beijing. She's also helped the United States National Team to a World Cup championship (2006), two World Championships (2002 and 2006) and two Pan American gold medals (1999 and 2003).
Nuveman was a four-time first-team NFCA All-American and three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year while at UCLA, finishing her career with four NCAA records - 90 home runs, 299 RBI, .945 slugging percentage and 240 walks.
SDSU, which is receiving votes in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA polls, begins its season Feb. 11 against North Dakota State in the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament on the campus of UCLA.
San Diego State lost only two senior starters from last year's squad that finished 34-16 (.680) and went to the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season. The Aztecs return a stellar pitching staff, led by third-team NFCA All-American Samantha Beasley (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS), who finished 2010 ranked seventh in the nation with a 1.20 ERA, while recording a school-record 354 strikeouts.