June 19, 2012
SAN DIEGO - Following the program's fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament and another Mountain West title, San Diego State athletic director Jim Sterk announced Tuesday that Aztec softball coach Kathy Van Wyk has agreed to a new three-year contract that will run through the 2015 season.
Since Van Wyk took over the program in 1997, SDSU has gone 541-376-1 (.590), including a 144-81 (.640) mark in the Mountain West. The school's all-time winningest coach, Van Wyk has guided San Diego State to eight NCAA tournament appearances, including five straight and six of the last seven, and five Mountain West titles.
"I'm thrilled that Jim (Sterk) has so much faith in what we are trying to do as a program here at San Diego State," Van Wyk said. "We continue to get better each year and a lot of that has to do with the commitment and support from the administration. We have a great group of young women joining us in the fall and I look forward to trying to win another conference championship and make it to the (Women's College World Series)."
In 2012, the Aztecs finished 32-24 for their seventh consecutive 30-win season before falling to Hofstra in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final. It is the second straight year that SDSU advanced to the NCAA Regional title game and fourth time overall, just missing out on a NCAA Super Regional appearance (equivalent of the Sweet 16). San Diego State ended the season with votes in both national polls.
In her 16-year tenure, Van Wyk has coached five All-Americans, 55 all-conference selections, seven MW Pitchers of the Year, one MW Player of the Year, six MW Freshmen of the Year, 100 conference player/pitcher of the week winners and numerous academic all-conference picks.
This past year, sophomore Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) was named a NFCA Third-Team All-American, an Easton Second-Team All-American, a NFCA Second-Team All-West Region pick and MW Co-Player of the Year after batting .429 with 62 runs, 20 doubles, 20 home runs, 49 RBIs and 34 walks from the leadoff spot. Miles shattered 11 single-season records along the way, including batting average (.429, previous best was .389), on-base percentage (.519, previous best was .467), slugging percentage (.909, previous best was .633), OPS percentage (1.428, previous best was 1.053), runs (62, previous best was 41), extra-base hits (42, previous best was 25), doubles (20, previous best was 14), home runs (20, previous best was 15), RBIs (49, previous best was 48), total bases (159, previous best was 102) and walks (34, previous best was 28).
Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista, Calif.), meanwhile, was named the league's freshman of the year, and joined Miles, seniors Justeen Maeva (San Diego/Mira Mesa HS) and Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.), redshirt junior Rebecca Arbino (Clovis, Calif.) and redshirt sophomore Patrice Jackson (Kansas City, Mo.) on the all-conference squad.
Prior to San Diego State, Van Wyk spent 10 seasons as a player and an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton. She was an assistant coach from 1983-87, helping the Titans to the 1986 NCAA national title, and 1991-94. She also had stints as a pitching instructor at the Rod Carew Baseball School in Anaheim, Calif., (1987-89), head coach/pitcher for the Azzanase club in Italy (1989), pitching coach for the Walkerville Softball Club in Adelaide, Australia (1990), co-head coach at SDSU (1995-96) and pitching coach for the Dutch national team (1996).
As a player, Van Wyk established herself as one of the top pitchers in the history of collegiate softball, enjoying a phenomenal 1982 season with a 35-1 mark and a 0.18 ERA. The victories remain a school single-season record and her .972 winning percentage was an NCAA Division I record (30 or more decisions) until 2001 when Jennie Finch of Arizona went 32-0. Additionally, her ERA is still eighth-best in Division I single-season history. Her phenomenal season included four no-hitters, six one-hitters, back-to-back perfect games, 26 shutouts (11th most in NCAA history in a single season) and 270 strikeouts.
Throughout her career, she won numerous awards, including All-America honors and the Broderick Award, which is given annually to the nation's top collegiate player. She was also named the WCAA Player of the Year, Orange County Athlete of the Month and won an NCAA postgraduate scholarship with a 3.43 grade-point average.
Van Wyk was a member of the U.S. softball team in 1985 and 1989 and is a five-time Amateur Softball Association All-American. Van Wyk began her collegiate playing career at Texas Women's University, where she garnered 1979 Texas AIAW Player of the Year accolades and was inducted into the TWU Hall of Fame. She transferred to CS Fullerton in 1981 after TWU dropped its softball program.
A 1983 graduate of Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Van Wyk completed her master's degree in education in 1993 at Azusa Pacific.