Sept. 28, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State softball head coach Kathy Van Wyk was recently announced as an inductee to Cal State Fullerton's 2017 Hall of Fame class. One of seven inductees to the school's seventh class, Van Wyk will be honored on Oct. 27 at the Embassy Suites in Brea, Calif.
Van Wyk made the most out of her one season at CSUF in 1982, going 35-1 with a 0.18 ERA in the circle en route to winning the Broderick Award, given out annually to the nation's best player. Her .972 winning percentage was an NCAA Division I record (30 or more decisions) until 2001 when Jennie Finch of Arizona went 32-0. Her 33-game winning streak during the season remains a NCAA record, while her 0.18 ERA still ranks as the eighth-lowest mark in NCAA history. Her phenomenal season included four no-hitters, six one-hitters, back-to-back perfect games, 26 shutouts (tied for the ninth most in NCAA history) and 270 strikeouts.
Van Wyk began her collegiate player career at Texas Women's University, where she garnered 1979 Texas AIAW Player-of-the-Year accolades and later inducted into the TWU Hall of Fame. She transferred to Cal State Fullerton after TWU dropped its softball program.
Van Wyk recently finished up her 21st season as the Aztec head coach. The all-time winningest coach in school history (716 wins), Van Wyk has been named the Mountain West Coach of the Year five times and has led SDSU to 11 NCAA tournament appearances and seven MW regular-season titles.
Van Wyk has coached eight All-America selections, including Jenavee Peres (second-team NFCA All-American) last year. She has also coached 74 all-conference selections, 39 NFCA all-West Region picks, nine MW Pitchers of the Year, nine MW Freshmen of the Year, four MW Players of the Year and 132 conference player/pitcher of the week winners.
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.
Van Wyk also has playing stints at the Italian Azzanase club, and with the U.S. softball team in 1985 and 1989, and was a five-time Amateur Softball Association All-American. Additionally, she has coaching stints with the Rod Carew Baseball School, Azzanase (Italy), Walkerville Softball Club (Australia) and the Dutch National Team.
San Diego State finished the 2017 season with a 31-18 overall record - its 12th consecutive 30-win season - and a 15-9 mark and runner-up finish in Mountain West play. The Aztecs, however, did not receive an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, despite finishing second in the sixth-best conference in the nation (out of 32 leagues).
SDSU kicks off its fall slate on Oct. 25 against Southwestern CC at 5 p.m. PT, while the spring schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.