San Diego State softball associate head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz will look to capture the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) title this weekend in her first season as head coach of the Chicago Bandits.
The Bandits, who finished 37-10 in the regular season, will meet USSA Pride (42-5) in a best-of-five series, beginning Thursday at The Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill. USSA and Chicago finished first and second, respectively, to earn a spot in the championship series and have won a combined nine Cowles Cups (five for the Bandits, four for the Pride).
Nuveman Deniz recently finished her 10th season with the Aztecs in 2018, also serving as the recruiting coordinator and the hitting instructor. Nuveman joined SDSU in 2009 as an assistant coach before being promoted to assistant head coach in 2010 and associate head coach in 2013.
Nuveman Deniz helped San Diego State to seven straight NCAA Regional bids from 2009-15 and a combined 328-211 (.609) record in her 10 seasons on The Mesa. Over her first nine seasons as an assistant and associate coach, the Aztecs improved their batting average from .275 in 2008 (the year before she arrived) to a school-record .356 mark in 2017, and also in runs per game (3.98 to 6.61), home runs per game (0.23 to 1.09 (0.92 in 2017)), slugging percentage (.348 to .516) and on-base percentage (.347 to .418).
Nuveman Deniz has two Olympic gold medals (2000 and 2004) and silver medal in 2008 to her credit playing for team USA.
The 2018 NPF Championship Series will have complete live stream coverage of every pitch featured on ESPN+ as well as a 30-minute pre-game show. Fans can also follow along with championship series action on all social media platforms or "Live Stats" on profastpitch.com.
Thursday's Game 1 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start, followed by 7 p.m. CT Friday, 5 p.m. CT Saturday, 5 p.m. CT Sunday (if necessary) and 7 p.m. CT Monday (if necessary).
Visit https://profastpitch.com/championship-series/ for more information.
Nuveman Deniz has Chicago Bandits in NPF Championship
