Promoted to Associate Head Coach after the 2022 season, Victoria Hayward embarks on her second season as a member of the Aztecs softball staff in 2023. During Hayward's tenure at San Diego State, the Aztecs posted the second most wins in program history in 2022 when they went 39-16. Under Hayward's tutelage, the offense had a .301 batting average, good for the third highest all-time for a single season in school history, and the team's 2022 on-base percentage was .376, good for fifth all-time. The Aztecs scored 295 runs in 2022, which is the fourth most all-time, their 5.36 runs scored per game was the third highest in school history, and their 458 hits were the fourth most in a single season in school history. Under Hayward's guidance, Mac Barbara hit .395 (68-for-172) with 18 home runs, 61 RBIs, 32 runs, 14 doubles and a triple for a .802 slugging percentage and a .493 on-base mark. Barbara earned NFCA third-team All-American status, all-NFCA first-team west region honors, and was the Mountain West Player of the Year in 2022.
Hayward has 10 years of experience in the college ranks, most recently serving as an assistant coach at SDSU in 2022. Before joining the Aztecs she was the director of operations at UCF in 2019 and served as an assistant coach at Maryland in 2018.
Prior to Maryland, Hayward helped guide UMass to back-to-back winning seasons in 2016 and 2017. Hayward spent the 2015 season as a graduate assistant at LSU under head coach Beth Torina. The Tigers opened the year with 25 consecutive victories and spent three weeks as the top-ranked team in the country, before ending the season with a 52-14 record and a third-place finish at the Women's College World Series (WCWS). LSU's coaching staff was named the Division I South Region Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
As a player, Hayward made the Canadian squad in 2009 at 16 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to join the senior team. Hayward has been a mainstay in the outfield and has won numerous medals in international competition. She was the 19th overall selection in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
In college, Hayward starred at national power Washington, helping the Huskies to four NCAA tournaments. Hayward was a 2014 All-American, a four-time all-Pac-12 selection and a three-time Academic All-Pac-12 honoree (2011-14). UW won four NCAA Regional Championships during her career and advanced to the Women's College World Series in 2013. She finished her Washington career ranked seventh in runs (176), 10th in triples (7) and 12th in average (.351), while stealing a league-best 28 bases as a senior without committing an error.
San Diego State softball enters the 2023 season fresh off a return to postseason play and another NCAA regional appearance in 2022. SDSU finished the 2022 season with a 39-16 record (.709), the second-best record in program history, before falling to No. 8/5 Arizona State, 8-4, in the NCAA Tempe Regional final. San Diego State also captured its league-record eighth MW title with a 20-4 conference record.
Hayward has 10 years of experience in the college ranks, most recently serving as an assistant coach at SDSU in 2022. Before joining the Aztecs she was the director of operations at UCF in 2019 and served as an assistant coach at Maryland in 2018.
Prior to Maryland, Hayward helped guide UMass to back-to-back winning seasons in 2016 and 2017. Hayward spent the 2015 season as a graduate assistant at LSU under head coach Beth Torina. The Tigers opened the year with 25 consecutive victories and spent three weeks as the top-ranked team in the country, before ending the season with a 52-14 record and a third-place finish at the Women's College World Series (WCWS). LSU's coaching staff was named the Division I South Region Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
As a player, Hayward made the Canadian squad in 2009 at 16 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to join the senior team. Hayward has been a mainstay in the outfield and has won numerous medals in international competition. She was the 19th overall selection in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
In college, Hayward starred at national power Washington, helping the Huskies to four NCAA tournaments. Hayward was a 2014 All-American, a four-time all-Pac-12 selection and a three-time Academic All-Pac-12 honoree (2011-14). UW won four NCAA Regional Championships during her career and advanced to the Women's College World Series in 2013. She finished her Washington career ranked seventh in runs (176), 10th in triples (7) and 12th in average (.351), while stealing a league-best 28 bases as a senior without committing an error.
San Diego State softball enters the 2023 season fresh off a return to postseason play and another NCAA regional appearance in 2022. SDSU finished the 2022 season with a 39-16 record (.709), the second-best record in program history, before falling to No. 8/5 Arizona State, 8-4, in the NCAA Tempe Regional final. San Diego State also captured its league-record eighth MW title with a 20-4 conference record.