Hall of Fame coach Margie Wright will be the keynote speaker at the 2018 Louisville Softball Bullpen Club Dinner. The 11th annual event will be held on January 20 at the Brown & Williamson Club at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The evening will start with a 6 p.m. reception and the dinner will begin at 7 p.m.
“Margie Wright was an extremely successful collegiate coach and a great ambassador for our sport,” said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. “She is a trailblazer for both softball and women’s athletics in general and I am excited to hear her talk about her experiences over the years working with some of the best collegiate players and Olympians in our game.”
About Margie Wright
Margie Wright is one of the pioneers of collegiate softball, becoming the first NCAA Division I coach to achieve 1,000 career wins and finishing her 33-year career with 1,457 victories, which currently ranks third on the NCAA’s all-time list. She has been inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and the International Women’s Sports halls of fame to name just a few of the 15 different hall of fame honors she has garnered.
Wright spent 27 years (1986-2012) as the head coach at Fresno State where she guided the Bulldogs to the 1998 NCAA championship – the school’s first national title in any sport. She also directed Fresno State to 10 Women’s College World Series appearances, three national runner-up finishes, 26 NCAA regional appearances and 17 conference championships during her time there. Her many career accolades also include 10 Conference Coach of the Year honors.
She was instrumental in the construction of the Fresno State’s Bulldog Diamond which was the nation’s premier softball stadium when it was built in 1996 and was renamed the Margie Wright Diamond in 2014.
Prior to her time at Fresno State, Wright served six years (1980-85) at the helm of Illinois State, helping her alma mater to 163 wins, an AIAW Softball College World Series appearance and three state titles.
In addition to her career on the collegiate front, she was the head coach of USA Softball’s national team, guiding the USWNT to the ISF Women’s World Championship in 1998. She also served as an assistant coach for 1996 Olympic gold medal team.
The Warrensburg, Ill., native was a pitcher at Illinois State from 1971-74 and continued to play in the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Major Women’s Open Division for 29 years and spent three seasons in the Women’s Professional Softball League (1977-79) and won International Pro Softball Association Rookie of the Year honors in 1977.
About Louisville Softball:
• The Cardinals will open the 2018 season Feb. 10-12 at the UCF Softball Invitational Feb. 9-12 in Orlando, Fla., where they will face UCF, Butler, Providence, North Florida and South Alabama.
• In 2017, Louisville posted a 31-19 overall record and finished the season with a 14-8 mark in ACC play which placed the Cardinals second in the final ACC regular season standings.
• The Cardinals return six starters from last season including 2017 all-ACC selection senior Nicole Pufahl and all-ACC freshman team member sophomore Caitlin Ferguson as well as 2016 all-ACC selection junior Megan Hensley.
• Sandy Pearsall enters her 19th season as UofL’s head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to six conference championships. Under her watch, Louisville has made 13 NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
More Bullpen Club Dinner Information
The Bullpen Club Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium’s Brown & Williamson Club. A reception and silent auction will start the evening at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for the evening are $50.
When:
January 20, 2018
6:00 p.m. – Reception/Cash Bar/Silent Auction
7:00 p.m. – Dinner/Program
Where:
Brown & Williamson Club
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium
2800 South Floyd Street, Louisville, KY 40292
Purchase tickets:
https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/uofl/EN/link/buy/browse?g%5B0%5D=25458
For more information, contact:
Ashley Pauly
ashley@gocards.com
502-852-5344
Lori Korte
Assistant Sports Information Director
University of Louisville Athletics
