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Jane Worthington
* 2002, 2004, 2018 OVC Coach of the Year
Jane Worthington is a rarity in college softball. Not only has she coached and been committed to the same university since 1993, but has also been the only coach EKU softball has ever known.
The 2024 season will be the 32nd for Coach Worthington at Eastern Kentucky University, the Washington, Utah native enters the season ranked 22nd in wins among active DI softball head coaches. She has guided the squad to three Ohio Valley Conference titles (2002, 2004, 2021) and three NCAA tournament appearances (2002, 2004, 2021).
During the 2021 season, Worthington led the Colonels to their third ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Colonels went 35-17 on the season, posting a 22-9 record in conference play.
In 2018, Worthington lead the Colonels to a record setting 45 wins on the year with a 19-3 conference record and a regular season OVC Championship. Worthington was named 2018 OVC Coach of the Year.
In 2014, Worthington tallied her 600th career victory when the Colonels downed Tennessee Tech on April 26. She has led Eastern to a spot in 23 of the 26 OVC tournaments since the event began in 1994.
Since taking over the helm of the Colonels’ program, Worthington has posted an impressive, winning record at 770-688 and an even more striking 374-250 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. She picked up her 700th career win against Western Carolina in 2018.
Throughout her career, Worthington has produced several standout players as four Colonels have been named OVC Player of the Year and four players have earned Freshman of the Year recognition. 46 All-OVC first team players and 43 second team selections have worn an EKU jersey as well.
Under Worthington’s guidance Leanna Pittsenbarger put together a record breaking career. Before the start of the 2015 season, Pittsenbarger was rated as the top NCAA Division I pitcher by Fastpitch News. She would go on to break the EKU record for career strikeouts.
In 2016, senior pitcher Hayley Flynn set a new program record with 26 strikeouts against Eastern Illinois. The hurler went on to become the first softball Colonel to ever sign a professional contract, playing for the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
During the 2017 season EKU boasted some of the top players in the league leading to more records being broken. In regular season Rachel Minogue claimed the batting crown with a .421, led in hits (69), was second in on-base percentage (.495), runs batted in (44), doubles (17) and total bases (98). The sophomore was only struck out nine times over 176 at-bats, making her one of the toughest to strike out in the league. She tied EKU’s single-game record for RBIs when she went 5-for-5 with a grand slam and eight runs driven in at Tennessee State on April 14. The First Team All-Conference selection concluded a stellar sophomore campaign by being named Second Team All-Region. Johnkyria Alston led the conference in doubles (19) and RBIs (46). Meanwhile, Krislyn Campos took sole possession of the single-season (48) and career (152) records.
Worthington believes that the only way to improve is to play the best possible teams in the country. Her Eastern squads have faced numerous nationally-ranked opponents, which includes a 6-5 upset over No. 5 Missouri four years ago. In 2015, the Colonels took on No. 3 Alabama and beat 23rd ranked South Alabama 1-0. EKU also faced top-15 teams Kentucky and Tennessee. Other notable games include a 4-3 victory over No. 7 South Carolina in 1995 and a showdown with top-ranked UCLA in the 2002 NCAA regionals.
Worthington has built the program from the ground up, starting in her first year at EKU with the construction of Gertrude Hood Field. Eastern’s first season of competition occurred in the spring of 1993 with Worthington leading the team to an 11-26 record. 24 years later she led the Colonels into a brand-new Gertrude Hood Stadium on April 8, 2017.
In just its third year, the program posted its first-ever winning season (31-29) and advanced to the finals of the OVC tournament. Worthington then led Eastern Kentucky to another winning season in 1998, ending with 38 wins, and reached a career milestone with her 200th victory in 2001.
The 2002 Colonels rolled through the league with a 16-2 conference record and captured the program’s first OVC title with a 7-4 victory over Tennessee Tech. That win also propelled Eastern Kentucky to its first-ever NCAA tournament.
Two years later, EKU posted its most wins ever (42) on the way to another NCAA tournament appearance. Worthington won OVC Coach of the Year accolades in both 2002, 2004 and 2018.
Prior to Eastern Kentucky, Worthington spent two years as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) and one year as an assistant at Livingston University in Alabama. Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks, Worthington taught junior high school in Idaho.
Worthington, a 1982 graduate of Utah State, helped the Aggies capture the 1981 national championship with a win over Cal-State Fullerton in the finals. Winning a championship as a player, Worthington knows what it takes to be a winner and has successfully instilled those beliefs in her players. As a result, a large number of her former players have followed her lead and entered the coaching profession.
A strong supporter in the growth of fast-pitch softball in Kentucky, Worthington has provided numerous opportunities for individuals to enhance their softball skills at clinics and camps. On a yearly basis, she hosts player development clinics and camps to help fast-pitch softball develop throughout the state. Worthington believes in giving all players the chance to increase their skills and attempts to keep costs low so that everyone interested can attend. In addition, she believes in devoting personal attention to each participant and as a result, tries to keep the number of participants low by scheduling multiple events.
In 1996, Worthington was given the state’s Citizen for Sports Equity Outstanding College Coach Award.
The Colonels’ coach also stresses the importance of academics and expects her players to excel in the classroom. Worthington feels that a balance can be achieved, and with good management skills, her student-athletes can succeed in the classroom and on the playing field. In 2013, Worthington was honored by the EKU Department of Athletics with the Coaches’ Academic Enhancement Award, which is given to a head coach who exceeds the standards and encourages academic excellence for his or her team. Hayley Flynn received the OVC Medal of Honor for recording a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2013-14. In 2002, Elise Burch became Eastern’s first softball Academic All-American.
After graduation, Worthington’s past players have entered the professional fields of law, criminal justice, education, business, aviation and coaching.
Worthington earned a master’s degree in Sports Studies from Miami (Ohio) in 1991.
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