Indiana University

IU Athletics
Assembly Hall 1001 East 17th Street Bloomington, IN 474081590

Division 1 Indiana Midwest

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Shonda Stanton

Shonda Stanton was named the program’s ninth head coach on June 10, 2017. Stanton came to the Hoosiers after 18 seasons at Marshall, where she was the winningest coach in program history with 560 victories.

INDIANA

In her third year at Indiana, Stanton guided the Hoosiers to an overall record of 12-9 over 21 games prior to the premature cancelation of the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Indiana won nine of their last 12 ballgames on the season and earned an initial NCAA RPI ranking of 52 prior to the season’s cancelation. The Hoosiers amassed 138 hits, 90 runs, 75 RBI’s and 55 stolen bases on the shortened season. IU ended the year ranked third nationally in stolen bases per game (2.62) and first in the Big Ten.

Emily Goodin picked up a conference weekly award for IU winning Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after tossing her second career no-hitter against Bucknell on Feb. 21. She was the senior ace of the staff going 10-7, held a 1.76 ERA, registered 111 strikeouts and became the sixth IU pitcher to record multiple no-hitters.

In her second campaign at the helm of the Hoosiers, Stanton built upon the success of her inaugural season as the Hoosiers opened the year with a 14-0 mark, the best start in IU program history. Thanks to the hot start, Indiana earned a spot in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, the first ranking for the team since 1996. IU would spend six straight weeks ranked, picking up wins against two top-10 teams in No. 6 Georgia (Feb. 10) and at No. 10 LSU (March 1), the first time that has been done at Indiana. IU’s final record of 36-21 was the best for the Hoosiers since the 2011 season, while the team’s non-conference record (26-8) was the best since 1986. The team impressed on the basepaths, setting the single-season IU record with 141, which is also good for the third-most by a Big Ten team in history.

For the second year in a row, pitcher Tara Trainer earned First Team NFCA All-Midwest Region honors as well as All-Big Ten accolades after leaving IU as one of the most decorated pitchers in Indiana history. This season, Trainer posted career-best numbers with a 1.82 ERA, 231 strikeouts and a 26-11 record. Trainer graduates second all-time in strikeouts (803), appearances (170) and games started (130). In addition, she is third in career wins (68) and innings pitched (742.0) and fourth in shutouts (19). Trainer became just the fourth Hoosier to be drafted in the National Pro Fastpitch league when she was selected 21st overall by the Aussie Peppers on April 15.

Sophomore Maddie Westmoreland also earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row, as well as becoming the first Hoosier since 1997-98 to being named First Team All-Big Ten in two straight years. Joining Westmoreland and Trainer on the All-Big Ten list was sophomore shortstop Grayson Radcliffe. Indiana placed 11 on the Academic All-Big Ten list.

In her first season in Bloomington in 2018, Stanton led the Hoosiers to a 26-30 overall mark, including a 17-6 conference record, the most Big Ten wins in a single season since 2011. Indiana finished third in the conference, clinching a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers swept five teams on their way to the third-place finish – No. 18 Ohio State, Michigan State, Maryland, Penn State and Purdue – the most conference sweeps since 2011. After defeating Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, Indiana advanced to the tournament semifinal for the first time since 2006.

Stanton tallied her 600th career victory at Michigan State on March 31 with a 5-1 victory against the Spartans. Another 2018 highlight was the Hoosiers collecting 112 stolen bases, the third-most in program history and the most since the 1987 season.

For their efforts in 2018, three Hoosiers earned NFCA All-Midwest Region – Tara Trainer (First Team), Gabbi Jenkins (Third Team) and Maddie Westmoreland (Third Team). In addition, Trainer and Westmoreland were also named First Team All-Big Ten, while Jenkins and Rebecca Blitz earned Second Team honors. Blitz also earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team as the conference’s top centerfielder. Westmoreland and Taylor Lambert were named to the conference’s All-Freshman squad. Off the field, 12 were honored with Academic All-Big Ten accolades and 11 earned NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes.

MARSHALL

• 2017 Conference USA Coaching Staff of the Year

• Career record: 560-430-2 (18 seasons)

• Two NCAA Tournament Appearances

During her tenure, Stanton guided the Thundering Herd to two NCAA Tournament appearances, five conference championship games and led the team to two Mid-American Conference championships (2003 and 2005), a Conference USA regular season championship (2017) and Conference USA Tournament title (2013). In addition, the Thundering Herd posted 12 seasons with 30 or more wins during Stanton’s time in Huntington.

Under Stanton's guidance, Marshall was known for its speed as her teams ranked in the top 10 in stolen bases more than any other program since Stanton took over in 2000, including every year from 2009-17. For the third time since 2000, the Thundering Herd led the nation in stolen bases in 2017 with 162 on the year. Marshall saw two win the Golden Shoe Award for leading the nation in stolen bases under Stanton - current Indiana graduate student manager Morgan Zerkle in 2015 and Elicia D’Orazio in 2017. Six finished their Marshall careers with 100 or more stolen bases under Stanton, led by Zerkle's program record-setting 160 swiped bags.

Stanton guided Marshall’s return to the NCAA Tournament as the Thundering Herd earned an at-large bid and posted a program-record 42-12 mark. During the season, Marshall posted a 17-game winning streak in 2017 and a 20-4 conference record leading to Stanton and her staff of Kendall Fearn and Chanda Bell being picked as the Conference USA Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, Marshall saw Zerkle win C-USA Player of the Year honors and Jordan Dixon win C-USA Pitcher of the Year. Both Zerkle and Dixon also earned NFCA All-American accolades.

In addition to the team's impressive base-stealing numbers, the team finished with a batting average of .300 or better for the third straight season as Marshall climbed as high as No. 23 in the national rankings.

Stanton recorded her 500th career win on March 23, 2016 in an 8-3 victory against UTEP.

In 2013, Marshall's Conference USA Tournament title led to the Herd’s first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Ky. Marshall picked up its first NCAA tournament win, 3-1, over Notre Dame on May 18.

Under Stanton's tutelage, Marshall saw 76 all-conference selections, nine conference Player, Pitcher or Freshman of the Year accolades, 34 NFCA All-Region picks and a four-time All-American in Rachel Folden. Zerkle was named to the Top 50 Watch List for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and played for the USA Softball National Team this past summer. In addition, Zerkle was the seventh player under Stanton’s guidance to reach the National Pro Fastpitch League.

Off the field, Marshall posted a team GPA of 3.0 in every semester of Stanton's career and had 118 named NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes.

OTHER COLLEGIATE COACHING EXPERIENCE

Prior to joining Marshall, Stanton served as the head coach at IUPUI in 1998-99, where she led the Jaguars to a 27-25 mark in their first season as a Division I team.

After graduating college, Stanton served as a graduate assistant for Ashland University, where she received her Master’s of Education in Sports Science. During her time, the softball program set a school record for victories in a season (53), won a second consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) title and earned a second straight NCAA Division II playoff berth. In the 1997-98 season, the Eagles finished 53-6, won the conference championship and hosted its regional tournament. That season, the entire coaching staff was selected as the coaching staff of the year in the GLIAC. All in all, Ashland compiled a 94-23 record en route to successive bids to the NCAA National Tournament.

NATIONAL PRO FASTPITCH

Stanton spent the 2007 and 2008 summers coaching the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch league. Stanton guided the Racers to a regular season second place finish in 2007 with a 26-17 overall record. Stanton managed the Racers leading hitter Norrelle Dickson to a .387 batting average, a league best. Additionally, Akron's second baseman, Veronica Wootsen snagged the 2007 Nokona Gold Glove Offensive Player of the Year Award.

PLAYING CAREER

Stanton (maiden name Spagnola) was a four-year starter at UNC Greensboro and led the team to back-to-back Big South Conference championships. In addition, Stanton scored 66 runs during her senior campaign in 1995, good for eighth in the nation and most all-time in a single season at UNCG. She sits third in UNCG history in career runs scored (143) and ninth in stolen bases (41). Off the field, Stanton earned her Bachelor of Arts in History at UNCG and helped start the Spartan Heroes program at UNCG, which worked to increase community service initiatives.

Stanton played in the Women's ASA Fastpitch Summerball for the Chet Smith Lady All-Stars in Columbus, Ohio, and the Buckeye Slammers in Akron, Ohio, from 1994-96. Both teams were Class "A" National Qualifiers and the Slammers captured the Class "B" National Championship in 1994.

PERSONAL

In October of 2016, Stanton was inducted into the North Olmstead High School Hall of Fame where she was a three-sport athlete and an 11-time letter award winner.

A member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Committee, Stanton has also served on the NFCA Head Coaches Council and was a voter in the NFCA Top-25. Stanton, who was named the Judy Sweet Award winner as a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy, served on the Coaches Council for the Alliance of Women Coaches. As an NFCA featured speaker and clinician, Stanton shot an instructional video series with Championship Productions.

Stanton and husband Joe have been married for 19 years and reside in Bloomington with their two daughters, Shayla (16), Gianna (13) and son, Josiah (8).

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Kendall Fearn

Kendall Fearn, who works primarily with hitting and the outfield, was named an assistant coach at Indiana on June 26, 2017 and promoted to associate coach following the 2018 campaign.

INDIANA

In 2020, Fearn and the Indiana coaching staff guided the Hoosiers to an overall record of 12-9 over 21 games prior to the premature cancelation of the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Indiana won nine of their last 12 ballgames on the season and earned an initial NCAA RPI ranking of 52 prior to the season’s cancelation. The Hoosiers amassed 138 hits, 90 runs, 75 RBI’s and 55 stolen bases on the shortened season. IU ended the year ranked third nationally in stolen bases per game (2.62) and first in the Big Ten.

In 2019, Fearn and the Indiana coaching staff led the team to its best start in program history (14-0), the best record since 2011 (36-21) and the best non-conference mark since 1986 (26-8). Thanks to the hot start, Indiana earned a spot in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, the first ranking for the team since 1996. IU would spend six straight weeks ranked, picking up wins against two top-10 teams in No. 6 Georgia (Feb. 10) and at No. 10 LSU (March 1), the first time that has been done at Indiana.

Topping last year’s impressive stolen base numbers, the Hoosiers set the single-season IU record with 141, which is also good for the third-most by a Big Ten team in history.

The Hoosiers knocked 37 homers on the season, which is fourth-most in program history. Second Team All-Big Ten selection Grayson Radcliffe led the way with nine homers. First Team All-Big Ten and Second Team NFCA All-Region selection Maddie Westmoreland knocked eight long balls, with six of those coming in Big Ten play. Westmoreland, who is the first Hoosier since 1997-98 to earn back-to-back First Team honors, hit an impressive .391 in conference play.

In her first season at Indiana in 2018, Fearn saw Indiana to a third-place finish in the Big Ten with a 17-6 conference mark.

Under Fearn’s guidance, Indiana saw six Hoosiers hit .300 or better in conference play, led by a .373 mark by senior Rebecca Blitz and a .370 average by sophomore Gabbi Jenkins. Both Blitz and Jenkins earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades for their efforts, while Blitz also earned All-Defensive Team honors for her performance in centerfield. Freshman Maddie Westmoreland was named First Team All-Big Ten and Third Team NFCA All-Midwest Region as she collected 10 home runs and 52 RBI in 2018. Her 52 RBI are the second-most in a single season in Indiana program history.

The Indiana offense knocked 35 home runs in 2018, as nine different Hoosiers hit the long ball. Aside from Westmoreland’s 10 homers, seniors Taylor Uden was close behind as she tied her career best with seven home runs, two of which were walk-off winners. On the base paths, the Hoosiers stole 112 bases, good for third all-time in a single season at IU.

MARSHALL

Fearn, along with fellow Hoosier assistant coach Chanda Bell, was a member of Stanton’s staff at Marshall for four seasons. In that stretch, the team posted a winning percentage of .616, the second-best four-year run in program history.

Fearn was named as Marshall’s associate head coach prior to the 2017 season. During her four seasons at Marshall, Fearn guided the Herd bats to a .313 average while posting three of the top four scoring seasons in program history. In addition, Marshall broke its own record for stolen bases three times under Fearn and twice led the nation in swiped bags. Under Fearn’s leadership, Morgan Zerkle left Marshall as the all-time leader in career batting average (.451), stolen bases (162) and triples (14). In addition, Zerkle was named the 2017 C-USA Player of the Year, as well as an NFCA All-American.

In 2017, Marshall led the country with 162 stolen bases and posted a .308 batting average, best in C-USA. In 2016, the Thundering Herd was second in the conference with a .310 average and had five hit over .300 on the year.

During Fearn’s second season with the team in 2015, Marshall set numerous offensive records, including a staggering .345 average, which was first in the conference and 11th in the nation. Marshall saw seven hit .300 or better, while also setting records for runs per game (5.4), hits per game (9.28) and on-base percentage (.407).

PREVIOUS BACKGROUND/PERSONAL

Fearn came to the Thundering Herd after two seasons coaching at her alma mater, UNLV, and a year at Georgia Southern. At Georgia Southern, Fearn saw the Eagles win the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

During her playing career at UNLV, Fearn was a two-time Mountain West All-Conference pick and started 227 games at first base and third base. The Carlsbad, Calif. native guided UNLV to a NCAA Regional appearance in 2009 and finished her time at UNLV ranked in seven different categories in the record book.

Fearn is a graduate of the 2019 NCAA Women Coaches Academy class #48 that was held in Denver, CO. The NCAA Women Coaches Academy, hosted in partnership between WeCOACH and the NCAA, is a 4-day educational training available to NCAA coaches of all experience levels, and is designed for women coaches who are ready to increase their individual effectiveness by learning advanced skills and strategies that directly affect their personal and team success. In addition, Fearn was selected to be a member of the WeCOACH Coaches Council.

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Chanda Bell

Chanda Bell, who works primarily with the pitchers, was named an assistant coach at Indiana on June 26, 2017 and was promoted to associate coach following the 2018 campaign.

INDIANA

In 2020, Bell and the Indiana coaching staff guided the Hoosiers to an overall record of 12-9 over 21 games prior to the premature cancelation of the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Indiana won nine of their last 12 ballgames on the season and earned an initial NCAA RPI ranking of 52 prior to the season’s cancelation. The Hoosiers amassed 138 hits, 90 runs, 75 RBI’s and 55 stolen bases on the shortened season. IU ended the year ranked third nationally in stolen bases per game (2.62) and first in the Big Ten.

Emily Goodin picked up a conference weekly award for IU winning Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after tossing her second career no-hitter against Bucknell on Feb. 21. She was the senior ace of the staff going 10-7, held a 1.76 ERA, registered 111 strikeouts and became the sixth IU pitcher to record multiple no-hitters.

In 2019, Bell and the Indiana coaching staff led the team to its best start in program history (14-0), the best record since 2011 (36-21) and the best non-conference mark since 1986 (26-8). Thanks to the hot start, Indiana earned a spot in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, the first ranking for the team since 1996. IU would spend six straight weeks ranked, picking up wins against two top-10 teams in No. 6 Georgia (Feb. 10) and at No. 10 LSU (March 1), the first time that has been done at Indiana.

The IU pitching battery combined for 419 strikeouts, which is the fourth-most in a single season at Indiana.

For the second year in a row, pitcher Tara Trainer earned First Team NFCA All-Midwest Region honors as well as All-Big Ten accolades after leaving IU as one of the most decorated pitchers in Indiana history. This season, Trainer posted career-best numbers with a 1.82 ERA, 231 strikeouts and a 26-11 record while earning two Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors and a College Sports Madness National Player of the Week honor. Trainer graduates second all-time in strikeouts (803), appearances (170) and games started (130). In addition, she is third in career wins (68) and innings pitched (742.0) and fourth in shutouts (19). Trainer became just the fourth Hoosier to be drafted in the National Pro Fastpitch league when she was selected 21st overall by the Aussie Peppers on April 15.

In her first season at Indiana, Bell saw Indiana to a third-place finish in the Big Ten with a 17-6 conference mark. During Big Ten action, the Hoosier pitching staff combined for a 1.55 ERA, compared to a 4.36 mark for its opponents. For the season, IU’s 2.80 ERA is the best for the program since the 2011 campaign.

The IU pitching staff combined for 372 strikeouts in 2018, the second-most in the Big Ten and the fifth-most in a single season in IU history. Indiana was led by junior Tara Trainer, who set new career bests in ERA (2.64), strikeouts (216), wins (17), appearances (45), innings pitched (198.2) and opponent batting average (.199). Trainer twice earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, including after tossing her second career no-hitter against Penn State on April 22. Trainer also earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, as well as First Team NFCA All-Midwest Region accolades.

MARSHALL

Bell, along with fellow Hoosier assistant coach Kendall Fearn, was a member of Stanton’s staff at Marshall for four seasons. In that stretch, the team posted a winning percentage of .616, the second-best four-year run in program history.

At Marshall, Bell guided right-handed pitcher Jordan Dixon to 32 victories in the circle in 2017, good for third in the country. In addition, Dixon’s 294 strikeouts ranked ninth nationally, marking the third time in her career she finished top 10 in the country in punchouts. Dixon tossed a pair of no-hitters in 2017, including against Western Kentucky in the C-USA Tournament.

Other highlights of Dixon’s career include a program-record 33 victories in 2016 and breaking nearly ever freshman record in 2014, including strikeouts (245), wins (20), games started (41) and appearances (54).

Dixon is just the second C-USA player to finish her career with at least 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts. In her four years under Bell’s tutelage, Dixon set nearly every Marshall pitching record and finished her career with the most wins, strikeouts, appearances, games started, complete games and innings pitched.

PERSONAL

Setting records of her own in the circle during her playing career at Kentucky, Bell, who is a native of Indianapolis, left the Wildcats as the all-time winningest pitcher and was the first in team history to record 200-plus strikeouts in all four seasons. Additionally, she was the first Wildcat to throw a no-hitter, as well as the first to toss a perfect game. Bell still sits atop the Kentucky record book with 910 career strikeouts and owns three of the top four single-season strikeout marks.

For her career, Bell went 68-44 with six saves and 17 shutouts. She had a career ERA of 2.55 and pitched 910 strikeouts in 724 innings.