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Tennessee Technological University

Tennessee Tech Athletics
1100 McGee Blvd - TTU Box 5057 Cookeville, TN 38505
Division 1 Tennessee Southeast
Public Medium National competitor

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Danielle Penner

After coming into Cookeville and meeting the Tennessee Tech softball players, Danielle Penner knew she wanted to be the next coach for the Golden Eagles. Now, she’s set to hit the ground running, hired as the sixth head coach in the program’s 38-year history.


“I’m thankful to (Tech Director of Athletics) Mark Wilson and the Tennessee Tech athletic department for the opportunity to lead the Golden Eagle softball team,” Penner said. “The moment I arrived in Cookeville, I met with the staff, the players and even some of our dedicated fans, I knew it was a special place. I’m excited about the future and the direction of the program and the athletic department.”


The young women on the team and their commitment to the Purple and Gold made the decision an easy one.


“After meeting with the student-athletes, I just felt a sense of dedication to the program, to Tennessee Tech, even to future Golden Eagles,” Penner said. “That excites me the most. I see a roster full of dedicated, devoted leaders.”


Penner takes over the reins after five seasons at Coastal Carolina, serving as the Chanticleers’ associate head coach. Coastal reached the Sun Belt Conference semifinals last season as the team finished 25-29 in a very competitive league and strong non-conference slate.


She comes to Tech with 20 years of coaching experience, including 12 as a head coach.


Those 12 seasons came at Division II Barry University. While leading the Buccaneers, Penner guided the teams to six NCAA Division II tournaments and, in 2008, was a step away from a possible Division II national championship as the Bucs reached the D-II World Series.


While the head coach in Miami Shores, Penner compiled a 403-209 record, collecting 11 winning seasons out of 12 and three 40-win campaigns.


She was also an assistant coach with the Buccaneers for the 2002 to 2004 seasons before being promoted to the head job. Barry had two NCAA South Regional appearances in that tenure, as well as Sunshine State Conference titles in 2002 and 2003 to go along with the one the team earned in 2008 when Penner was the head coach. The team also had a Division II World Series appearance in 2002.


The number of honored student-athletes under her watch is impressive – 65 all-conference picks, 50 all-region, 74 Academic All-Americans and 16 All-Americans.


Those numbers are impressive, especially coming into a Tennessee Tech program that has had a historically rich softball tradition and has been making swings upward back to prominence.


“It all starts with the recruiting process,” Penner said. “I love people who like to compete. When people ask me the type of student I like to recruit, I like to recruit students who hate to lose. Everybody likes to win, but there’s an innate trait about people who hate to lose that keeps them driving. Moving forward to that championship mindset, they find ways to win. They battle. It could be something as simple as who gets to the water cooler first, it’s the competitive nature of the student-athlete. I sensed that from the start when I talked to them. I have this sense that they’re dedicated and they have a drive to compete.”


She has also helped guide the game through her participation in several committees for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (recruiting, rules, diversity, all-region/all-American, Top 25) and the NCAA. Penner served as the South Region Chair from 2011 to 2014 for the NCAA’s National Softball Championship Committee.


Community service and outreach has played a major role in her career. While at Barry, Penner took part in activities with Camillus House, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Make a Wish, America’s Moms for Soldiers and the Miami Dolphins among many others. That continued at Coastal Carolina with Habitat for Humanity and Miracle League, as well as an Adopt A Senior initiative and Thanksgiving food drives. Penner was honored with the Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin Community Service Award in 2011 and 2017, as well as the Barry University Community Service Impact Award in 2016.


A 1998 graduate from California University of Pennsylvania (now referred to as PennWest California), Penner was a two-time NCAA national champion with the Vulcans, a three-time NFCA All-American and is tied for the second-most victories in a season (50 in 1997, the first Division II pitcher to reach 50 wins) and holds the Division II career record in winning percentage (.904). She ranks 16th in single-season starts (50 in 1998), 15th in single-season complete games (45 in 1998), seventh in single-season winning percentage (.943 in 1997) and 10th in single-season shutouts (23 in 1998).


Penner also ranks tied for ninth in career starts (151), seventh in complete games (134), 19th in innings pitched (987 2/3), third in victories (141), 11th in earned run average (0.58) and fourth in shutouts (77).


She was also named the Division II Female Athlete of the Year in 1998 and also took part in the Canadian National Softball Program in 1997 and 1998. Penner was inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.


Penner earned her bachelor’s degree in Administration in 1998, then earned master’s degrees in Sports Management and Business Administration from Barry, both in 2004.


With her gained experience from Barry and Coastal, as well as her own experience as a student-athlete, Penner sees the Golden Eagle roster ready to take that step forward.


“A really important lesson I’ve learned over the years is that we’re all in this together – staff and student-athletes alike,” Penner said. “I’ve always felt that excellence isn’t a destination, but a path. We’re all on the same path. We just have to keep moving forward. We may get bumps in those roads, but it’s up to us – not the student-athletes, not the coaches, but us – to make those bumps just speed bumps rather than road blocks. It’s a true team effort. I believe that starts with a strong culture.


“When I first started coaching, it just wasn’t something I thought about. You have to get people on the same page and it really starts with the type of student-athlete you bring into the program. After talking with the student-athletes, I sense we have a lot that want to be on that path and they want to move along that path together.”

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Marc Kendrick

Kendrick, a 2020 graduate from Cal State Fullerton in kinesiology and sports studies, has extensive experience in the travel ball circuit and had his first collegiate experience last year as a graduate manager for California Baptist.


With travel ball experience dating all the way back to 2008 in one of the most competitive areas in the country, Kendrick stands ready to take that next step into the collegiate level.


He got his start in the Corona Girls Softball Association from 2008 to 2010, serving as an assistant coach for the 10U and 12U programs, then was named the head coach at Capistrano Valley High from 2011 to 2015. While he was working toward a degree at Santiago Canyon College, he served as the team’s outfield and first base coach from 2015 to 2018.


During his tenures there, he worked in the travel circuit, serving as the 16U assistant coach with the SoCal Beverly Bandits Lastrapes – who were 2015 PGF qualifiers – as well as the outfield coach for the 16U/18U Batbusters Lastrapes program – who were a 2017 PGF Premier qualifier and the 2016 USA Elite Select World Fastpitch 16U champions.


While at Santiago Canyon College, Kendrick was a member of the 2016 NFCA California Junior College National Coaching Staff of the Year as the team won the CCCAA state title.


He continued to build his resume as he was the 14U/16U outfield coach for the OC Tigers Lastrapes team from 2017 to 2019, the head coach for the 14U Batbusters Kendrick team from 2019 to 2021 and the 18U assistant and outfield coach for the Batbusters Lastrapes program in 2021 through the summer of 2022. The OC Tigers Lastrapes were 2019 PGF Platinum and 2018 PGF Premier qualifiers.


In his role at California Baptist, Kendrick served as the team’s director of operations, while also throwing batting practice, hit grounders and caught bullpen sessions. He earned his master’s degree in kinesiology and sports management from CBU in May.

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Sammi Miller

Sammi Miller is familiar with the Tennessee Tech softball program. After all, she faced the Golden Eagles for two seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference as a member of a championship team at Eastern Kentucky.


Now Miller is joining Danielle Penner’s staff at Tech, arriving in Cookeville as a new assistant coach for the Golden Eagles.


Miller spent the last season as an assistant coach at Manchester University in the Division III Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Under the guidance of head coach Sara Emerich and assistant Josh Dzurick, the Spartans went 23-20 and 10-6 in the HCAC. As a team, MU batted .291 with 216 runs scored and 183 RBI.


As a member of the Colonels, Miller put together a tremendous season in EKU’s final season in the OVC as she hit .400 with 62 hits, 13 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 24 RBI while drawing 28 walks and stealing 16 bases. She led the Colonels in average, doubles, triples, walks and stolen bases.


She was a first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection and was on the all-tournament team as EKU defeated top-seeded Southeast Missouri. The Colonels drew the Knoxville Regional for their third NCAA Regional appearance and fourth NCAA postseason, where they faced Tennessee and Liberty.


In her EKU career, she finished with a .388 average, collecting 214 hits – including 38 doubles, 10 triples, and eight home runs – while tallying 76 RBI and coming home to score 156 times. She drew 85 walks, was hit 31 times and struck out only 27 times. Miller also stole 61 bases. She was also an excellent outfielder, posting a .967 fielding percentage.


As the team transitioned to the Atlantic Sun Conference, Miller was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year.


Miller was also an All-OVC second-teamer and All-Newcomer selection in 2019.


Before heading over to Richmond, Ky., Miller spent a season with Virginia Tech, batting .211 with 13 runs scored, 23 hits, two doubles, one home run and seven RBI as she went 5-for-5 on stolen bases in her freshman campaign.


In high school, she was named an ILHS Softball All-American in 2016.


Outside of competition, Miller has been a fixture at camps and clinics and has also worked the Scenic City Tournament in Chattanooga.


Community service has also been important for her as she has worked with food drives in her hometown for the less fortunate during the holidays and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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