Aggie Park

Trisha Ford | Monday Lunch

A&M Softball

About the Speaker

Thirteen-year head coaching veteran and four-time conference coach of the year Trisha Ford was hired as the softball program's 10th head coach on June 7, 2022.
 
Ford made an immediate impact in her first season leading the Maroon & White to a 35-21 record and a 12-12 ledger in SEC play. The Aggies won five of eight conference series, marking the most regular season wins and conference series victories since the 2018 season. The Aggies made a 21^st-consecutive NCAA appearance after earning a No. 2 seed to the Austin Regional. Ford was one of three head coaches and the only Power 5 head coach to lead their team to the NCAA Tournament in year one at their current school in 2023. 
 
Texas A&M finished the campaign ranked No. 23 in the D1 Softball national ranking and received votes in the NFCA, ESPN/USA Softball polls. For the first time since 2019, the Aggies lived in the NFCA, ESPN/USA Softball and D1 Softball national polls, including 15-straight weeks in the D1 Softball poll and climbed as high as No. 13 nationally.
 
Known across the nation as a pitching guru, the Aggie pitching staff benefited with improvement in overall team ERA, 2.70 (2023) compared to 3.71 (2022) the year prior to her arrival, and K-to-BB ratio, 2.44 (2023) compared to 1.50 in 2022. The staff combined to throw three no-hitters, including Madison Preston tossing a five inning no-hitter, Emiley Kennedy recording a seven inning no-no and a combined five inning no-hitter from Kennedy and Emily Leavitt.
 
Individually, Julia Cottrill was named to the NFCA All-America Third Team, marking the 42^nd All-American recognition in program history. Cottrill also garnered All-SEC First Team and NFCA All-South Region First Team honors, while Rylen Wiggins earned All-SEC First Team honors, Amari Harper was named to the NFCA All-South Region Third Team and Koko Wooley earned All-SEC Second Team and NFCA All-South Region Second Team recognition.
 
In her third game as an Aggie, Ford secured career win No. 400 on Feb. 10, 2023. Over her head coaching career, she has amassed a 432-247-1 (.636) record, including a 212-89 (.704) ledger with the Arizona State Sun Devils. Ford was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2022 after guiding ASU to its first Pac-12 Championship since 2011 and in 2018 when the Sun Devils made their first NCAA Women’s College World Series appearance since 2013. In her six seasons in Tempe, Ford mentored five All-Americans and 20 All-Conference selections.
 
Prior to arriving in Tempe, Ford served a four-year stint as the head coach at Fresno State from 2013-16. Most notably, she was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016 after leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back Mountain West Conference Championships. She led the Bulldogs to consecutive 40-win seasons, including a 2016 campaign with a 42-12-1 record and an incredible 22-1 mark in MWC action. The Bulldogs went unbeaten through April and recorded a then-nation-leading 23-game win streak, setting a school record for consecutive victories.
 
Ford spent nine years as an assistant coach with the Stanford Cardinal (2004-12), including four seasons as associate head coach. She helped guide Stanford to its greatest run in school history and a 385-155 (.713) overall record.
 
Prior to joining Stanford's coaching staff, Ford spent two seasons as the head coach at her alma mater Saint Mary's College.
 
Arguably one of the best softball players in Saint Mary's history, she is the only female student-athlete in school history to have her number (9) retired.
 
Ford graduated from Saint Mary's with a degree in politics in 1999 and was inducted into the Gaels' Hall of Fame in 2007. A native of Fremont, California, she earned nine varsity letters in softball, volleyball and basketball during her prep career at American High School.
 
Ford and her husband, Eddie, married in the summer of 2005, and have two children, Emma and EJ.

Monday Lunch