The Lamar Lady Cardinals softball team represents

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, t ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

college softball. The team participates in the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

. The Lady Cardinals are currently led by head coach Amy Hooks. The team played its home games at the off-campus Ford Park for the first two seasons following the program restart. The Lady Cardinals began playing home games at the Lamar Softball Complex located on the university's campus starting with the 2015 season.

History

LU first sponsored

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

from 1971 through 1977 competing in the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

. Lamar finished second in the 1972 AIAW Texas state tournament. In addition to other head coaching duties, Pat Park was the Lady Cardinals head coach for the initial seasons. Coach Park also served as women's head coach for basketball, tennis, and golf while she was at Lamar. In 1983 Lamar added softball as an NCAA Division I sport and competed in the Southland conference. Tryouts for the team were held on October 16, 1982. The sport was dropped in 1987 when Lamar left the Southland Conference. Patty Calvert was head coach during the 1982-1987 period. On April 22, 2011, Athletic Director

Larry Tidwell Larry Dan Tidwell (born May 14, 1953), is the Head Coach for the Dallas Christian College Woman’s Basketball Team. Before moving to Kansas, he served as women's basketball head coach from 2013–2018 at the Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros ...

announced plans to reinstate college softball as an NCAA Division I sport at Lamar University. On August 1, 2011 former Morehead State head coach Holly Bruder was announced as the finalist to fill the head coaching position at Lamar after over 20 years with no program at the university. The Lady Cardinals finished fifth in the Southland Conference in their first season of competition (2012–13) following the restart of the program. The team also earned a berth in the Southland Conference softball tournament. Holly Bruder was removed as head coach on May 11, 2018. On June 20, 2018, Amy Hooks was named as head coach for the team. Off-campus Ford Park was the home field for the first two seasons after the program was restarted. A new on-campus stadium was constructed in 2014-15. On October 17, 2014, a ground breaking ceremony for the new Lamar Softball Complex was held. The first game at the partially completed on-campus stadium was played on March 6, 2015 against the

Houston Baptist Huskies The Houston Christian Huskies, HCU or Huskies (formerly known as Houston Baptist, HBU) are the athletic teams that represent Houston Christian University, located in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I leve ...

. The stadium was completed following the 2015 season.

NCAA Year-by-year results

Source: (Results reflect games through May 11, 2022.)

Yearly attendance

Below is the Lady Cardinals' home attendance since the 2012–13 restart of the program. *Note: Attendance restricted to 119 fans due to COVID19 precautions.
**Note: Games after March 10, 2020 cancelled due to COVID19 precautions.
*** Note: Temporary seating.
As of the 2021-20 season.

Post season appearances

National Invitational Softball Championship

The Lady Cardinals have participated in one national tournament, the inaugural

National Invitational Softball Championship The National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) is a postseason women's college softball tournament sponsored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports, Inc., a company that produces events f ...

which started in 2017. The team compiled a 6–3 record in that tournament losing to

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

in the championship game.

Conference Tournaments

''Sources:''

Awards and honors

''Sources:''

Southland Conference

All Conference First Team

* Donna Dugas 1985, 87 * Teresa Fuxa 1986 * Tina Schulz 2014 * Bryn Baca 2016, '17 * Brittany Rodriguez 2016, '17 * Kendall Talley 2018 * Jade Lewis 2019

Hitter of the Year

* Donna Dugas 1986

Newcomer of the Year

* Laura Hall 1985 * Ciara Luna 2016 * Jade Lewis 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamar Lady Cardinals softball