Eileen Schmidt Biography

Virginia All-American Eileen Schmidt is in her fourth season at the helm of the Cavalier softball program.

Schmidt guided her alma mater to a year of firsts in 2010. The team recorded a second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with a school record 13 league victories and received its first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers, playing in their first tournament game at the Knoxville Regional, tallied the program’s first NCAA win in a 1-0 victory over Louisville.

In 2010, Schmidt coached freshman pitcher Melanie Mitchell to first-team All-ACC honors, while seniors Nicole Koren and Sarah Tacke were each second-team all-conference selections. The trio of Mitchell, Koren and Tacke each garnered first-team all-region honors as well.

Upon arriving at UVa in the summer of 2007, Schmidt spearheaded an effort to rennovate the team’s facility, The Park, which received a facelift prior to the 2009 season. Upgrades at The Park included a new playing surface, drainage and irrigation system, dugouts, bullpens, a second batting cage, and a new scorboard, fence and backstop.

In her first season as the head coach at Virginia, Schmidt and the Cavaliers increased their ACC wins from one to six in 2008. Schmidt also helped guide shortstop Carly Winger to the all-conference second team. In 2009, her second year, the Cavaliers finished with a winning record (25-22) for the first time since the 2006 campaign.

Schmidt returned to her alma mater after serving a three-year stint as head coach at Kentucky and a two-year stint Northwestern State.

Only the second head coach in Kentucky’s history, Schmidt’s quest to build the Wildcats into a contender in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference included several milestones for the UK program. In 2007, the Wildcats had three players earn All-SEC honors for the first time and senior shortstop Brooke Marnitz was named first team all-south region.

The 2007 Wildcats set a school record with 56 home runs, shattering the previous record of 37 set in 2004. They also tied the school mark with 66 doubles and broke the school record for RBI with 237. The previous record was 209 set in 2001. UK also set records for walks (140) and total bases (629). In 2006, her team earned votes in the national polls for the first time after knocking off 13th-ranked Washington in the season opener.

During Schmidt’s two years at Northwestern State, the Demons compiled a 62-61 record including a 35-28 mark in 2004. Schmidt coached 12 All-Southland Conference selections while taking the Demons to the conference tournament both seasons. In 2004, NSU advanced to the tournament championship game.

Schmidt’s coaching resume includes seven seasons in the SEC as an assistant. She began her coaching career at South Carolina in the fall of 1994 and helped guide the squad to a 50-win season and an NCAA Regional appearance in 1995.

Schmidt left Columbia and was named to the first-ever softball staff at Arkansas in the fall of 1995, where she helped build the Hogs’ program from the ground up. Schmidt was on staff with the Lady Razorbacks for more than a year before they opened collegiate softball play in the spring of 1997. Schmidt assisted Arkansas to two NCAA Regional appearances and a 126-90 record in her final three seasons there.

Schmidt as Head Coach