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Connie Clark

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For the Tennessee Supreme Court justice, see Cornelia Clark.

Connie Sue Clark
Biographical details
Born (1965-12-20) December 20, 1965 (age 58)
Glendale, Arizona
Playing career
1984–1985Central Arizona JC
1986–1987Cal State Fullerton
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1995Florida State (asst.)
1997–2018Texas
Head coaching record
Overall873–401–3 (.685)
TournamentsNCAA: 52–39 (.571)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards

Connie Sue Clark (born December 20, 1965)[1] is an American, former collegiate All-American right-handed softball pitcher and head coach. Clark began her college softball career at the junior college level before finishing her last two years with the Cal State Fullerton Titans from 1986–87 and leading them to the 1986 Women's College World Series championship title. She is the Big West Conference career leader in ERA and WHIP for her two seasons, she also ranks top-10 for those records for both the Titans and the NCAA Division I.[2][3][4]

Clark was named the inaugural head coach of the Texas Longhorns softball program, a position she held from 1997 to 2018. Along the way she was mentor to athletes Christa Williams, Cat Osterman and Blaire Luna and coached teams to a first No. 1 softball ranking, five college World Series and three national semifinal finishes. Clark was also a head coach for the Netherlands.[5]

Early life and education

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Clark was born and raised in Glendale, Arizona and graduated from Greenway High School in nearby Phoenix in 1983. At Central Arizona Junior College, Clark pitched on the softball team under head coach Mike Candrea and led the team to National Junior College Athletic Association titles in 1984 and 1985.[6]

California State Fullerton

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Transferring to Cal State Fullerton, Clark had a 20–2 record and nation-best 0.18 ERA leading the Titans to the 1986 Women's College World Series title.[7] She earned First Team All-Big West honors. At the World Series, Clark pitched three shutouts and surrendered just one hit and struck out 8 in the title game to defeat the Texas A&M Aggies 3-0 on May 25. She was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts.[8][9]

As a senior in 1987, Clark went 33–5.[10] She won the Broderick Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the nation's top softball player in 1987.[11][12] She earned First Team All-American recognition from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and another conference honor.[13] Clark and the Titans returned to the World Series to defend their title but eventually lost the UCLA Bruins on May 23. Clark tossed 6 innings and struck out 4 in her final appearance.[14]

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, Clark pitched for Team USA in 1987.[6]

Coaching career

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From 1990 to 1995, Clark was an assistant coach at Florida State University. She became the inaugural head softball coach at the University of Texas at Austin in June 1995, leading the Texas Longhorns from 1997 to 2018 with a cumulative 873–401–3 record, four Big 12 Conference regular season titles, four Big 12 Conference softball tournament titles, and 19 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including five in the Women's College World Series.[6][15]

Statistics

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Cal State Fullerton Titans

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[16]

YEAR W L GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
1986 20 2 23 22 20 16 0 155.1 42 5 4 24 197 0.18 0.42
1987 33 5 47 36 32 21 4 283.0 133 29 19 70 261 0.47 0.71
TOTALS 53 7 70 58 52 37 4 438.1 175 34 23 94 458 0.36 0.61

Head Coaching Record

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Sources:[17][18]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (1997–2018)
1997 Texas 30–24 6–10 7th
1998 Texas 49–16 11–5 3rd Women's College World Series
1999 Texas 45–17 10–4 2nd NCAA Regionals
2000 Texas 30–27–1 11–5 3rd NCAA Regionals
2001 Texas 24–29 5–13 9th
2002 Texas 50–13 17–1 1st NCAA Regionals
2003 Texas 49–9 15–2 1st Women's College World Series
2004 Texas 24–25 5–13 8th
2005 Texas 49–13 11–6 3rd Women's College World Series
2006 Texas 55–9 15–2 1st Women's College World Series
2007 Texas 35–20 8–10 6th NCAA Regionals
2008 Texas 29–23–2 9–9 T–4th NCAA Regionals
2009 Texas 40–20 11–7 4th NCAA Regionals
2010 Texas 43–15 14–2 1st NCAA Regionals
2011 Texas 46–10 14–4 2nd NCAA Regionals
2012 Texas 47–13 16–8 T–3rd NCAA Super Regionals
2013 Texas 51–10 14–4 2nd Women's College World Series
2014 Texas 35–23 12–6 3rd NCAA Regionals
2015 Texas 38–17 12–6 T–2nd NCAA Regionals
2016 Texas 38–16 10–7 3rd NCAA Regionals
2017 Texas 33–26 7–10 4th NCAA Regionals
2018 Texas 33–26 10–8 4th NCAA Regionals
Texas: 873–401–3 (.685) 243–142 (.631)
Total: 873–401–3 (.685)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "NFCA on Twitter".
  2. ^ "2019 Record Book" (PDF). Cloudfront.net. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  3. ^ "Big West Softball Record Book" (PDF). Bigwest.org. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "Division I Records" (PDF). Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "Connie Clark new Head Coach Netherlands Softball Team". Catcher.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved July 9, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. ^ a b c "Connie Clark – Head coach – Texas Athletics". texassports.com.
  7. ^ "page 7" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Division I Softball Championship Record Book" (PDF). Nfca.org. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  9. ^ "Cal St. Fullerton WCWS Stats". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "Cal State Fullerton Athletics". October 20, 2015.
  11. ^ "Cal State Fullerton Athletics". Cal State Fullerton Athletics. October 20, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "Softball". CWSA. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "1998 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams". Nfca.org. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cal St. Fullerton WCWS Stats". Ncaa.org. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  15. ^ "NCAA Statistics". stats.ncaa.org.
  16. ^ "Cal St. Fullerton Individual Career Summaries" (PDF). Fullertontitans.com. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  17. ^ Texas Softball 2018 Fact Book (PDF), University of Texas at Austin, 2018, pp. 28–29
  18. ^ "- Big 12 Conference – Official Athletic Site". www.big12sports.com.
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