Heather Bruder is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Bluffton University Softball Team. Since being hired at Bluffton Bruder has lead the ladies to an overall record of 69-47 and a 34-13 mark in the HCAC. She was named HCAC Coach of the Year for the 2008 season. Last season Bruder lead the team to a school record with 30 wins.
Bruder started her coaching career at Northwood University, a Division II school in Michigan. When she took over the Timberwolves were a struggling program. The team had suffered five straight losing seasons until 2005 when Bruder turned the program around. In that season they finished with a 34-14 overall record and captured the school’s first ever GLIAC Title. The Timberwolves advanced to the finals of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship where it fell to Northern Kentucky, the number 1 team in the country at the time. She built on the success in the 2006 season by setting a school record with 37 wins. Northwood went 71-29 in Bruder’s final two seasons and were turned into a national powerhouse in D-II.
Coach Bruder has continued to succeed after coming to Bluffton University. In three seasons she has coached the team to a 69-47 overall mark. The first two seasons under Bruder the Beavers’ team batting average rose 72 points from .238 to .310. Opponents’ team batting average dropped 22 points from .269 to .247. Last season the team success continued as they batted .304 as a team and opponents batted .223. Along with being a head coach of these two programs she has been an assistant coach for USA-Athletes International.
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