After leading Bowling Green State to postseason play for the first time in 18 seasons, former Texas Tech star pitcher Sarah Willis has been named the 11th head coach in Bradley Softball history, according to an announcement from Braves Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Chris Reynolds Monday morning.
"We are excited about the addition of Sarah Willis to our Bradley family," said Reynolds. "We share a vision for Bradley Softball that is rooted in the Bradley Athletics mission to lead and support our student-athletes in the pursuit of excellence in the classroom and competition, while energizing and engaging the community."
In her seventh season at Bowling Green in 2022, Willis led the Falcons to a 34-21 (.618) overall record this year, which included a 16-11 (.593) mark in the Mid-American Conference and a run to the final nine of the National Invitational Softball Championship last month in Fort Collins, CO. Her BGSU teams have battled through the global pandemic the last three seasons with a 74-54 (.578) ledger.
"It is an honor and a privilege to be representing Bradley Softball and the University in the Peoria area," said Willis. "It has been a dream to move back home and raise our family in such a wonderful community that has tremendous values. I am truly blessed beyond words for the opportunity Dr. Reynolds has extended to me. I will take great care to build a program of excellence with student-athletes doing it right on and off the field.
"Thank you to the Bradley Athletics administration who was a part of the hiring process and for taking such time to make this feel like home," Willis added.
Willis graduated from Texas Tech in 2008 with her degree in psychology and the three-time Academic All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection earned her master's degree in sport and exercise science from Texas Tech in 2010. After beginning her coaching career as a student assistant at Texas Tech in 2008, Willis enjoyed her first full-time coaching position at Princeton from 2010-12.
After working as an assistant for the North Carolina Diamonds professional club during the summer of 2012, Willis returned to the college game as an assistant at Southeast Missouri State from 2012-14, then served as pitching/catching coach at Dayton in 2014-15, before taking over the Bowling Green program for the 2015-16 campaign.
In her lone season at Dayton, Willis helped the Flyers to their first Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship and program records for both overall wins (39-14) and league victories (20-2). The 2015 Dayton pitching staff posted a 2.31 earned run average, while recording 12 shutouts and a .218 opponent batting average.
Willis has twice mentored a conference Pitcher of the Year – Dayton's Kayla English earned the A-10 honor in 2015, while sophomore Payton Gottshall earned the Mid-American Conference honor in 2022 after going 27-13 with a 1.66 ERA. Gottshall tossed a pair of perfect games in 2022 – April 10 against Buffalo, striking out nine in 7.0 innings after fanning 23 batters in 14.0 innings the day before; and March 5 against Green Bay by striking out all 15 batters she faced in the 5-inning victory.
Willis began her collegiate playing career at the University of Washington in 2004, before following head coach Teresa Wilson to Texas Tech, where she appeared in 116 games from 2005-08, collecting 22 wins and 298 strikeouts in 341.0 career innings pitched. Wills remains fifth in Texas Tech history with 6.18 career strikeouts per 7 innings, seventh in appearances and eighth in innings pitched. Her 8-2 won-loss record as a redshirt freshman in 2005 also remains the second-best single-season winning percentage in Texas Tech history.
The former Sarah Losleben, Willis is married to Chillicothe, IL native Joe Willis and the couple has two daughters, Zoey (5) and Payton (3).
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