SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State softball associate head coach Sue Frederick announced her retirement today after 32 seasons with the program.
Following a successful playing career at Creighton, Frederick joined the Bear coaching staff beginning with the 1991 season and has helped head coach Holly Hesse lead the Bears to an 846-777-2 record in her tenure. During her 32-year stint in Springfield, the Bears captured two MVC regular-season titles, six MVC Tournament crowns and made six NCAA Tournament appearances.
“The most important job a head coach has is hiring a staff. Probably the one thing I got right early on in my career was hiring Sue. After hiring Sue in 1991, she played a major role in helping turn this program around. It has been an honor and a blessing to work side-by-side with her during these past 32 years. She has been a major cornerstone of all the success the program has enjoyed during the past three decades. Her leadership, guidance, attitude, hard work, and her excellence will be missed, but Missouri State Softball has certainly benefited greatly from all of these qualities through her many years of service to Missouri State,” said Hesse.
In her role as associate head coach, Frederick worked with the Bears infielders and offense, while also overseeing MSU’s strength and conditioning, team travel, practice organization, budgeting and clinic development.
In 2022, her final season with the Bears, Frederick helped lead MSU to a 28-20 record, to a second-place finish in the MVC regular season and to the program’s seventh MVC Tournament title. MSU earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, its first appearance in the postseason since 2011.
“It is truly difficult to say goodbye to a university and a program that have been a central part of my life for over 30 years. Additionally, it is even harder to leave Holly and Beth, whom I’ve spent my entire coaching career with. We’ve had a historic and unprecedented run as a coaching staff, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the time we’ve spent together. They have made a huge impact on my life in numerous ways. I am a better person and coach for spending my days in the office, at the field, and on the road with both of them. I’m thankful to the players, past and present, who are forever Bears in my heart. It’s been a wonderful career and I am blessed and proud to have spent it at Missouri State University. Thank you to the administration for your ongoing support and leadership. I will be cheering on the program in a different way now and wish them continued success. Once a Bear – always a Bear! Drop the bat,” said Frederick.
A native of Ankeny, Iowa, Frederick played for the Virginia Roadsters in the inaugural Women’s Professional Fastpitch season in the summer of 1997.
Frederick, who graduated cum laude from Creighton in 1989, was a four-year standout and career .302 hitter on the Jays’ softball team and set school career records for hits (209) and stolen bases (47). As a sophomore, she set CU single-season marks with 69 hits and 41 runs scored and then tied her hit record with 69 in her senior campaign.
Frederick’s .423 batting mark as a sophomore in 1987 ranked 10th in the nation that year and second in CU history.
A two-time all-region first teamer, Frederick helped the Jays to High Country Conference titles in 1986 and 1987, with a College World Series berth in 1986. She was a first team all-conference pick in 1987 and 1989 and earned the Carl M. Reinert Scholar Athlete Award as a senior. In 1989-90, she served as an intern for the High Country Conference in Laramie, Wyo. In 2000, she was inducted into the Iowa Softball Hall of Fame for her career accomplishments.
Prior to Frederick’s departure, the staff of Holly Hesse, Sue Frederick and Beth Perine was the longest-tenured coaching staff in NCAA Division I Softball.
