MIAMI SOFTBALL

Miami inks new softball head coach

Gardner-Colegate has strong recruiting, pitching background

MANDY GARDNER-COLEGATE

OXFORD, Ohio – David Sayler, Miami University's Director of Athletics, has tabbed Mandy Gardner-Colegate as the 11th head coach in Miami softball history.
 
IOWA/PITCHING SUCCESS
Gardner-Colegate spent the past two seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator with the Iowa Hawkeyes. During her stint with the Hawkeyes, Iowa won 53 games, including 35 in 2023, Iowa's best win total since 2009. Iowa saw dramatic improvements with its pitching staff in Gardner-Colegate's first year, decreasing its team ERA from 5.03 to 2.57 in a single season. Iowa also improved in batting average against and increased strikeouts by over 40%.
 
ELITE RECRUITER
She has also proven to be an elite recruiter. In her first year at Iowa, she helped sign three players ranked in the top-61 nationally and this past season signed the top recruiting class in Iowa history, inking four top-25 nationally ranked players according to Extra Innings Softball. She also . . .

---

"Oxford is a remarkable place and I felt that the second I stepped on campus. "

. . . helped produce one first-team All-Big Ten honoree and a pair of student-athletes were placed on the All-Big Ten Freshman team in her short time with the Hawkeyes.

"I would like to thank President Crawford, David Sayler, and Chauncey Winbush for this tremendous opportunity," said Gardner-Colegate. "I feel extremely grateful and humbled that they have entrusted me with the future of the softball program. I would not be here without my parents, Joedy and Sheri Gardner, and my husband, Ryan Colegate. I have tremendous people in my life and the unwavering support from each of them is unmatched."
 
"I'm very excited to welcome Mandy into the Miami Athletics family and we look forward to supporting her as the head coach of our softball program," said Sayler. "She has earned a great reputation as a leader, teacher and elite recruiter over the years that have followed her successful career as a Division I softball student-athlete. Mandy is a very relationship-driven person and I am confident her leadership will enable us to continue the run of success our softball student-athletes have achieved."
 
UC SAN DIEGO
Gardner-Colegate joined the Hawkeyes after a period as an assistant coach at UC San Diego. In the 2022 season, she helped the Tritons' pitching staff lead the Big West Conference in strikeouts and finish second in ERA. Gardner-Colegate coached two pitchers to Big West All-Conference team honors in her one year at UCSD, including the conference's Pitcher of the Year and a Top 10 Finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year.
 
GRAND CANYON
Gardner-Colegate joined the UCSD staff after spending six years at Grand Canyon University (GCU) as both a graduate assistant and a full-time assistant.
 
In her three years as assistant coach, she served as the pitching coach for the Lopes. In her first season as an assistant, Gardner led the GCU pitching staff to a 1.85 ERA during conference play, which led the WAC. During her tenure as the GCU pitching coach, Gardner had four pitchers named to all-WAC teams.
 
At GCU, Gardner coached a pitching staff with a nationally-ranked staff ERA for multiple years and coached pitchers who had top-five career and season statistics in earned run average, batting average against, shutouts, career wins and strikeouts. She also coached the WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year in 2020 and 2021.
 
Prior to being named assistant coach in June 2018 at GCU, Gardner-Colegate served as a graduate assistant for three seasons (2016-18), assisting the coaching staff in off-field operations as well as practices and game day operations.
 
Gardner-Colegate joined the Lopes after a Division I playing career that included a two-year stay at Michigan, where she was a two-time Big Ten Champion, and three years at Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten. She was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a volunteer for the Special Olympics while pursuing her undergraduate degree.
 
Gardner-Colegate earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Maryland in 2015 and she received her Master's in Special Education from Grand Canyon in 2018.
 
"Like the coaches that came before me here at Miami, it is my intention to continue to bring in and develop exceptional young women to compete for championships on the field, while also graduating them as champions off the field," said Gardner-Colegate. "Oxford is a remarkable place and I felt that the second I stepped on campus. It has outstanding academics, great facilities and most importantly it has the people. It has a community that is passionate about the university and the softball program. I am excited to get to Oxford and get the new era of RedHawk softball going."