Sue Kunkle,
Head Softball Coach
Sue Kunkle enters her seventh season at the helm of the University of
Southern Indiana softball program after leading the Screaming Eagles to
their third straight 30-win season.
USI overcame injuries to post a 31-24-1 overall record, 13-10-1 GLVC, and finish fourth in the GLVC in 2007. Like most of Kunkle's squads, the 2007 version had a strong finish as it went 9-4-1 in the final 14 games and just missed out on a berth to the NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament.
In 2006, Kunkle guided her Eagles into the NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament for the first time since 1998. Her squad went 39-18, 17-5 GLVC, in 2006 and finished third in the NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament. Kunkle was named the GLVC Coach of the Year after USI's second-place finish in the GLVC during the regular season.
Under Kunkle, the Eagles have consistently been at the top of the GLVC--one of the top conferences in Division II softball--during the last six years. USI has posted one second-place finish in the GLVC Tournament as well as two third-place finishes and two fourth-place finishes in the league's post-season tournament.
Kunkle is second on USI's all-time wins list with 184 career victories. She
needs 21 wins to surpass Beth Watson for first all-time at USI. She also is
second all-time at USI in winning percentage (.601).
In 2005, Kunkle's squad overcame a rough start before winning 30 of its last 42 games to finish with a 30-20 record, including a 10-8 mark in GLVC play. In the process of their strong finish, the Eagles set a school record for consecutive victories, stringing together 18 consecutive wins on the heels of an 0-8 start.
Despite an up-and-down conference season, Kunkle's squad rebounded to win three straight elimination games in the GLVC Tournament before falling to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
In 2004, Kunkle's Eagles battled some of the top teams in Division II and jumped out to an 8-0 start in conference play before finishing the campaign with a 26-24 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the GLVC.
Kunkle directed the Eagles to a 27-18 overall record and a 13-7 mark in the GLVC in 2003. That squad produced six All-GLVC and four All-Great Lakes Region performers.
During her first season, Kunkle led the Eagles to a second-place finish in the GLVC Tournament and to within an eyelash of a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Kunkle also set the USI record for wins by a first-year coach with a 31-18 overall record, 10-7 in the GLVC.
She also has coached two USA Athletes International squads. Kunkle led her
first squad to a first-place finish in Holland in the summer of 2005 and her
second squad to a third-place finish in Australia in 2006.
Kunkle took over the USI softball program in 2001 after a tenure at the University of Akron. In addition to her coaching duties, Kunkle teaches in the USI Physical Education Department.
Kunkle helped develop some of Akron's best hurlers, including 1998 UA Female Athlete of the Year Shelby Howell (1995-1998).
She was responsible for recruiting and coordinating the team's travel arrangements
as well as organizing the Zips camps and clinics, the Dugout Club, and alumni relations.
Prior to her tenure at Akron, Kunkle began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at California University of Pennsylvania. She gained a year of coaching experience at Morehead State University before being named assistant coach at Bethel Park.
A four-year starter at California, Kunkle became the winningest pitcher in school history with a career record of 54-12 from 1990-94. The Vulcans earned PSAC West Championships in Kunkle’s last three seasons, and were the conference’s overall champs in 1991. An All-Region pitcher as a junior, she earned All-Conference and All-Regional Tournament honors as a senior, while leading her team to a regional championship and California's
first-ever appearance in the Division II College World Series.
Kunkle, who resides in Evansville with her daughter Morgan, earned a bachelor's degree in education from California in 1994. She received her master's
degree in sports science and coaching at Akron
in 2001.
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KUNKLE at USI |
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| Year | Overall Record | GLVC Regular Season | GLVC Tournament Finish |
| 2002 | 31-18 | 10-7 (4th) | Second |
| 2003 | 27-18 | 13-7 (4th) | Fifth |
| 2004 | 26-24 | 11-7 (4th) | Third |
| 2005 | 30-20 | 10-8 (5th) | Third |
| 2006*^ | 39-18 | 17-5 (2nd) | Fourth |
| 2007 | 31-24-1 | 13-10-1 (5th) | Fourth |
| Total | 184-122-1 | 74-44-1 | |
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*NCAA II Tournament; ^GLVC Coach of the Year |
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