Sonoma State University Women's Softball

Bridges has led the softball team to seven straight NCAA tournament appearances and a pair of CCAA tournament championships, to go along with an outstanding 267-148 record overall and a 157-97 mark in the CCAA.  Prior coming to Sonoma State, she was the head coach at Whittier College, a NCAA Division III program, where she compiled a 45-35 record, bringing her overall head coaching record to 312-183 in nine seasons. In 2013, the Seawolves (37-21, 22-14 CCAA) finished third in the CCAA standings and qualified for the conference tournament for the fourth time in five years.  After a victory to open up the CCAA's in Stockton, Sonoma State lost back-to-back games on day two of the tournament and was eliminated.  However, Bridges and company earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA West Regional Tournament and the season continued.  It was at the regional in St. George, Utah, though, that SSU ran out of steam and was ousted from national title contention after a 1-2 showing. The completion of the 2013 season marked the end of a remarkable career for Bridges' ace pitcher Samantha Lipperd.  The right-handed Lipperd shattered the program's pitching record book, including the career strikeout mark in which she finished with 1,090 of them, 664 more than the previous all-time record in the school's history.  Lipperd went 101-41 with a 1.61 ERA under Bridges' tutelage, setting 22 all-time, single-season and single-game pitching records in a total of 162 appearances. Bridges also saw the end of first baseman Ali Palermo's four-year career, as Palermo shattered 13 all-time offensive and defensive records during her time, including home runs (37), runs batted in (147) and most consecutive games without a defensive error, ending her career on a 132-game errorless streak (669 consecutive chances), among others. In 2012, Bridges led Sonoma State (36-19, 21-15 CCAA) to a fifth place finish in the CCAA standings, missing the conference tournament by two games.  However, finishing with a 35-17 record in the regular season, the Seawolves qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year (and the third straight under Bridges' tutelage), earning the No. 5 seed.  After a tournament-opening victory over Chico State at the sub-regional in Carson, Calif., Sonoma State suffered two straight losses to host Cal State Dominguez Hills and Grand Canyon and the season would end at 36-19. The 2012 season was an extraordinary year for the Bridges and the Seawolves, despite ending the season with just 14 players on the roster, but it would be the incredible efforts of junior pitcher Samantha Lipperd that carried the team as the only pitcher on the roster for the final two months of the season.  Lipperd went on to set 12  pitching records in 2012, one of which also broke a Division II single-game record -- she fanned 26 batters in a 5-2, 11-inning game against Hawai'i Pacific on Mar. 31, 2012.  Lipperd finished the season with 396 strikeouts, the most in all of Division II that season, and would earn herself the second All-America honor of her career. In 2011, the Seawolves (38-22, 23-13 CCAA) earned their second consecutive CCAA tournament title, thanks to a 1-0 no-hit victory by sophomore Samantha Lipperd over top-seeded UC San Diego in the championship game on May 1 (UCSD eventually went on to win the national championship).  Sonoma State reached the sub-regional championship game in Kaneohe, Hawai'i, but fell to Cal State San Bernardino, ending the season with a record of 38-22. In her first season with the Seawolves in 2010, Bridges led SSU to the program's first CCAA tournament championship, propelled by a school-record 43-18 mark after finishing second in the CCAA regular season standings with a 24-12 mark.  Sonoma State earned a bid to host the NCAA Division II West Sub-Regional in Rohnert Park, but was eventually eliminated before reaching the sub-regional title game. The Seawolves led the CCAA in nearly every offensive statistical category in 2010, including batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored, hits, runs batted in, home runs, total bases and hit by pitches.  SSU also shattered the school record for most home runs in a season with 52 -- the previous mark of 24 was set back in 2007.  Bridges' pitching staff also had a huge year, tossing two no-hitters and grabbing three conference Pitcher of the Week awards. Prior coming to Sonoma State, Bridges was the head coach at Whittier College in 2008 and 2009.  She led the Poets to unprecedented levels of success, including the program's first ever conference tournament appearance in 2009.  Her two-year record at Whittier was 45-35 and the squad's 24 wins in '09 were the most for the program since 1987. In addition to her coaching duties at Whittier, Bridges also served as an Assistant Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator. Prior to taking the reigns at Whittier, Bridges spent four seasons (2004-2007) as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego.  She also coached the University of San Diego High School squad in 2002 and 2003. Bridges played NCAA Division I softball at the University of San Diego and was her team's captain as a junior and senior. A graduate of the University of San Diego with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Bridges earned her Master's Degree in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific University.