Linda Garza heads into her fourth season at the helm of the UC Riverside softball program. She has taken the Highlanders to new heights in each of her three seasons. Since Garza’s arrival on June 18, 2012 records have been set in nearly every major offensive, defensive and pitching category. “I take pride in being part of the Highlander family. Every year our focus is to get better and compete for a conference championship. I am most proud of the education UCR offers and the postgraduate careers our athletes seek.”
UCR had a historic 2015 season, and improved on it in 2016 as Garza led the Highlanders to their second straight 30 plus win season, a first for the program since joining the Big West. In 2015, the Highlanders finished with a 39-17 record and their highest RPI ranking-- 70. Her 39 wins were the most single season wins of any head coach. The season was highlighted by Chelsea Ponce earning the programs first Big West Pitcher of the Year honor and throwing the program’s first No-Hitter on March 21, 2015 against Bethune Cookman. Of 295 Division I softball programs UC Riverside was 1 of 65 teams to earn 35 or more wins. The pitching staff ranked 14th nationally in E.R.A. and the team finished 37th in Win/Loss percentage. Garza’s program moved up 109 spots from 2014 (179) to 2015 (70) in the final season ending RPI rankings, earning UCR the highest single season turn around of all 295 Division I programs.
Throughout the 2015 campaign many new records were established, and in 2016 some of them were broken. The Highlander offense recorded the highest Batting Average (.284, .299), most Runs (247), most Hits (429, 428), Runs Batted In (200, 215) and best Fielding Percentage (.972, .972). The Highlanders pitching staff recorded the lowest Earned Run Average (2.13), most wins (39), fewest losses (17), and most Strikeouts (280) in program history. A new single game attendance record was set on April 26, 2015 during the Highlanders sweep of UC Davis. Ponce earned five Big West Pitcher of the Week nominations making the most by any UCR player in a career and single season. The 2015 Highlanders earned their highest Big West Conference team finish in 14 years (5th) and became the first UCR squad to finish league play over .500.
Garza has coached 10 Big West All-Conference Team Nominees, and First-Team selections in Kayla White (2013), Dionne Anderson (2014), Chelsea Ponce (2015), Jenna Curtan (2016) and Maddy Richard (2016). Second-Team selection Rebecca Faulkner (2015), Stephanie Tickemyer (2016) and Tayler Misfeldt (2016). All-Freshman Team selection Rebecca Faulkner (2015) and Hannah Rodriguez (2016). Chelsea Ponce and Rebecca Faulkner became the fourth and fifth players of UCR's to earn national honors, after being named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Second Team All-Region in 2015. Chelsea Ponce also earned 2015 Press-Enterprise Women’s Athlete of the Year. Dionne Anderson (2014) went on to set the Big West single-season record in stolen bases with 47 and UC Riverside's 2013 team stole the most bases in a single season with 90. White in 2013 led the Big West Conference in conference Batting Average as she hit .468 over 24 games. Richard in 2016 claimed the Big West batting crown after finishing with .452 average-12th in the nation.
Prior to her arrival at UCR, Garza was Associate Head Coach at Cal Poly for two seasons. In 2010, Garza served as Head Coach at Wright State University and led the program to an automatic NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Horizon League Tournament title. The Raiders finished second-place in the Horizon League regular season standings and three Raiders were named to the 2010 All-Horizon League first team.
Under Garza’s guidance the program established single-season records for hits (538), walks (148), and stolen bases (150). Garza arrived at Wright State after serving as the top assistant at Purdue (2006-09), aiding the Boilermakers to 30-plus victories during each of her four seasons. At Purdue, Garza assisted with both recruiting and scheduling while developing the program’s outfielders.
Under Garza’s guidance, Purdue established five program offensive records while 10 Boilermakers earned All-Big Ten Conference recognition. Garza, who has also served as an assistant at Tulsa and Arkansas, received her start at UNLV, where she worked for one season as a student assistant coach following her playing career with the Rebels (1998-01).
A four-year starter at second base, third base and in the outfield, Garza finished her UNLV career ranked among the program’s top-10 players for doubles, walks, hits and sacrifices. Garza, who earned All-Mountain West Conference honors as a senior after leading the team in triples, RBI and sacrifice hits. She also started the final 155 games of her career. A four-time All-Mountain West academic honoree, Garza received a bachelor's degree in health education from UNLV in 2002 and a master's degree in kinesiology from Texas Woman's University in May 2009.
