Brundage Elevated to Associate Head Coach
7/17/2023 1:27:00 PM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan softball head coach Bonnie Tholl announced the promotion of Jennifer Brundage to associate head coach on Monday (July 17). Regarded as one of the nation's top pitching coaches, Brundage has spent the last 25 years as an assistant coach with the Wolverine program.
"Jen's veteran coaching experience is so valuable to our program," said Tholl. "To say that Jen has been instrumental in the rich history of Michigan Softball and the many championships that we have celebrated is an understatement. Her tremendous development of players, and pitchers in particular, makes her most deserving of being named associate head coach and I am excited to work alongside Jen as we fulfill the vision of Michigan Softball."
"I am extremely grateful to continue to have the opportunity to coach at a university and softball program that places the utmost value on the people in it," said Brundage, "and am genuinely humbled and honored to be elevated to this new position. Thank you to Athletic Director Warde Manual, our sport administrator, Lisa Savoury, and to Coach Bonnie Tholl, for this tremendous honor. I would also like to thank Coach Hutchins for taking a chance on a young, unproven coach when she originally brought me to the University of Michigan. I'm truly excited to continue to work alongside an incredible coaching staff with some of the best and brightest student-athletes in the country, as they pursue personal, academic and athletic excellence."
Under Brundage's tutelage, Michigan pitchers have garnered 20 NFCA All-America honors, 11 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and two Big Ten Player of the Year awards and 40 All-Big Ten selections, including 26 on the first team. Most recently, Alex Storako was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and an NFCA Second Team All-American after a breakout season in 2021, during which she led the nation with a 12.9 strikeout-per-game average. Meghan Beaubien claimed both the 2018 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors and was named an NFCA First Team All-American after posting a nation's best 33 wins in her rookie season.
Brundage coached Megan Betsa and Haylie Wagner to dual All-America honors in 2015 when U-M compiled a 60-8 record en route to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Women's College World Series. A three-time All-American, Betsa was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2015 and 2016 and led the nation in total strikeouts (412) in 2017. Brundage also boasted multiple All-America pitchers from 2008-10 with Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor. The duo boasted the nation's top team ERA (0.88) in 2018 and earned three All-America honors apiece.
Also among Brundage's most notable performers were two-time All-American Jennie Ritter, who captured the 2005 USA Softball Player of the Year award, winning 38 games en route to the program's first-ever national championship in 2005, and three-time All-American and current Duke head coach Marissa Young, who also ranks among Michigan's leaders in nearly every major pitching category.
Over Brundage's tenure, Michigan has captured 19 Big Ten regular-season titles since 1999, six Big Ten Tournament crowns, 24 NCAA Tournament appearances and eight WCWS appearances. The trio of Brundage, Tholl and legendary coach Carol Hutchins was named the Speedline/NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year following the Wolverines' 2005 NCAA championship run and earned NFCA Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors 14 times from 1999-2021.
A 2007 inductee into UCLA's Athletics Hall of Fame, Brundage stands as one of the most decorated players in Bruin history. She contributed to four NCAA Women's College World Series appearances over her UCLA tenure (1992-95), including the 1992 national championship and a runner-up finish in 1993. She earned a pair of NFCA All-America first-team accolades at third base and was named the softball recipient of the prestigious Honda Award in 1995. Brundage led all NCAA Division I players in batting average (.518) as a senior and graduated with the Bruins' program records for career home runs, RBI and doubles and ranked second on the career list in batting average.
Brundage captured gold with the USA Olympic softball team at the 2000 Sydney Games, where she led Team USA in batting average. She was also Team USA's leader in runs and home runs and ranked among the top five in RBI, hits and batting average during the team's pre-Olympics Summer Central Park to Sydney Tour. She earned a spot on the Olympic team after helping the United States to gold medals in both the Canada Cup and Pan-Am Games in 1999 and was an alternate on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.
