University of St. Thomas Athletics
Trotter brings deep resume as Softball's first D-I head coach
6/29/2021 1:00:00 PM | Softball
Jennifer Bagley Trotter has been selected to lead St. Thomas Softball as its first Division I head coach. The native Minnesotan brings 25 years of college coaching experience to her new role, the last 20 seasons as a head coach
At NCAA Division II's Missouri Western State University, Coach Trotter's teams posted a 676-404 record over the last 20 years, and advanced to the NCAA regional playoffs 11 of the last 16 full seasons.
Three of her Missouri Western teams won the conference regular-season or playoff championship in the competitive 14-team Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Only one of her last 13 Griffon teams finished with a sub-.500 won-loss record. She has coached 10 All-America players and 25 All-Region honorees.
A native of Hoyt Lakes, Minn., she graduated from Minnesota State Moorhead in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in Legal Studies. In 2000, she received a Master of Education degree from North Dakota State, with an emphasis in Athletic Administration. A three-time all-conference pitcher, Trotter remains the Dragons' career strikeout leader with 590. She was inducted into the MSU-Moorhead Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
Trotter and her husband Regi are the parents of Quentin, Camille and Zoe.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Coach Trotter and her family to the St. Thomas community," said Phil Esten, Vice President, Director of Athletics. "As we made our way through the search process, Jennifer clearly emerged as the right person to lead our softball team as we embark on our Division I journey. Not only did she experience great success on the playing field, but her demonstrated record of developing young women off the field is impressive and aligns with our overall commitment to comprehensive excellence. We have a proud past with Tommie Softball, and I can confidently say we have an extremely bright future."Coach Trotter replaces John Tschida, an NFCA Hall of Fame coach who guided St. Thomas from 2001-2021. Tschida has decided to remain as a Division III head coach and accepted the offer to return to coach at his alma mater, St. Mary's. Like Tschida, Trotter has been active as a clinician in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
"I'm fired up to be given the opportunity to come home to Minnesota and become the next head coach for the Tommie softball program," Trotter said. "John Tschida has had an incredible career of sustained success, and I have so much respect for the history of this program.
"Now with the University of St. Thomas embarking on this unprecedented move into Division I under the leadership of Phil Esten, I'm excited to help oversee the next chapter of Tommie softball. (Senior Associate AD) Jemal Griffin has been fantastic to work with through this process, and I can't wait to get to work."
St. Thomas closed out its final Division III softball season in 2021 by placing fifth nationally with a 33-10 record. Three starters graduated, but the new coach takes over a program with several experienced players as well as a signing class with more than a dozen incoming freshmen. Trotter will lead the Purple as they prepare to debut in 2022 and start play against seven other Summit League softball teams.
