University of Delaware names new head softball coach

Kevin Tresolini | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Summer workouts prepare Delaware football for season Preseason practice is four weeks away, but for University of Delaware football players, the time to get in peak physical condition is now.

Jen Steele, who coached Marshall University in 2018, has been hired as University of Delaware head softball coach.

Before that, Steele coached at Jacksonville (Fla.) University from 2015-17, her teams going 86-83 overall and 26-31 in the Atlantic Sun.

Marshall was 13-9-1 in Conference USA and 25-29-1 overall in 2018. Steele resigned as Thundering Herd coach in July.

Steele replaces John Seneca, who was dismissed after three-plus seasons in May.

The prize of Seneca’s recruiting class, Georgia All-American third baseman/pitcher Kassidy Krupit, was released from her UD Letter of Intent and signed with Baylor.

Seneca was Delaware’s coach for three full seasons, plus the last 17 games of the 2015 season after he was elevated from his associate head coach position when Jamie Wohlbach was fired. Delaware went 81-89 overall and 28-41 in the Colonial Athletic Association under Seneca.

Delaware was 18-31 overall and 8-13 in the CAA in 2018, finished tied for fifth and didn’t make the conference tournament. Delaware has never finished higher than third place (2003) in the CAA in 17 seasons and has had just three winning records in CAA play, in which Hofstra and James Madison have dominated.

“Having grown up in the D.C. area, the chance to get back east at a school like Delaware, back to a region that I am familiar with, where I can use my recruiting ties, and be closer to my family was the right decision,” Steele said in a UD press release.

Steele, from Manassas Park, Virginia, was a standout pitcher and hitter at Longwood University from 2002-05, winning 73 games and batting .324. She also was head coach at Division III Randolph College and an assistant coach at George Mason and Longwood.

“Her energy, excitement for the sport and commitment to recruiting great student-athletes make her a perfect fit to lead the softball program here at Delaware,” said UD athletic director Chrissi Rawak.

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Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.