UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos announced on Thursday, Jun. 22, 2023, that coaching veteran Vann Stuedeman was selected to be the sixth head softball coach in program history. In 2027, she will enter her fourth season at the helm of the program.
In 2026, UTSA had 24 wins for their most since 2015, and the squad wrapped up the campaign with a program-record RPI of 149. The team entered the American Conference Softball Championship Tournament slotted fifth, for their highest seed since the 2015 edition of the CUSA Championship Tournament, with 11 league wins representing the most since 2022. The ‘Runners started hot, going 7-0 to begin American action for a new school record,
Statistically, the Roadrunners batting average improved from .259 to .294 (13.5% increase), runs scored increased from 206 to 238 (15.5% increase), home runs increased from 27 to 46 (70.3% increase) ERA improved from 5.53 to 4.87 (11.9% improvement), strikeouts increased from 196 to 251 (27% increase), runs allowed decreased from 348 to 320 (8% improvement, opponent batting average decreased from .299 to .280 (6% improvement).
Under Steudeman’s guidance, freshman pitcher Arlette Hernandez became the program's first-ever Freshman All-American after making the NFCA Second Team, with Hernandez also earning an All-Region nod. Hernandez was one of four All-Conference selections, the most since 2022, and second baseman Sabrina Wick was UTSA’s first First-Team All-Conference performer since joining the American. Hernandez and outfielder Samantha Mundine each made the second team, and Hernandez was joined by catcher Brookelyn Meador on the All-Freshman squad. Hernandez was the first UTSA pitcher to make an all-conference team since 2012 when the ‘Runners were a member of the Southland.
Fans packed the stadium to see Steudeman’s squad with 12,266 fans passing though the turnstiles in 2026 for a new school record, with records also being broken in average attendance (383), season tickets (119), single-game tickets (6,589) and group tickets (1,236). Over the first three years of Studeman’s tenure, total attendance was 24,199 with an average attendance of 306 for the highest-attended three-year period in program history in both total and average attendance. Roadrunner Field had it’s highest-attended game on Feb. 8, 2026, against Texas with 959 fans attending at the UTSA Invitational and 545 fans watching UTSA play Texas Tech on April 14, 2026, was a new non-tournament record.
The Roadrunners saw immense improvements across the 2025 campaign, with 21 wins representing the most since 2019, while the team had remarkably better numbers in batting average (24.5% increase), on base percentage (13.2% increase), hits (25% increase), runs scored (21% increase), RBIs (21% increase), total bases (14% increase), stolen bases (44% increase).
UTSA had a program-record 5-0 start to the season and collected a UTSA Invitational Tournament Championship along the way. Notable wins included a 7-4 victory over Michigan State on Feb. 20, which served as the 'Runners first over a power conference program since 2021 and the first over a Big 10 foe since 2011. Additionally, the Roadrunners bested rival Texas State, 6-0 on Apr. 15 for the first Battle of I-35 win since 2019.
A pair of Roadrunners collected American Pitcher of the Week honors, with Ava Eldridge doing so on Apr. 28 after maintaining a 1.29 ERA over 21.2 innings of work, winning three games and securing a series victory over Tulsa, while Kaylie Olivarez accomplished the feat on Feb. 24 on Apr. 28 after maintaining a 1.29 ERA over 21.2 innings of work, winning three games and securing a series victory over Tulsa. Additionally, catcher Kalee Rochinski ranked as high as seventh on the NCAA caught-stealing leaderboard with 15 and reached as high as third in hit-by-pitches after being plunked 15 times.
The squad also excelled in the classroom, with 11 NFCA Academic All-Americans representing the most in program history.
In her first season at UTSA, Studeman recorded a seven-win improvement after taking over a squad that won just eight games in 2023 and transitioning into the American Conference from Conference USA.
Highlights in 2024 included senior catcher Taylor Jensen earning a spot-on the All-Conference second team, thanks to a .245 batting average on the year, which was accompanied by a team-high 28 RBIs, eight doubles, four home runs, and a triple. She was issued 25 free passes and maintained a perfect fielding percentage for the 'Runners. Illiana Saucedo was also recognized as American Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 4 after fanning 18 over 13 innings and recording a 0.54 ERA across two wins at the Boerner Invitational.
After serving the 2023 season as pitching coach at Illinois, Stuedeman amassed a career record of 276-189 (.594) as the head coach at Mississippi State (2012-19), leading the Bulldogs to seven winning seasons in eight years. Under her leadership, the Bulldogs made seven NCAA Tournament appearances and won 33 or more games in seven of her eight seasons in Starkville. She collected the second-most wins and the third-best winning percentage in Mississippi State softball coaching history. Always a draw for the Bulldogs' faithful, her MSU teams delivered 11 of the program's top 15 crowds to date, including three of the top five in school history.
Prior to her stint at MSU, Stuedeman helped Alabama lay claim to three SEC regular-season titles and reach the Women's College World Series six times while serving as the Crimson Tide's pitching coach – racking up a 579-150 (.794) record during her stint at Bama from 2000-11, including a phenomenal 243-70 (.776) record in SEC play. Stuedeman mentored a pitching staff that maintained an ERA under 2.00 in eight of her 11 seasons, struck out an average of 485 batters per year and notched 221 shutouts. While in Tuscaloosa, she coached six All-America pitchers who earned 11 All-America and All-SEC honors.
Before making her name in the SEC, Stuedeman took over as the head coach at East Limestone High School in Athens, Ala., delivering the program's first winning season in six years.
Stuedeman got her coaching start as a graduate assistant at West Alabama for two seasons before heading to the University of Alabama-Huntsville for three years as an assistant to her sister, Les Stuedeman, who coached 1,642 games over 28 seasons, leading the Chargers' program.
During her stint as a UAH assistant, she worked with pitchers and outfielders, helping the UAH pitching staff to rank in the top five in Division II ERA. She helped lead the program to two Gulf South Conference Championships, three NCAA Regional appearances and a trip to the 1999 Division II National Tournament. She was also part of the staff that was named South Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 1999.
Across her outstanding coaching career, Stuedeman has overseen or guided the development of pitchers earning 13 All-America honors, 23 All-Region awards, 12 All-SEC accolades, three SEC Pitchers of the Year, an SEC Freshman of the Year and the SEC Tournament MVP. Her Division I pitching staffs have accumulated 313 shutouts, 31 no-hitters and five perfect games. Between Alabama and Mississippi State, her former pitchers hold 15 current career or season records at their respective programs.
A Birmingham, Ala. area native, she graduated from Huntingdon College, where she helped the Hawks to two third-place finishes at the national tournament and earned All-America honors. She was inducted into her alma mater's Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 8, 2011.