Jenny Fuller

Jenny Fuller was named the 13th head softball coach at Northwestern State on July 24, 2024.

Fuller spent the past three seasons at Pittsburg State where she won more than 100 games, produced four all-Americans, six academic all-Americans, seven all-region players and 18 all-conference players during her tenure.

In 2024 the Gorillas claimed a share of the MIAA regular season crown for just the second time in program history, coming 30 years after their first title, and set a program record with 53 wins, including an impressive 23-3 mark in conference play. Fuller, along with her staff, were named the MIAA Coach of the Year following the historic season.

Fuller increased Pittsburg State’s win total by 10 from the previous season in her first year (2022), led them to their first winning season in six years the next and became the first head coach to win 50 games in a season. The Gorillas also hosted an NCAA Division II National Tournament regional for the first time in program history in 2024.

The Gorillas led the conference in six offensive categories on the year, including ranking fifth nationally with a .348 team batting average and 11^th nationally with a .409 on-base percentage. Gorilla pitchers also led the league in strikeouts and ranked in the top five in the conference in four other categories.

PSU produced a pair individual award winners on the season with Heather Arnett, a consensus first-team all-American, being named Regional Player of the Year and MIAA Co-Player of the Year. Fuller used her expertise as a pitcher at Baylor for former NSU assistant Glenn Moore to guide freshman Ava Laurent to a 19-1 record, 8.3 strikeout/7 rate and MIAA Freshman of the Year honors as well.

In her three seasons at PSU, the Gorillas batted over .300 each year, improving by nearly 50 points from year one to year three. They also saw notable decreases in team ERA from the pitching staff, dropping by nearly three full runs per game with a 66-point drop in opponent batting average.

The team records set at Pittsburg State were just the latest in a list of program records established under Fuller’s direction.

Prior to her time with the Gorillas, she spent three seasons at Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., where 17 different single game, season or career records were broken by players under her guidance. In 2020, the Wolves won their first 10 games of the season and had a program-best 15-4 record before the season was canceled due to Covid-19.

In her first season there, Northern State finished with the second highest team batting average in program history at the time, and the first average over .300 in two decades.

Fuller’s first head coaching job came at NAIA-member Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee, Wis., in 2016. There she compiled a 59-36 record in two seasons including a 30-13 mark in her first season.

In nine seasons as a collegiate head coach Fuller has a 249-171 (.593) record.

She began her coaching career as an assistant and pitching coach at her junior college alma mater McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. She helped coach a pair of first-team all-conference pitchers and six other all-conference players. McLennan advanced to the 2011 NJCAA National Championship and in 2014 won the Region V North Conference title with a record of 46-8.

As a player for the Highlanders, Fuller was an NFCA First-Team All-American and NJCAA Second-Team All-American during her two seasons. She tallied a 29-6 record with a 0.97 ERA and 285 strikeouts during her sophomore season to earn Region V Pitcher of the Year honors. 

In her final two playing seasons at Baylor, Fuller set a top 10 mark for single-season winning percentage with an 11-3 record during 2008 and has the second highest career winning percentage in program history at .813. 

Fuller earned her associate degree in arts and business from McLennan and a bachelor of science in education and master of science in sport management from Baylor.

Jenny and her husband, Brad, have a daughter, Emma.