Randy Schneider - Softball Coach - Iowa State Athletics

Randy Schneider

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
rschneid@iastate.edu

Iowa State head softball coach Jamie Trachsel announced on June 11, 2016 that Randy Schneider would join the Iowa State softball staff as an assistant coach. Schneider came to Iowa State from Wisconsin, where he helped lead a prolific offensive attack, as the Badgers put up a plethora of school records during his tenure.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I welcome Randy to our staff and the Iowa State softball program,” Trachsel said. “He is a professional in every sense of the word. He not only comes to Iowa State with a lifetime of experience, but a history of success everywhere he has been, and proven success in every part of the game he is responsible for. His passion and energy is contagious, and his character is high class.”

Schneider had been at Wisconsin for six seasons, including the last two serving as associate head coach. He helped the Badgers to an unprecedented run of success, as Wisconsin racked up a 193-130-1 record during his tenure, including a 69-63-1 mark in Big Ten play. In Schneider’s six-year tenure, Wisconsin put together four 30-plus win seasons after only previously having five such campaigns in the previous 15 years.

Most recently, Schneider helped lead the Badgers to a 28-24-1 season in 2016, including an 11-11-1 mark in Big Ten play. The UW offense was highly efficient, scoring 265 runs on 383 base hits over the course of the season. Schneider is known for teaching student-athletes techniques to get the most out of each at-bat, something that paid off in the Badgers drawing a school-record 196 walks during 2016. The previous single-season school record of 176 had also been set under Schneider’s guidance in 2015.

The 2015 senior class, led by walk-on Maria Van Abel (2015 All-Big Ten defensive team) along with Marissa Merch and Megan Tancill, went down as the second-winning class in school history.

In 2015 thanks to offensive mastermind Coach Schneider, the Badgers clinched the highest season on-base percentage (.389) in school history. The 2015 campaign also saw the season record for stolen bases shattered (118 stolen bases) along with setting the highest single-season batting average (.296) in the history of Wisconsin softball.

The move to associate head coach at UW came following another record-breaking campaign for the Badgers in which they won 36 games, including 15 in Big Ten play--both tied for the second most in school history--and reached the conference semifinals and NCAA Regional Championships for the second-straight year.

In 2013, Schneider's hard work paid off at the plate for the Badgers as the team set single-season records in seven offensive categories -- slugging percentage (.443), OPS (.826), runs (283), hits (458), RBI (247), total bases (678) and walks (173). The team tied a program-best with a .300 team batting average and recorded the second-most doubles (67), home runs (47)hit by pitch (40), stolen bases (100) and stolen base percentage (.806) in school history.

Mary Massei set school records in batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.672), OPS (1.156), at bats (195), hits (82), runs (51), triples (6) and total bases (131), while Stephanie Peace recorded a school-record 35 walks.

The Badgers qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, setting a school record with 44 wins and recording a program-best .772 winning percentage. UW's 16 Big Ten wins were the most in school history and its 28 non-conference wins and 24 neutral site wins also topped the list.

Wisconsin won the 2013 Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history, defeating Northwestern, No. 6 Michigan and Minnesota on its way to the title. The victory over Michigan marked the Badgers' first win over the Wolverines since the 2002 season.

Schneider's offensive coaching prowess was evident in 2012, as Whitney Massey was named first team NCFA All-Great Lakes Region. Massey had a record-breaking season, hitting 22 doubles for the Badgers. The team's batting average of .300 and on base percentage of .385 were school-bests since the program started in 1996.

With Schneider's help, the Badgers recorded 30 wins in 2011, hitting the 30 win total for just the sixth time in school history. Wisconsin set a new stolen base record with 107 on the year and new individual records were set by Jennifer Krueger for all-time stolen bases and Michelle Mueller for stolen bases in a season by a freshman. The team was one of the youngest in Wisconsin history, with 73 percent of the roster comprised of freshmen.

Before joining Wisconsin, Schneider served as the head coach at Valparaiso for seven seasons, leaving as the program's all-time winningest coach. The Crusaders enjoyed winning seasons in each of the past four years and won 20 or more games in six of Schneider's seven seasons after reaching the mark just three times in the program's first 22 years.

Schneider was named the Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year in 2008 after his team, which was in its first year in the conference, finished in second place. In 2009, he led the Crusaders to a school-record 35 wins and a third-place finish at the Horizon League Championship. In addition, Schneider had 26 players awarded All-League honors and guided the program's first NFCA All-Region honoree in 2010.