Kristi Lansford enters her third season as the head coach of Metro State's softball team in 2014.
The 2013 season was marred by senior pitcher Aubree Maul's diagnosis with cancer after the season's first weekend. The preseason all-RMAC selection at pitcher and utility went 2-0 with a save through the first five games and was named RMAC pitcher of the week. Despite losing Maul early and having just two other seniors on the team, Lansford's squad hung on to go 17-28 and sophomores Susie Oury and Mary Towner were named all-conference. Five players also earned academic all-RMAC honors.
In her first season, Lansford helped a young Roadrunners team finish 22-16 in the RMAC and 26-27 overall. With just two seniors on the roster, Metro State was one of the top power-hitting teams in Division II, finishing ninth in home runs per game (1.19) and 29th in slugging percentage (.489). Sophomore Kelsey Tillery finished the season as the Division II leader in home runs and home runs per game. Tillery was one of three players to earn all-RMAC honors. Maul was another, earning first team accolades as a pitcher as she led the conference in lowest opponent batting average, wins and shutouts, and ranking in the top five in ERA and strikeouts.
Off the field, Lansford's team was excellent in the classroom. Her team had the highest grade point average during the year of any Metro State team at 3.35. Six players made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (3.5 GPA or higher during the fall semester and seven made it during the spring semester. Additionally, seven players were named academic all-RMAC and senior center fielder Molly Clark was named Academic All-America.
Prior to joining Metro State, Lansford spent the previous four seasons as the first-ever full-time assistant coach for the NCAA Division I Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners.
Prior to joining CSUB as an assistant in 2008, Lansford was the head coach at Division II San Francisco State University for seven seasons, taking a perennial losing program to the Division II World Series. In 2001 she took over a program that had nine consecutive losing seasons. In 2003, the Gators topped the 20-win mark for the first time since 1991, going
25-31. Lansford’s squad went 41-25 the following season, earning her California Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year honors. Her 2005 team won the West Region championship, advancing to the Division II College World Series in the school’s first-ever postseason appearance. SFSU won 41 games again in 2006 and 31 in 2007 before she moved on to CSUB.
Lansford’s teams and student-athletes at SFSU currently hold nearly every single season and career record at the school, highlighted by Sonja Garnett, who pitched from 2003-06 and was named All-America each of her final three seasons. Lansford also coached three Academic All-Americans.
Before her time at San Francisco State, she was the head coach at Northwood University in Texas, helping the Knights to the NAIA regional tournament. She was also an assistant at Cal State Bakersfield when the Roadrunners were a member of NCAA Division II for three seasons after playing for two seasons at CSUB. As a student-athlete, Lansford was CSUB’s first-ever walk-on and earned a scholarship after her first season as she went on to be a two-time all-conference outfielder.
Lansford earned her bachelor's degree from CSUB with a double major in physical education and communications, and also earned her master's degree in education in 1999. Her cousin, Carney Lansford, played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons and is the current hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies.
Lansford's Collegiate Head Coaching Record
|
Year |
School |
Overall |
Conf. |
Postseason/Championships |
|
2001 |
San Francisco State |
13-43 |
8-24 |
|
|
2002 |
San Francisco State |
14-48 |
5-27 |
|
|
2003 |
San Francisco State |
25-33 |
12-16 |
|
|
2004 |
San Francisco State |
41-25 |
23-13 |
|
|
2005 |
San Francisco State |
43-21 |
18-10 |
Division II World Series |
|
2006 |
San Francisco State |
41-16 |
20-8 |
|
|
2007 |
San Francisco State |
31-33 |
19-17 |
|
|
2012 |
Metro State |
26-27 |
22-16 |
|
|
2013 |
Metro State |
17-28 |
10-23 |
|
|
2 year |
Metro State Record |
43-55 |
32-39 |
|
|
9 years |
Overall Record |
251-274 |
137-154 |
|
