California, Washington and Kansas represented in incoming class.
Awards & Honors 2002, 2004 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year 2002, 2004 NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year
Through only nine seasons as the head softball coach at Notre Dame, Deanna Gumpf has already established herself as one of the premiere college coaches in the nation.
Under her tutelage, the Irish have claimed four BIG EAST Conference Tournament titles and nine trips to the NCAA Tournament. Even more, Notre Dame staked the BIG EAST's regular-season championship during her first four seasons on the bench to extend its dominance over league opponents and hoisted the regular-season hardware once again in 2010.
In fact, Gumpf enters her 10th season as the Irish head coach with a record of 379-165-1 (.698) for the highest victory average of any BIG EAST skipper.
Gumpf authored one of the most dominating seasons in school history while directing her 2010 Irish outfit to a number accolades. Notre Dame finished 2010 with a 47-12 mark and set single-season program records with a nation-leading batting average (.343), runs (369), doubles (103), home runs (75), RBI (337), total bases (878), slugging pct. (.590), on-base pct. (.409) and fielding pct. (.978). The Irish were second among NCAA teams with 1.75 doubles/game and fourth in slugging pct.
In regular season BIG EAST play, the Irish ranked first in slugging percentage (.635), runs scored (150), RBI (134), doubles (46), home runs (31) and total bases (330).
Even more, Gumpf became the program's all-time winningest coach with her 378th victory at Notre Dame when the Irish posted a 1-0 victory over Illinois State in the NCAA Tournament.
Not only did Gumpf aid in the development of All-American Katie Fleury and BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Jody Valdivia, but she also oversaw the final season of one of the program's most dominant and adorned players in Christine Lux. Lux finished her four years as the program's career leader in home runs (50), RBI (174), slugging pct. (.654) and putouts (1,544) and set or tied single-season records during her final campaign with 17 home runs (28th nationally), 17 doubles and an .801 slugging pct. (20th nationally). Lux also became the only player in BIG EAST history to record 60+ runs, 80+ hits and 60+ RBI in a career while making a splash in the BIG EAST record book for career RBI (1st - 66), home runs (t-1st - 24), runs scored (3rd - 61), walks (t-7th - 33) and doubles (t-8th - 17).
The 2009 season was also a landmark campaign in which Notre Dame posted a 43-17 record. It was the 11th 40-win campaign in program history and fifth under Gumpf. Notre Dame also advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight year and was ranked 25th in the final regular season NFCA Top 25 poll. The ranking was a first since 2004 and the first to end the season since 2002.
A number of top single-season team marks - many of which would fall just one year later - were set during 2009 including: runs (2nd - 310), doubles (3rd - 90), home runs (1st - 66), RBI (1st - 282), total bases (1st - 748), slugging pct. (1st - .501), walks (1st - 152), on-base pct. (2nd - .371) and complete games (3rd - 46).
That season also saw Lux earn third-team NFCA All-America accolades, becoming the 17th Irish player to cop the honor.
Pitcher Brittney Bargar thrived under Gumpf's guidance and earned her second NFCA All-Region honor in as many seasons as she was one of five Notre Dame players to receive the distinction in 2009. She was joined in the award column by classmate Beth Northway, sophomore Erin Marrone, freshman Dani Miller and Lux. The five honorees comprised the largest group of all-region selections since Notre Dame placed six on the team in 2001.
Notre Dame beat three teams - St. John's, No. 17 Louisville and No. 19 DePaul - without allowing an earned run en route to claiming the program's sixth BIG EAST Tournament title. And not only did Notre Dame hand Louisville just its second home loss of the season, but the Irish became the only team to blank the Cardinals on the year. It was the first time Notre Dame beat ranked opponents in two consecutive contests since 2005 and the first time the Irish beat a pair of top-20 teams on consecutive tries since 2000. Bargar, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, earned two shutout wins while giving up eight hits.
And for the second season in a row the Irish placed seven players on respective all-BIG EAST Conference squads. Northway, Lux and Miller were each named to the first team and both Irish pitchers - Valdivia and Bargar - sat on the second team with Linda Kohan. Marrone was voted to the third team.
Gumpf also aided in the development of Valdivia from the circle, as the pitcher was victorious in each of her last 17 decisions, including all of her 10 BIG EAST contests. Valdivia went over two months after a March 14 loss to No. 12 Arizona without a defeat.
When assuming control of the Irish program in July of 2001 from her mentor and close friend, Liz Miller, Gumpf inherited a team that was fresh off a school-best 54-7 record one season prior. Without missing a beat, the Irish once again advanced to the final day of competition at the NCAA Regional Tournament and in the process smashed the school record for home runs in a season. Notre Dame also came through with a dramatic run in the 2002 BIG EAST Championship, rallying from a first-day loss to hand Virginia Tech a pair of defeats on the final day to claim the league title.
The second year of the Gumpf era began with a 10-11 start to the season before Notre Dame ripped off a 20-game win streak from April 1-26 to assume control of the BIG EAST Conference standings. The team then swept through the BIG EAST Championship by scoring 21 runs in three games and won the title on a walk-off home run from conference player of the year Andrea Loman in the bottom of the ninth inning against Villanova.
The Irish rode their momentum into the start of the 2004 slate, upsetting No. 8 Nebraska during the first weekend of the season to claim the program's first-ever bracket championship at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The team also won the Hoosier Invitational title and the BIG EAST regular-season crown while taking part in a record 69 contests. Notre Dame was victorious in 49 of those games - the second-best win total in school history - aided by an 18-2 mark in conference play.
By claiming her 100th victory at Notre Dame in record time in 2004, Gumpf was able to reach the 100-win plateau faster than any previous Irish head coach. She reached the 200-win plateau, again in record time, with a victory in the second game of an April 9 doubleheader against Pittsburgh in 2006. The Irish ensured the victory would be a memorable one, as they pounded out 21 hits to tie the school record. Two Irish players - Stephanie Brown and Meagan Ruthrauff - both finished with four hits apiece, as Ruthrauff would also set school records with three home runs and seven RBI.
Yet another landmark season came about in 2005 as the Irish hosted their first NCAA Championship competition at Ivy Field. Bolstered by a 20-game win streak - the second 20-game run of the Gumpf era which included tournament titles at the GRU Classic and Hawaii's Spring Fling - the Irish won the BIG EAST Conference regular-season title and advanced to the BIG EAST Championship final game.
Over the next two seasons, the Irish posted a 74-45 mark including 22 contests against 16 different top-25 opponents. The early stage of the 2006 slate was highlighted by a 3-2 comeback victory over No. 10 Arizona State, which came at the hands of Stephanie Brown's two-run game-winning homer. After dropping a pair of games to No. 4 Texas and No. 7 Alabama, the Irish proceeded to post a nine-game winning streak including four wins in conference play. Notre Dame kept themselves among the top teams in BIG EAST play with the only five conference losses heading into the league tournament. The Irish entered the post-season showdown as the third-seeded squad and rolled through the competition with wins over Providence, Pittsburgh, and No. 18 Louisville to claim Gumpf's third conference crown in only five seasons.
Notre Dame then headed to Evanston (Ill.) for the NCAA Tournament and defeated UC Santa Barbara and Southern Illinois before falling to Northwestern - who would go on to earn a seat in that season's World Series - to finish the year with over 40 wins for the third consecutive season.
Gumpf and the Irish rallied to a runner-up finish in the 2007 edition of the BIG EAST Tournament upon entering the event as the fourth-seeded team. Behind the solid play and leadership of senior Brown, Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive season before bowing out to Illinois State in regional action. Brown would later be named a second-team Academic All-American, finishing her career ranked among the program's all-time leaders in eight career offensive categories (including hits, runs, stolen bases, home runs and batting average).
As an assistant coach at Notre Dame (1998-2001), Gumpf worked primarily with the Irish pitchers and hitters. In each of those four seasons, Notre Dame lowered its team earned run average and eventually posted a spectacular 0.89 ERA in 2001, which ranked seventh-best in the nation. And as the team ERA dropped, its batting average steadily rose as the team set single-season program records for home runs, batting average, runs scored and strikeouts thrown with Gumpf on the staff.
Irish players have mirrored their coach's competitive fire over the past eight seasons and continue to show a flair for the ability to make clutch plays at key times. This became apparent in Gumpf's first season, when she led the team to face No. 4 Nebraska for the dedication game of the Cornhusker's Bowlin Stadium. Facing her alma mater for the first time as a head coach, Gumpf and the Irish left Lincoln with a 3-2 win after Liz Hartmann drilled a three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning for the upset victory.
The La Palma, Calif., native played at Nebraska from 1989-92 while earning a degree in business management. Gumpf was an all-Big Eight Conference second-team selection in 1991 and an honorable mention pick in both 1989 and 1990.
Prior to her collegiate success in Lincoln, Gumpf enjoyed an outstanding prep career with Gordon's Panthers, one of the most dominating Amateur Softball Association teams in Southern California.
Gumpf pursued a professional position with Delta Airlines after graduating from Nebraska but did not stay too detached from softball. She started to give private pitching lessons in the Southern California area and what began as a small side job turned into a major venture. After earning her master's degree from Azusa Pacific University in physical education and coaching in 1997, Gumpf entertained countless offers from college coaches hoping to entice her with the opportunity to get back into the college game. Perhaps not too surprisingly, one of the first coaches to call Gumpf was Liz Miller.
Miller discussed the possibility of having Gumpf join the Irish staff, but a position was never established and Gumpf would opt to become the pitching coach at Long Beach State.
Two years later, Miller phoned Gumpf again to offer a position and the future Irish head coach jumped at the chance.
After winning her third BIG EAST Tournament championship in 2006, Gumpf soon inked a multi-year contract extension with Notre Dame.
Gumpf and her husband, John, reside in South Bend with son, Brady and daughter, Tatum. John coached high school baseball in Southern California before serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Irish from 1999-2001, and is currently the head baseball coach and assistant athletics director at St. Joseph High School in South Bend. He spent four years as a professional baseball player in the Minnesota Twins' minor league ranks from 1989-94.
