Jodie Cox - Softball Coach

Jodie Cox

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
jodiec@csufresno.edu
Phone:
559-278-1781

Jodie Cox wrapped up her fifth year as a Fresno State assistant softball coach and the primary pitching instructor in 2021. Cox was named the interim head coach for the Bulldogs on April 10.

In 2021, the Bulldogs won their first Mountain West Championship since 2016 and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 (34th in program history). Fresno State finished the season with an overall record of 37-12 (20-4 MW). Fresno State led the MW in 23 statistical categories. The Bulldogs' pitching staff limited opponents to a .225 batting average. At the plate, the 'Dogs outscored their opponents 279-103.

Hailey Dolcini was named the MW Pitcher of the Year. Keahilele Mattson became the first player in MW history to be named the MW Player of the Year and Co-Freshman of the Year. Fresno State had four All-MW selections in Dolcini (First Team), Mattson (Second Team), Adrianna Noriega (Second Team) and Kaitlyn Jennings (Second Team). The Bulldogs had four NFCA All-Region selections (Dolcini, Mattson, Jennings, Vanessa Hernandez).

In 2020, the Bulldogs finished the short season ranked No. 23 with an overall record of 21-4. Fresno State was a perfect 15-0 at home. The Bulldogs had a marquee 4-3 win over No. 3 Texas on Feb. 29. Fresno State owned a team ERA of 2.67 with six shutouts, limiting opposing batters to a .239 batting average.

Right-handed pitcher Hailey Dolcini was named an All-Mountain West selection after being dominant in the circle for Fresno State. The junior owned a 10-1 record, touting the victory over No. 3 Texas. She recorded a 1.51 ERA, four shutouts and 77 strikeouts in 2020. Dolcini also earned two MW Pitcher of the Week honors - the only player in the conference to earn multiple weekly awards this season - and had one of the best games of her career against UIC (Feb. 21) when she threw a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts. This is the second All-MW honor of Dolcini's career.

In 2019, she helped lead the Bulldogs to a postseason berth in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) in 2019. With 37 wins the 'Dogs recorded their 38th consecutive 30-win season while going 23-5 at home, the most home wins by a Fresno State team since the 2012 season, with a 1.53 team ERA and 10 shutouts over 28 home games.
Cox led one of the best pitching staffs in the MW in 2019. Her three pitchers combined for a 2.98 team ERA and led the MW with a .235 opposing batting average while ranking second in the league totaling 281 strikeouts. Sophomore Hailey Dolcini and freshman Danielle Lung both earned All-MW Second Team honors while sophomore Danielle East led the MW and tied the single-season program record with four saves.

Dolcini went 17-7 with a stellar 2.21 ERA in her first season as a Bulldog, ranking second in the MW in strikeouts (139), wins (17), and opposing batting average (.230). Lung led the team going 8-2 with a 2.79 ERA in MW games and was 15-5 overall while East went 3-2 with four saves and a 2.73 ERA as a reliever in her second season with the Bulldogs. Dolcini was named MW Pitcher of the Week five times, the most weekly honors for a MW pitcher since former Bulldog Jill Compton earned it six times in 2015, and Lung received the accolade twice as the Bulldogs earned seven of 14 total MW Pitcher of the Week honors for the season.

Fresno State was 31-0 when scoring first in 2019 as the Bulldog pitching staff never gave away an initial lead all season. The staff also recorded a program-record seven saves in 2019 with all three pitchers earning at least one save. The trio led the MW with 13 shutouts and dropped the team ERA by nearly a full run off the 2018 total.

After losing the reigning MW Pitcher of the Year following the 2017 season, Cox mentored the 'Dogs young pitching staff to success in 2018. She helped the team finish 31-23 overall and 14-10 in the Mountain West, marking the program's 37th consecutive 30-win season. Cox led both of the team's top two pitchers to All-MW honors, as freshman Danielle East was named to the first team and sophomore Samantha Mejia made the second team.

Cox guided East to a historic first year leading the Bulldog pitching staff as she led the Mountain West with 97 strikeouts in league games while breaking the Mountain West record for strikeouts by a freshman in conference play. East's 2.87 ERA in MW games was second best among all starting pitchers while her nine conference wins were third most in the league. She had 17 total wins on the year with a solid 3.34 ERA and 155 strikeouts.

A highlight for Cox's pitching staff in 2018 came on March 31 as East threw a five-inning no-hitter at New Mexico in which all 15 outs were strikeouts, tossing the 74^th no-hitter in program history but the first in which every out was a strikeout. The 15 consecutive strikeouts were also a single-game program record.

Cox also mentored Mejia to a spectacular second collegiate season as she was 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA in conference play, second best among all league pitchers. Mejia did not allow a run over her first 18.0 MW innings pitched in relief and finished with a 3-0 record and a 0.93 ERA with just three earned runs allowed in 22.2 innings as a reliever. She held opponents to a .244 batting average in MW play, fifth-best in the league, while making four starts and pitching in 12 total games.

In 2017 Cox and the rest of the Fresno State coaching staff took over a team that had won back-to-back Mountain West Championships, but lost eight seniors to graduation, including the reigning MW Pitcher of the Year and MW Defensive Player of the Year.

As a team, the Bulldog pitching staff led the MW with a 2.95 ERA (88th in NCAA) and ranked fourth in scoring (5.16 runs/game), which ranked 46th in the NCAA. The 'Dogs also ranked fourth in the conference with a .435 slugging percentage (59th in NCAA) and seventh in batting average (.282).

Cox wrapped up her first season with the program with a 35-23 record, continuing Fresno State's streak of 36 straight 30-win seasons, and the Bulldogs' 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance. Fresno State tied for third place in the MW with a 14-9 conference record and received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament Seattle Regional. In the regional, the 'Dogs fell to No. 20 Michigan 3-1, shut out Montana 7-0, then fell to Michigan again, 4-0.

Five players on the Bulldogs' 2017 squad were named NFCA All-Pacific Region, four were selected to All-MW teams (two first-team and two second-team) and sophomore pitcher Kamalani Dung earned the honor of MW Pitcher of the Year. Fresno State also had seven MW All-Academic selections.

Fresno State's most significant wins were a 6-1 victory over then-No. 25 BYU on March 10 and 4-1 and 6-2 wins over Oregon State on March 10 and 11, respectively.

Cox has extensive coaching and playing experience, including four seasons with Garza at UC Riverside. She has coached collegiately for over 13 years, played professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch league and was a standout for Cal State Fullerton.

As the associate head coach for UC Riverside in 2016 and an assistant coach from 2012-15 for the Highlanders, Cox was the primary pitching instructor and mentored two 20-game winners, the 2015 national leader in saves, and the 2015 Co-Big West Pitcher of the Year with a 30-10 record. In 2015, UC Riverside ranked 14th nationally in ERA (2.13) and saw the program’s first no-hitter.

Prior to UCR, Cox spent five years as the head coach at Division III Occidental College in Los Angeles (2007-2012), where she took over a program that won three games the season before her hiring. Cox and company tied the school record for wins in a season in 2009 and broke that record during an 18-win season in 2011.

Before Occidental College, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at CSUN (2005-07) and one year as an assistant coach at Syracuse (2004-05).

At CSUN, Cox assisted the Matadors to an NCAA Regional berth in 2007.

In her time at Syracuse, Cox helped guide the Orange pitching staff to a 28-22 record, a 2.24 earned run average, 31 complete games, six shutouts and 324 strikeouts in 331 innings pitched. She was also a member of the 2005 Big East Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

Cox began her coaching career in 2004 as an undergraduate assistant at Cal State Fullerton prior to graduating with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.

As a student-athlete, Cox pitched the Titans to four consecutive Big West titles and NCAA Regional appearances. She was named an NFCA third-team All-American as a senior in 2003. Among her other accolades were four selections to the All-Big West team, including three first-team honors, as well as a pair of first-team All-West Region awards (2002-03).

During her senior year, she was 21-7 in the circle with a 1.06 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 190.2 innings. Cox held opponents to a .125 batting average and led the Big West Conference in five different categories en route to Co-Big West Pitcher of the Year honors.

For her career, Cox was 75-22 in the circle with a 1.42 ERA and 699 strikeouts—just three short of tying the school record. She held opponents to a .170 batting average and at the time of her graduation, ranked among the top 10 in 10 different career pitching categories for the Titans. Cox tossed seven career no-hitters, including a perfect game against Minnesota in 2001. She also hit .298 at the plate with 21 home runs and 110 RBIs in her career.

After her days at Fullerton, Cox played in the Women’s Professional Softball League for four years. In 2005, Cox was an NPF All-Star with a .261 batting average, 2.07 ERA and 12 wins. She was also a member of the 2003 USA Elite National Team, which won the Canada Cup that year. Cox was named MVP of the tournament as she went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 19 innings of work.