Syracuse University Athletics

An All-American as a player and a champion as a head coach, Leigh Ross is only the second softball coach in SU history. She took over the Syracuse program in 2006. Ross has coached the team to two of its five BIG EAST Tournament appearances.

Ross came to Syracuse after eight seasons as head coach at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), where she turned BGSU into a perennial Mid-American Conference title contender. Her 2004 team posted the first MAC Tournament title in school history and advanced to NCAA Regional play, and both the 2005 and 2006 squads won a pair of games en route to a top-four finish at the league tournament.

Ross, who recorded an eight-year record of 237-198-2 at Bowling Green, was the first coach in Falcon softball history to reach 200 career victories.

During her tenure at Bowling Green, Ross mentored two MAC Players of the Year, one MAC Pitcher of the Year and one MAC Freshman of the Year.

WINNING TRADITION
In her two seasons at Syracuse, Ross led the Orange to the program’s sixth and seventh 20-plus win season and coached SU to back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament appearances. In 2008, Ross coached both Amy kelley and Jamie Kelling to All-BIG EAST second-team accolades. In addition, Kelley earned 2008 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Northeast All-Regional First Team honors. The 2007 Orange finished in the top five in seven BIG EAST Conference offensive categories, including fourth in batting average (.281) and fourth in hits (398).

In nine years as a head coach, Ross surpassed the 250-win plateau last year and is averaging 28.6 wins per season. She has a .587 winning percentage during league games and a .530 winning percentage overall.

At BGSU, her team tied the school record for wins, going 37-23 overall and 16-6 in the MAC in 2006. The squad set a BGSU school record with 29 home runs and advanced to the MAC Tournament for the eighth time in nine seasons. Five individuals were All-MAC selections, including three first-team picks and the 2006 MAC Freshman of the Year.

In 2005, Ross coached both the MAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. The Falcons finished 12-10 in MAC action. BGSU, with just one senior on the roster, won a pair of games in the MAC Tournament before succumbing to the eventual tournament champ.

Ross guided the sixth-seeded Falcons to the MAC title and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2004. The squad had an overall record of 34-30, and posted a MAC record of 13-11 to finish third in the West Division and in a fifth-place tie overall. BGSU was seeded sixth for the six-team MAC Tournament, and the Falcons lost to Western Michigan, 3-0, to open tournament play. But, BGSU knocked off each of the top four seeds, in order, advancing through the loser’s bracket to win the tournament with five consecutive victories and advance to NCAA play.

In 2003, the Falcons opened conference play with a 0-5 record, but BGSU reeled off a school record-tying 10 consecutive wins, all in league play, to get back in the race. The Falcons finished fourth in the West Division, but fifth overall, to return to the league tournament, en route to a 26-26-1 overall mark.

Ross’ coaching peers in the league named her the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year after she guided the Falcons to a 19-5 record and the East Division title. BGSU went 35-19 overall, with the win total tying for the second most in BGSU history at the time.

In the spring of 2000, the Falcons tied for the East title with a 13-7 record and made the school’s third consecutive MAC Tournament appearance. Then, after dropping the opening game, the Falcons ran off three consecutive elimination-game victories, advancing all the way to the championship game before posting a runner-up finish. The team’s 33 overall wins in 2000 marked the fourth-highest single-season total in BGSU history at the time.

In her first year as head coach, 1999, Ross guided the Falcons to the MAC Tournament and led the team to its best record in six years. BGSU, after contending for the MAC’s East Division title until the final weekend of the regular season, finished second in the division.

Prior to being named head coach, Ross served as the Bowling Green’s assistant coach for two seasons. In 1998, she helped the Falcons to a 15-13 MAC record and a spot in the league tournament. In her first year with the BGSU program, Ross helped the 1997 Falcons win 11-of-13 games down the stretch.

THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS
The Falcons’ final win of 2003, against Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament, made Ross the winningest coach in Bowling Green history. In 2004, she also became the school’s leader in MAC victories, and she is also first in league winning percentage with a conference mark of 114-72 (.613).
Ross was the fastest coach in the Falcon annals to get to 100 overall wins, as well as 50 MAC victories. BGSU’s final victory of 2005, against Western Michigan in the conference tournament, made Ross the first coach in Falcon softball history to reach 200 career wins.

Ross is also the only head coach in BGSU history to string together four consecutive winning seasons in MAC play. The Falcons, who also had a winning league record in Ross’ last year as an assistant (1998), posted four consecutive winning MAC marks for the first time ever from 1998-2001, and matched that mark, with winning records in each of the last four seasons (2003-06).

The original streak ended in 2002, as BGSU ended with a 22-25-1 record and a MAC ledger of 11-13. The Falcons finished in a tie for third place in the MAC’s East Division and just missed out on a trip to the league tournament.

There was noticeable increase in the Falcons’ power numbers during Ross’ tenure as head coach. In the first 20 years (1979-98) of BGSU varsity softball, no Falcon team had a double-digit homer total. The school single-season record was eight when Ross assumed the job. BGSU amassed double-digit homer totals in seven of Ross’ eight seasons, with at least 19 round-trippers in six of those years.

The first 20 Falcon teams combined for a total of 80 homers, an average of 4.00 per year. In Ross’ eight-year head-coaching tenure, BGSU hitters hit a total of 152 homers, an average of exactly 19.00 per season.

CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ross, a native of Ottawa Lake, Mich., came to the Falcon program after serving as the head coach at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo for four seasons (1993-96). During her tenure, she was named the top coach in the City League three times. Ross’ teams compiled an overall record of 70-15 and won three league titles. She also served as the assistant athletic director and development coordinator at Notre Dame Academy.

PLAYING DAYS
Ross was very familiar with the MAC upon her arrival at BGSU in the fall of 1996. A four-year starter in the outfield at the University of Toledo, Ross helped the 1989 UT squad to the MAC title and a seventh-place finish at the College World Series. In 1991, Ross led the nation with an average of 0.83 stolen bases per game en route to All-America second team honors. Additionally, her .447 batting average that season ranked her fifth nationally and and ranks second in the MAC. Ross also holds the MAC career marks for batting average (.398), at-bats (744) and hits (296). She is second in runs scored (143) and ranks tied for fifth on the MAC stolen-base list (107).

A three-time All-Mideast Region selection, she set 11 school records during her UT career and twice was a first-team All-MAC selection. In February of 2001, Ross was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame.

Ross participated in the 1994 USA Softball Olympic Team Trials. She finished in the top 150 among more than 500 participants in the Level I tryouts. At the Level II trials, Ross was named an alternate to the 35-player national team. A 1987 graduate of Whiteford High School, where she was the valedictorian, Ross led her high school squad to three Michigan state championships and was named all-state three times.

Ross has a son, Jared, and a daughter, Teagan.