Waters Signs Multi-Year Extension
November 8, 2018 | Softball
BOSTON – After leading Boston University to a pair of automatic NCAA berths and three straight Patriot League tournament final appearances in her first three seasons at the helm, softball head coach Ashley Waters has agreed to a multi-year contract extension, director of athletics Drew Marrochello announced today.
This past spring, the Terriers claimed the third most wins in program history (39) en route to the NCAA regionals, highlighted by a 4-3 upset victory over then-No. 1 Oklahoma for the New England region's first-ever win against the nation's top-ranked team. They also swept all of the major Patriot League athletic awards, as Waters earned both PL and ECAC Coach of the Year honors for her efforts.
"We could not be happier with the job Ashley has done here at BU in three short seasons," said Marrochello. "Her passion for building hard-working and successful teams is matched by the care she has for her student-athletes' well-being. Our softball program is in excellent hands."
BU went 15-3 in conference play this past spring to clinch its first Patriot League regular season title since joining the conference in the summer of 2013 and also host its first conference tournament since 2012. The Terriers then swept through the competition with a pair of run-rule victories to claim their second PL title in three years and return to the NCAAs for the ninth time.
"It is a privilege to work at one of the best institutions in the entire country with these incredible young women in a sport I love," said Waters. "The moment I stepped foot on this campus, I knew BU was home for me, and I am grateful I get to continue to be a part of the campus community for years to come. I want to thank Drew and President Robert Brown for their belief in me and support of the program. Even though we are coming off a historic season, I truly believe the best is yet to come for BU Softball."
Rising senior Alex Heinen was the second catcher in PL history to be named the Player of the Year and the second Terrier under Waters to earn the recognition after Jilee Schanda ('18) was honored in 2017. Brittany Younan ('18) received Defensive Player of the Year accolades, while rising sophomore Ali DuBois became the first Terrier in program history to be named a conference's Pitcher and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Tallying a school-record 28 wins and PL-tying record 11 shutouts, DuBois added to her awards haul with the PL's second-ever ECAC Rookie of the Year honor. Rising senior Madi Killebrew added one more major award by posting a PL tournament-record 10 RBIs to earn tournament MVP accolades.
During the historic 2018 campaign, BU won 15 straight contests in April to claim its longest win streak since 2001 and to tie the 2015 Lehigh squad for the longest in PL history. The Terriers batted .291 for the season, fifth highest average in program history, while leading the NCAA with 32 triples. Heinen posted 71 hits (t-7th in PL history) and 50 RBIs (No. 2 in PL history), while Emma Wong ('18) reached home plate 52 times (No. 3 in PL history).
In 2017, the Terriers finished the regular season on a 14-game conference-win streak and advanced to the Patriot League championship round for the second-consecutive year before coming up just short to top-seed Lehigh on the road. Other highlights include BU winning at No. 23 Florida Atlantic for the program's first victory over a ranked team since 2012 and beating defending Big West champion Cal State Fullerton.
In her first year, the Terriers experienced a major turnaround after being selected fourth in the preseason poll due to a 17-27 record in 2015. They exceeded expectations by placing third in the regular season standings and sweeping through the conference tournament at Lehigh to reach the NCAAs with Melanie Russell ('16) earning both PL Pitcher of the Year and Tournament MVP honors.
In three seasons under Waters' watch, BU has claimed a combined 19 all-conference awards while also improving its team GPA each year from 3.02 in 2015 to 3.46 in 2018. The program has also had a total of 38 Terriers named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
An Amesbury, Massachusetts native, Waters joined BU in the summer of 2015 after spending three seasons as an assistant at Harvard and batting a career .352 over a four-year period at Maine. She was inducted in the Black Bears' Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017. The former infielder was also the 2005 recipient of The Boston Globe Will McDonough Award as Massachusetts Female Athlete of the Year.
