Bob Brookens enters his 15th season as the head softball coach at Shippensburg University in 2015 and has been active as an area instructor in the sport for more than 30 years.
Brookens has posted a career record of 445-252 at Shippensburg and guided the Raiders to three PSAC Championships, two NCAA regional championships and 12 NCAA tournament appearances in 14 years.
He is a six-time PSAC Coach of the Year who in November 2011 was inducted into the South Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
During his tenure, Shippensburg has had 57 All-PSAC Selections, 12 NFCA All-Americans, 39 NFCA All-Region Selections, six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-District Selections, a two-time PSAC Champion Scholar and a PSAC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
In 12 of his 14 seasons as head coach, Brookens has guided Shippensburg softball to at least 26 wins. A veteran of nearly 700 career games, Brookens has guided the Raiders to victory in 64 percent of his games.
While at the helm of the Raider softball program, Brookens has guided Shippensburg to a 196-101 record in PSAC “divisional” play for a .660 winning percentage against teams from a conference that has spawned four Division II national champions and a national runner-up over the last 15 years.
The 2014 Raiders finished with a 36-17 record, coming within two outs of winning the PSAC Championship and one game of advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals in a record-setting season. SU achieved its most victories in eight years, and won twice in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. Its 1-0 NCAA Tournament victory over West Virginia Wesleyan marked the 1,000th career victory for the Raiders in 37 years of Shippensburg University softball.
In Brookens’ inaugural season of 2001, the Raiders were in a rebuilding year but were highly competitive. Shippensburg finished third in the PSAC East and just missed earning a berth in the championships tournament by one game. The Raiders were 27-21 overall and 15-9 in league play.
The next season, Shippensburg challenged for conference supremacy, playing in both the PSAC and NCAA Division II tournaments. The Raiders had a 35-19 overall record in 2002 and Brookens was named PSAC Eastern Division Coach of the Year for the first time.
Shippensburg advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship tournament in 2003 and finished with a 37-14 overall record. SU won the East Region title with three victories by a combined 21-3 margin and ultimately earned a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships – defeating West Florida in the opening round.
The success kept going in 2004 as SU posted a record of 48-6 while going 21-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division en route to winning the conference championship and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championship for the second consecutive year.
The Raiders finished third in Division II in 2004, defeating Kennesaw State and Western New Mexico during the national tournament before being eliminated by eventual national champion Angelo State.
In 2003 and 2004, Coach Brookens was awarded the PSAC Eastern Division Coach of the Year and the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year award for his efforts. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) also cited Shippensburg as having the Coaching Staff of the Year in the region.
Shippensburg’s streak of consecutive PSAC championships continued into 2005, as the team posted an incredible 42-5 record and had the most prolific offensive season in school history. Five players batted over .400 and seven athletes were honored on the All-PSAC Eastern Division team. SU outscored the opposition by an incredible 333-64 margin.
In 2011, Brookens orchestrated a 12-win turnaround for the Raiders and guided Shippensburg to a national ranking in the NFCA poll. Shippensburg hosted an opening pod of the PSAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2013 squad went 31-13, achieving its most wins since the 2006 season and the fewest losses since 2005. The Raiders hosted NCAA Tournament competition at Robb Field, were ranked as high as No. 20 in the NFCA Division II Coaches Poll and won the PSAC Eastern Division crown at the conclusion of the regular season.
Some of the best softball players in Shippensburg history have been recruited and coached by Brookens during his tenure. Kelley Tiesi ’06 was a four-time NFCA All-American and the 2004 NCAA Division II Softball Player of the Year who completed her SU career with a 99-19 record while striking out 1,095 batters – sixth-most in NCAA history at the time of her graduation.
Additionally, Jaime Dacey ’05 led the nation as a senior with a .549 batting average. A NFCA All-American, Dacey concluded her career with school records for career batting average (.420), triples (23), RBIs (156) and stolen bases (49). Both Tiesi and Dacey played professionally following their careers at Shippensburg.
Hope Cornell ’11 headlined an outstanding five-person senior class by being named a NFCA Third Team All-American in 2011. Cornell finished her career as Shippensburg's all-time leader with 35 home runs and ranks third in school history with 132 RBIs. She compiled a .361 batting average and 68 career extra-base hits.
Emily Estep ’14, now an assistant at SU, was an All-American who finished her career with a 62-21 career record, 652 strikeouts and a 1.65 ERA. She is ranked second in school history for career strikeouts, third in victories, fifth in winning percentage and fifth in appearances.
Brookens has been coaching softball for more than 35 years. Before assuming the role of head coach, Brookens was an assistant coach at Shippensburg from 1997-2000 under Bobby Davis. He also served as an assistant volleyball coach for the Raiders.
Additionally, Brookens has also been a head coach of Fastrax of Chambersburg, a traveling ASA team. He guided Fastrax to the ASA national championship tournaments in 1998 and 1999. He also was assistant coach at Chambersburg Area Senior High School from 1983 to 1995 and a coach in the Guilford Little League for five years.
Brookens and his wife Sue have three grown children, Paula, Bobbi Jo, and Shawn. His cousin, Tom, played in Major League Baseball for 11 seasons and was on the Detroit Tigers team that won the 1984 World Series.
