|
After 15 years as head coach, Harry Sauter enters his 16th year with the program, serving as an assistant coach for the 2010 season. Elected Coach of the Year by his colleagues in the Northeast-10 Conference at the end of the 2005 season, Sauter is the winningest coach in Lowell history with a career record of 367-330-4. Over the last 11 seasons, Sauter has guided UMass Lowell to a 289-235-1 record, an average of 26.3 victories per season and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The softball program has continued to peak over the last decade, highlighted by a 30-22 clip (19-9 in the NE-10) in 2007 which saw it capture its first-ever NE-10 Tournament championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament Northeast Region semifinal - UMass Lowell's third NCAA bid in a five year window. Sauter guided the River Hawks to a school-record 34 wins (34-22) in 2006, their second straight runner-up finish in the NE-10 and third NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's history. Along the way, he earned his 300th career victory on May 4, 2006 against Southern Connecticut. In 2005, Sauter led the River Hawks to a second-place finish in the NE-10 behind Le Moyne, with a conference record of 23-5 and an overall clip of 27-11. His 2003 squad went 30-18-1 and earned its second-ever NCAA Tournament invitation, which included a memorable 17-inning win over American International (4-2). Sauter reached the 200-win plateau midway through the 2003 campaign, guiding the River Hawks to their first NCAA appearance in 17 years and the second 30-win season in five years. The River Hawks advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Northeast Regional before falling to Adelphi (2-0). A 1962 graduate of the University of Miami (FL), Sauter came to UMass Lowell from Melbourne Central Catholic High School in Florida, where he coached both softball and women's soccer. His Melbourne softball team converted from slow-pitch to fast-pitch and won the district championship in their first year. Sauter and his wife Lorna reside in Nashua, NH, and Celebration, FL. They have three grown children and five granddaughters. |
|||||||||||||
