By Louisiana College sports information
PINEVILLE – Louisiana College has found its next head softball coach and didn’t have to look too far to find him.
During a press conference Wednesday, July 5, LC President Rick Brewer and Athletic Director Reni Mason announced the hiring of former pitching and co-hitting coach Bobby Buchanan as the seventh head softball coach in school history.
Buchanan most recently served as pitching and co-hitting coach at Southern University in Baton Rouge and has five year of experience as an assistant or volunteer coach at the University of North Dakota, Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, and Texas State University.
“I am not only thrilled, but honored to be the new head coach of Louisiana College,” Buchanan said. “We are in a power house conference in our division where teams are in a battle nationally on the leader boards, and that means it will be a real challenge. A challenge I can’t wait to experience.”
Primarily serving as a pitching coach, Buchanan has seen all-conference selections at both Southern and North Dakota under his tutelage, including North Dakota’s first-ever All-Big Sky First Team honor. Just last season, Southern saw a 3.59 point drop in their team earned run average, and finished second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in team ERA and opponent’s batting average.
“When this process started Dr. Brewer and I established some of the things that we were looking for in a head coach,” Mason said. “We were looking for someone who was a Christian leader, who understood college coaching with recruiting experience, and had a familiarity with high school softball in the state of Louisiana. With Bobby I think we’ve found the person that embodies all of those traits, but most importantly he’s a worker. Everyone at the institutions where he coached before coming here, from coaches to athletic directors, said he was a worker. As we move forward at Louisiana College, we’re glad to have him as a part of our family and we’re ready to go to work.”
Buchanan began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach under the legendary Ricci Woodard at Texas State before earning his first assistant job at North Dakota. From his time in San Marcos, Texas through last season in Baton Rouge, he as served as a dynamic recruiter and fund raiser for each program.
“In his four years with our program Bobby grew tremendously in his knowledge about the sport and as a leader,” Woodard said. “By the time he left, Bobby was well positioned to lead a team in a positive direction. It’s been a pleasure to watch Bobby grow as a coach. His passion for his players and the sport will be contagious, as well as his drive to improve each and every year. I have no doubt Bobby will be a positive asset to Louisiana College Softball.”
Listed below are some of Buchanan’s career highlights thus far:
- Made program history by making an appearance at the SWAC Conference Tournament
- Pitcher become an All-Conference player as a freshman
- Pitcher received accolades to All-Conference, leading the Big Sky Conference in strikeouts
- Player advancement results including doubling of shutouts and strikeouts while cutting ERA in half as well as an increase in overall batting averages
- Made organization history as Camp Director by holding one of the largest camps in program history
- Helped cushion budget shortfalls by raising over $25,000 for the team
“We are pleased to add Coach Buchanan to the LC family,” Brewer said. “His experience, expertise, and Christian commitment underscores the renewal and forward movement LC’s softball program experienced under Coach Lyn Bankston. We are confident current and future student-athletes will benefit from Coach Buchanan’s leadership and knowledge in the years ahead.”
“My overarching theme and vision for this program is going to be consistency,” Buchanan said. “We’re going to consistently build and develop our relationships with God, we’re going to consistently win game and be in the hunt for a championship, and we’re consistently graduate student with a degree and develop good people.
“I would like to thank Athletic Director Reni Mason and President Dr. Brewer for the opportunity to not only perform my dream job but perform it at a dream school. I’m excited to see where God takes us all on this new journey together.”
