State Fair Community College Softball Head Coach Michele Rupard has announced Madison Love as the Roadrunners assistant softball coach. She will serve as the pitching and hitting coach. Love was a standout pitcher and position player at SFCC during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. As a sophomore, Love helped SFCC to a 26-24 record, the best record in the history of the program.
"Madison is an alumna of SFCC," said Rupard. "I have coached her in the past. I know the values she learned both on and off the field. As soon as I became the head coach, my first call was to Madison. It was important for me to have someone in this position who can control the pitching staff so that I could focus on other aspects of the program."
Love earned second-team All-Region and first-team All-Conference as a freshman in 2018. She earned first-team All-Region and first-team All-Conference honors as a sophomore. Love also earned Region 16 All-Tournament Team honors and was named National Fastpitch Coaches Association NJCAA Division I Second-Team All-American. As a sophomore, Love finished second in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings with 10.46 and fifth in the nation in strikeouts with 257.
"I've always wanted to work here since I played here," said Love. "I wanted to learn from the coaching staff here because I had success here as a player. I wanted to come back since this is where I started. I think I can add a pitching background. Coming from Central Methodist I learned a lot from the coaches there. I will be able to use what I learned there to help our pitching staff and our team."
Love transferred to Central Methodist University (CMU) in Fayette where she earned NFCA NAIA All-Region second-team honors along with Heart of America Conference All-Conference first-team honors, and Heart of America Conference second-team All-Conference honors. In 2021, Love totaled 22 wins with a 1.86 ERA in the circle.
"Madison brings a lot of competitiveness," said Rupard. "She is one of the hardest working student-athletes to come through State Fair. She carried that on to Central Methodist. She is a good advocate for community college softball. She also possesses a lot of pitching knowledge."
Love excelled in the classroom earning Academic All-American scholar athlete honors. She earned Dean's List recognition five semesters.
Love worked in CMU's Athletic Department as a graduate assistant where she gained experience in recruiting camps and pitching and hitting instruction, field preparation, and stats. She has an Associate of Fine Arts from SFCC and a Bachelor's of Science in Exercise Science from CMU and is working toward a Master's of Education in Athletic Administration from CMU.
David Rohrbach SFCC Athletics