After a standout four-year college career, three of which were spent with the Texas Longhorns, Mac Morgan is trading in her burnt orange and white jersey for UTSA’s blue and orange as she joins the Roadrunners’ staff as the new pitching coach.
Morgan joins a developing UTSA softball program led by head coach Vann Stuedeman, who looks to enter her third season at the helm of the Roadrunners. Just a season ago, UTSA went 21-34 with the pitching staff being a core struggle.
Last season, the team’s ERA was at a towering 5.53, with very low strikeout numbers. The Roadrunners had just 196 strikeouts as a team, and no player had more than 50 on the season. Morgan will be tasked with reviving some of the woes from the pitching rotation from last season.
“Our team got better today,” Stuedeman said in a press release. “Mac brings experience to our team that few have achieved — she is a national champion. She has lived and breathed every aspect of what it takes to be a champion. Mac is a no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point competitor, and I am excited for our bullpen and our team.”
Morgan’s “no-nonsense” demeanor in the circle helped her become a key piece in the Longhorns’ bullpen and journey to their first national title. A drop-ball specialist focused on groundouts rather than strikeouts, Morgan struck out 39 batters on the season, while opponents hit just .272 against her. In her three seasons at Texas, Morgan appeared in 95 games, finishing with a 45-9 overall record and a career ERA of 2.47 with 160 strikeouts.
Morgan looks to bring the same demeanor that made her so successful as a pitcher to her role now as a pitching coach.
“I know it’s a business call for me when I got on the mound, so it’s teaching these girls that it is a business call,” Morgan said at her introductory press conference. “But you can find fun within it, being out there with your team, getting the outs and celebrating all the little things. It’s just finding little moments for your teammates and within yourself to help you continue that demeanor and be composed, but still celebrate and show passion.”
In her final two seasons with the Longhorns, Morgan worked with pitching coach Pattie Ruth Taylor. The future coach wants to take a piece of Taylor’s coaching with her as she moves into her role with UTSA.
“One of the lessons I learned from Coach Pattie Ruth is that there are always different ways to approach a problem,” Morgan said. “And being out there, we preached the next pitch this last year, and that’s what got us through to the end, is just the next pitch. It’s not what matters before that pitch, but the one thing that sticks with you is that the next pitch is the most important.”
