Radford University’s Director of Athletics Robert Lineburg announced on Monday the appointment of Hope Creasy as the ninth head coach of the Highlanders’ softball program. Creasy has spent the past two seasons as assistant coach of the Highlanders.
“Hope Creasy is a Highlander through and through. I am so happy that she will be our new softball coach,” Lineburg noted. “Hope was an outstanding student-athlete and a tremendous leader while playing softball for the Highlanders. Since her playing days, she has devoted her energy toward this moment and she is very well prepared. She will approach this position with tremendous passion and pride and we look forward to great things from Radford softball.”
A 2010 graduate of Radford, Creasy helped her alma mater to a dramatic turnaround during the 2016 season of 23 more wins than the year prior, the most improvement of any NCAA Division I team. Radford posted its most victories (35) since 2011, jumped 96 spots in the RPI rankings, went from eighth to fourth in the Big South standings and posted its first three conference tournament wins since 2012 to reach the semifinals.
Each aspect of the team of team saw significant improvement in 2016 as the Highlanders went from ninth to second in team ERA and ninth to fourth in both fielding percentage and runs scored. Offensively, Radford led the Big South in doubles and triples, while four returning upperclassmen posted career-high numbers in multiple categories.
“Being named the next softball head coach at Radford University is truly an honor,” Creasy said. “I would like to thank President Hemphill, Robert Lineburg and Stephanie Ballein for lending the trust to take this program to new heights.”
Prior to coming back to Radford, Creasy served as the head coach at Louisburg College (N.C.) for the 2014-15 season. During that campaign, she led the Hurricanes to a 31-16 record – an 11-win improvement over the previous year – and the NJCAA Region X Championship as the team won three games on the tournament’s final day to earn the title.
Off the field, she managed all aspects of the program from scheduling and recruiting to monitoring student-athletes’ academic progress and budgeting.
Before taking her first head coaching role, Creasy spent two years as an assistant coach at Wittenburg University in Ohio, again playing a role in all facets. Her main focuses were with player development, game preparation and first-base coaching, scouting and recruiting, along with fundraising and community service projects. With Creasy as a member of the staff, Wittenburg posted a combined 46-30 mark and reached its conference tournament final in both seasons.
Creasy began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern from 2010-12, helping the Eagles to the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2012. While with the program, she assisted with all on-field activities, including first-base coaching, along with player development in the areas of hitting and outfield defense. She also played a role in recruiting, fundraising and community service efforts.
A native of Christiansburg, Creasy enjoyed a stellar career as a four-year starter, leading the Highlanders to back-to-back Big South regular-season and conference tournament titles in 2009 and 2010. Creasy was a three-time All-Big South honoree as an outfielder, and ranks tied for fourth in program history in career home runs (32) and tied for fifth in RBIs (133).
As a senior in 2010, she was named the Big South Woman of the Year, an NFCA First-Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection and an ESPN The Magazine/Cosida Academic All-District second-team honoree. During that season, Creasy ranked among the top 10 in the conference in home runs, slugging, runs, RBIs and total bases, while helping Radford advance to the title game of the NCAA Athens Regional. For her career, she batted .298 while also totaling 36 doubles and 93 runs.
“I began my journey at Radford eleven years ago as a student-athlete and it means so much to continue my career here as I strive to take the Highlanders to a new level,” Creasy added.
Creasy received her Bachelor of Science degree in sport administration from Radford in 2010 and went on to earn a Master of Science in sport management at Georgia Southern in 2012.
— Courtesy of RU Athletics
