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Sue Carpenter is in her fourth season as an assistant coach of the Razorback softball team . Last season the team finished 29-28 and 7-21 in Southeastern Conference play while making an appearance in its first Regional final against No. 1 California.
Carpenter’s main duties with the Razorbacks include working with infielders, recruiting, scouting and coordinating camps. Prior to Arkansas, she was an assistant under head coach Mike Larabee during the previous three seasons at Wright State where she assumed the same duties.
In 2010, behind the coaching of Carpenter and Larabee, the Razorbacks saw second baseman Courtney Breault become the fourth Razorback in program history to garner All-Freshman honors. The Roseville, Calif., native finished the season with a .313 average against SEC opponents. Breault drove in 20 of her 32 RBI during conference play and boasted a .943 fielding percentage during those games.
Also under the direction of Carpenter, senior Sandra Smith earned a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team for her excellent play at third base. Smith finished conference play with 54 assists and a perfect fielding percentage in 78 chances.
During her three years at Wright State, the Raiders made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won back-to-back Horizon League Tournament titles in 2007 and 2008. Carpenter’s work with the infielders was put on display when Bridget Henry earned the all-tournament Defensive Award at first base during the Raiders’ 2008 run to the conference tournament title. She also helped guide Jherica Williams to the program’s first Horizon League Player of the Year award, also in 2008. Wright State went on to win 34 games, the second-most in program history, and record a .974 fielding percentage against conference opponents in 2009.
Carpenter began her coaching career as an assistant on the Cedarville College staff from 1987-89. Carpenter then spent five years on the coaching staff at Colville High School in Washington.
Following Colville, Carpenter began her career as a head coach at Cedarville High School in Ohio. After coaching for two years at Cedarville, Carpenter then served as the head coach at Cedarville University for seven seasons (2000-06) prior to joining the Wright State staff. She led the Lady Jacket softball program to four appearances in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Tournament and three appearances in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Region IX Tournament. In 2000, Cedarville was the NCCAA Midwest Region champions.
While a student-athlete at Cedarville College, Carpenter was a three-year letterwinner (1984-86) during her collegiate playing career. She was a member of the program’s inaugural fast-pitch team in 1985 and was an All-Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference and All-NAIA District 22 shortstop during her final season in 1986.
Carpenter and her husband Kevin have two sons, Nick and Josh.
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