Arin Spence-Salas Named HSU Softball Coach
By: Hardin-Simmons Athletics
Updated: June 28, 2012
ABILENE, Texas -- Hardin-Simmons
Director
of Athletics John Neese has named former Cowgirl softball player Arin
Spence-Salas as the third head coach in the history of the program.
"We
are
pleased to welcome Arin back to the Hardin-Simmons family and we know
the high standards that she will set for this softball program," said
Neese. "Our current student-athletes know what a tremendous worker Arin
is and how much HSU means to her. The incoming
class that former coach Dan Sheppard recruited will be impressed with
Arin once they have a chance to meet her. Both Coach Sheppard and Coach
Rita Jordan had a tremendous influence on Arin and it will be good to
see what she has learned from both of them to
mold this program into something that she will have complete ownership
of."
HSU was 23-17 in 2012 and 10 players return for the 2013 season.
Spence-Salas replaces Dan Sheppard, who served two years as the Cowgirl coach before resigning in late May.
"I
am excited to be back at Hardin-Simmons," said Salas-Spence.
"I have been around this program for six years as a player and coach and
I really look forward to building on what Coach Sheppard and Coach
Jordan have done. We will put together a quality team, which works hard
and represents the university on and off the
field. We look forward to getting back to the top of the American
Southwest Conference, which I feel is the top conference in Division III
softball."
As
a Cowgirl, Spence-Salas was a standout player for
three seasons. She was a second-team all-American as both a junior and
senior. She was a first-team all-region selection two times and a
second-teamer as a sophomore at HSU.
She
was three times named the ASC West Pitcher of the
Year. She also pitched Angelo State to a Division II National
Championship as a freshman, before transferring to HSU. She was an
all-region and all-Lone Star Conference selection and was named to the
Division II World Series All-Tournament team after posting
a 23-5 mark in the circle.
In
her three seasons at HSU, she posted a record of
62-18 in the circle with a 1.60 ERA with 500 strikeouts. She also hit
.363 with 23 home runs and 112 RBIs. She ranks first all-time in every
major pitching category at HSU and overall she is in the HSU top 10 in
every single offensive and pitching category
and holds 25 school career records and 19 season records.
She
led the Cowgirls to a record of 91-37. She helped
lead the Cowgirls to their only two ASC titles in 2006 and 2007 and they
played in the ASC Championship game in 2005 in just the second year of
the program. She also led the Cowgirls to the NCAA Tournament on two
occasions. In 2006, she had a win over eventual
national champion Linfield in the regional.
After
her playing days, where she was a standout in
the classroom earning academic All-America honors she completed her
master's in sports and recreation management and served as a graduate
assistant coach for the Cowgirls. She then spent another year as a
volunteer assistant with the Cowgirls.
She
then spent two seasons as the head coach at Abilene
Cooper High School, posting a 29-30-1 record. She helped transition the
Cougars from 4A to 5A and the team had its first winning record in
nearly a decade in the 2012 season.
Spence-Salas,
a 2003 graduate of Abilene High, is married
to former Hardin-Simmons soccer standout David Salas and they live in
Abilene. She has both a bachelor's degree (exercise science) and
master's degree from HSU.
