Vann Stuedeman is not accustomed to losing. The Alabama native qualified for the NCAA Tournament in seven of her eight seasons as the head softball coach at Mississippi State University, and she served as the pitching coach for six College World Series teams at the University of Alabama. Stuedeman has suffered one losing season in 19 years of coaching in the Southeastern Conference, the nation’s premier collegiate softball league.
Stuedeman arrived at UTSA in 2023 to lead a program that had just set a school record with 41 losses and accrued a dismal 3-20 conference record. Her first two seasons, and UTSA’s first two in the American Conference, were not much better, with a two-year conference record of 11-43, but Stuedeman and this year’s Roadrunners are making strides to change their reputation on campus. UTSA swept the University of Tulsa in its first conference series and followed it up with another sweep against the University of Memphis. Over the first two weekends of the conference season, the Roadrunners equaled the number of series won in Stuedeman’s first two years. The first conference sweep against Tulsa was UTSA’s first since 2021 as members of Conference USA.
The story this year begins with a true star on the mound: freshman pitcher Arlette Hernandez from Mission, Texas. The new right-hander has been a constant presence for the Roadrunners, starting 17 games and throwing nine complete games, which lead the American Conference in both categories. Her 102.2 innings pitched more than doubles the next highest total on the team of 46.2 innings from sophomore pitcher Reagan Stoudt, and she leads the team with an earned run average of 2.86. In all three conference series so far, Hernandez has started Friday and Sunday.
“[Hernandez] is a star. A very well-put-together pitcher,” Stuedeman said after a doubleheader on Feb. 20. “You never can tell if she’s up or down. I’ve been really impressed with her poise and composure, and her stuff. She’s got great stuff. I don’t think anyone, when she’s out there, doubts her for one minute.”
The Roadrunners have supported their pitching staff with a team batting average of .320 and 274 hits, both conference-leading totals. Fellow freshman, catcher Brookelynn Meador from Corpus Christi, Texas, is leading UTSA behind home plate and with her bat, posting a team-high .391 average and a 1.067 on-base plus slugging. Junior outfielder Taryn Madlock is not far behind, batting .385 with an OPS of 1.074. The duo’s OPS marks rank 12th and 13th among hitters in the conference.
There is room for improvement on offense, as UTSA’s batters strike out and ground into double plays more than any other team in the conference. The Roadrunners can crush home runs and get on base, but the team lacks plate discipline, ranking just seventh in the conference in walks. The team brings the second-most batters to the plate and records the most hits in the conference but ranks sixth in bringing those baserunners home, indicating a lack of opportunistic hitting.
UTSA also ranks third in the American with 42 fielding errors. In comparison, UTSA is tied in the standings with the University of South Florida, which has limited its errors to just 14. Three UTSA infielders rank top eight in the conference in errors. Conference contention and postseason success will rely heavily on the elimination of these pitfalls.
The tide is turning at Roadrunner Field. UTSA was ranked ninth out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches’ poll and sits tied for second place in the American Conference standings at 7-2. Coach Stuedeman has returned a championship attitude to a program searching for its first winning record in a full campaign since 2015, and its first conference championship since 2006. The coach who found decades of success in the nation’s powerhouse conference is spearheading the revival of UTSA softball.
