E-mail Coach Blaylock

The all-time winningest coach in both Southern Illinois softball and Saluki Athletics history, Kerri Blaylock stepped aside as SIU softball's head coach on March 2, 2022 after 23 seasons at the helm due to health reasons.

Blaylock will stay with the program in an administrative capacity and will assist interim head coach Jen Sewell with the day-to-day operations of the program.

During her storied tenure, SIU advanced to the NCAA postseason eight times, which included being the only program in conference history to make five-straight trips from 2003-07. Southern won the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title after it defeated Northern Iowa, 2-0 in the MVC Championship game to earn SIU’s third appearance to a NCAA Regional in the last five seasons.

Blaylock’s Salukis posted 18 30-win seasons, including four 40-win seasons and a program-best 47 wins in 2005. The 2019 team won 17 conference games, the program’s most since 2005, and posted a winning record in conference play for the 24th-straight season. SIU compiled a 751-413-1 record under Blaylock.

 Blaylock guided SIU to national prominence throughout her distinguished career. The 2003 team earned SIU’s first-ever NFCA/USA Today Top-25 ranking, and the following season Southern opened and finished the 2004 season ranked in the NFCA Top-25 Coaches poll. All told, SIU won six conference titles and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances with Blaylock on staff.

As a head coach, Blaylock led SIU to five MVC titles with eight NCAA Tournament appearances while producing 103 All-Conference selections. She holds a .668 winning percentage in MVC games (337-167) and has been a member of five MVC Coaching Staffs of the Year. She was the fastest coach in MVC history to reach 500 wins overall and 250 MVC wins. On Feb. 23, 2018, Blaylock became the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 5-4, 10-inning win over UConn. The Salukis run-ruled Purdue Fort Wayne, 9-0 in six innings on Feb. 28, 2020 for Blaylock's 700th career win as head coach. The Herrin, Ill. native is the quickest to reach the 700-win milestone in Missouri Valley Conference history and is one of only three coaches in conference history to win 700-plus games. On April 25, 2021, Blaylock passed fellow Herrin, Ill. native Richard “Itchy” Jones for most wins by any coach- male or female - in SIU athletics history with the Salukis’ 11-1 win over the Indiana State Sycamores. 

SIU led the Valley in team earned run average 11 times since 1993 and finished in the top-3 in the league in the category in 16 of head coach Kerri Blaylock’s 22 seasons at the helm. Southern led the league in strikeouts for five consecutive years from 1998 to 2002, setting an MVC record with 500 strikeouts in 2000. The Salukis also produced four Missouri Valley Conference Pitchers of the Year in Erin Stremsterfer (2001), Amy Harre (2005), Cassidy Scoggins (2006) and Danielle Glosson (2010) during that stretch and Blaylock has been on the coaching staff at SIU for 33 no-hitters.

In addition to Southern’s on-field success, Blaylock’s teams consistently ranked among the nation’s best in the classroom as well. SIU ranked among the top-20 nationally in team GPA every season since 2001 with 11 top-five finishes. The Salukis finished second nationally in team GPA four times, most recently in 2019 and 2021. SIU players have earned 98 MVC Scholar-Athlete awards and 12 Academic All-America honors under Blaylock. The Salukis have also tallied 26 Academic All-Americans, second to only Nebraska for the most of any DI softball program. The NCAA began giving out Public Recognition Awards in 2003 for programs in the top-10 percent in their sport in APR over each four-year rolling period. SIU was the first MVC softball program to earn the distinction, and Blaylock’s programs have earned the honor a league-best eight times.

YEAR-BY-YEAR AT SIU

Blaylock took the reins of the program in 2000 after the retirement of Kay Brechtelsbauer, who coached SIU for 32 years. Blaylock served nine seasons as an assistant under Brechtelsbauer, including five as the team's pitching coach.

Saluki softball didn't falter during the transition from Brechtelsbauer to Blaylock. As a first-year head coach in 2000, Blaylock led SIU to a 41-22 record, the first 40-win season since the Salukis went 41-16 in 1997. SIU has finished in the top half the MVC in each of the 16 seasons since.

SIU finished in the top three in the MVC each year from 2001-03 with Blaylock's staff earning MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2002 and 2003. Individually, SIU had the MVC's Rookie of the Year in both 2002 (Amy Harre) and 2003 (Katie Louis). The 2003 Salukis went 39-14 and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament bid since 1991. SIU advanced to the Regional final in the 2003 NCAA Tournament for the program's first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

Blaylock broke through with her first MVC championship as a head coach in 2004, setting a then-program record for wins with a 45-17 overall record with an 18-6 mark in the Valley. The Salukis followed up by setting a new MVC record for wins in 2005 that still stands today. SIU went 47-14 and set a program record for conference wins with a 24-3 mark in the Valley to win its second-consecutive MVC title. The 2004 and 2005 teams both advanced to the NCAA Tournament and Blaylock's staff also made it four-straight seasons by being named the MVC's Staff of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

SIU earned at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in both 2006 and 2007, becoming the only program in MVC history to reach five-consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The 2007 squad spent a school-record 13-consecutive weeks ranked in the top 25 nationally, including a program-best No. 18 ranking.

SIU finished third in the MVC in 2008 with Lauren Haas earning the program's first Valley Player of the Year honor since 1997. In 2009, SIU had its best start in school history at 13-1 and went on to finish second in the MVC. The Salukis made it back into the national rankings again in 2009, tying a program-best by elevating as high as No. 18.

The 2010 season saw SIU climb back atop the MVC standings for the third Valley title of the Blaylock era, and the program was rewarded with its fifth MVC Coaching Staff of the Year honor under Blaylock. The Salukis followed up with a pair of 36-win seasons in 2011 and 2012 as Mallory Duran-Sellers became the second MVC Player of the Year under Blaylock in 2012.

The program won 74 games between 2013-15, including a third-place finish in the MVC in the 2014 campaign. Blaylock's 2016 team again led the MVC in ERA and won 33 games, including 15 in league play. The 2016 team swept Illinois State for the first time since 2005 and won the series over Northern Iowa for the first time since 2010.

In 2017, Blaylock led the Salukis to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship and the seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Southern posted a 33-24 record with wins over Missouri State, Illinois State and UNI on the way to the conference tournament title. The Salukis faced off against Ole Miss and North Carolina in the Oxford Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Blaylock also recorded her 600th career victory that season in a 4-2 victory over Michigan State.

In 2018, the Herrin, Ill. native led the Salukis to their third-straight 30-win season, and the 16th 30-win season in her 19 seasons as SIU’s skipper. Southern also advanced to the MVC Championship game for the second-straight season and the Salukis led the Missouri Valley Conference in runs, home runs and runs batted in. It marked the first time since 2005 that Southern led the league in round-trippers.

The 2019 season was yet another banner year for the program. SIU reached the 30-win plateau for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons, posted their most conference wins (17) since 2005 and earned the program’s 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament. Southern also posted the third-best fielding percentage in the nation and won a NCAA Regional game for the first time since 2007 with a walk-off win over Detroit Mercy. 

Southern rebounded to win 15 of its final 16 games, which included nine-straight wins, to close out the 2020 season. The Salukis went 15-6 overall and were leading the Missouri Valley Conference in fielding percentage (.977), fewest runs allowed (66) and were second in earned run average (2.77) before the season was brought to a halt.

The 2021 season was as memorable a year as any in Saluki softball history. In a season that was made all the more challenging due to the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern set school records for both longest winning streak (25 games) and best start to a season (16-0), a run that saw the Salukis garner numerous votes in various Top-25 polls. The Salukis reached the 30-win plateau for the 18th time under Blaylock, finished top-25 nationally in fielding percentage for the fourth time in the last six seasons and advanced to the MVC Tournament as the fourth seed. Once there, the Salukis outscored their opponents, 12-2 to bring home SIU’s third MVC Tournament title, and second in the last five seasons. In doing so, SIU advanced to its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance and eight NCAA Tournament appearance under Blaylock.

BACKGROUND

Blaylock had a stellar playing career in addition to her coaching successes. She was considered one of the top three pitchers in the state as a prep at nearby Herrin High School, according to the Chicago Tribune, compiling a record of 65-7 from 1980-84. She set marks for wins and strikeouts for Herrin High and became the first female athlete ever selected to the Herrin High School Hall of Fame in 1992.

Following her successful prep career, Blaylock attended the University of Evansville, where she developed into one of the Aces' all-time leading hurlers. During her career, she put together a record of 77-48 with a 1.54 ERA and struck out 365 hitters in 857.2 innings of work. Blaylock still holds virtually all of Evansville's pitching records.

Blaylock excelled as a student-athlete both on and off the field at UE. As a junior, she was named a GTE Academic All-American, and in 1988, she was named the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Player of the Year. Evansville recognized Blaylock's success on the diamond by inducting her into the school's Hall of Fame in 1995.

After graduating from Evansville in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in accounting, Blaylock attended Southeast Missouri State University where she began her coaching career as a graduate assistant. She later received a master's degree in 1991 in business administration.

Blaylock Year-By-Year Record
Year	Overall	Conference	Finish
2000	41-22	9-9	6th
2001	36-19	17-9	4th
2002	31-17	17-7	3rd
2003	39-14	18-6	2nd
2004	45-17	18-6	1st
2005	47-14	24-3	1st
2006	35-13	15-6	3rd
2007	41-16	17-7	3rd
2008	30-24	15-8	3rd
2009	33-13	15-7	2nd
2010	38-20	20-5	1st
2011	36-17	17-6	3rd
2012	36-20	16-10	4th
2013	25-28	12-10	5th
2014	28-25	15-11	3rd
2015	21-26-1	15-11	5th
2016	33-19	15-10	4th
2017	33-24	17-8	3rd
2018	31-22	12-12	2nd
2019	34-15	17-6	2nd
2020	15-6	0-0	—
2021	37-16	16-10	4th
2022	6-6	--	-
Total: 23 Years	751-413-1 (.646)	337-167 (.668)