Melyssa Lombardi Associate Head Coach       Softball Coaching Staff

Now in her 16th season as a full-time coach, Melyssa Lombardi continues to guide the Sooner pitchers and catchers to even greater accomplishments. Lombardi was promoted to her current position of associate head coach in July 2007.
 
Drawing from her playing days as a catcher for the Sooners from 1995-96, Lombardi has lent her valuable experiences in tutoring the Oklahoma catchers and pitchers. During her tenure, the Sooners won the 2000 National Championship and have won 11 NCAA Regional Championships in 15 postseason appearances. In addition the Sooners have claimed four Big 12 regular season titles (1999, 2000, 2009, 2012) and three conference tournament championships (2001, 2007, 2010).
 
A former all-conference catcher for the Sooners, Lombardi has also coached the Oklahoma battery to a combined 15 All-America honors, 26 All-Region accolades and 33 All-Big 12 selections during her time in Norman.
 
The 2012 season saw Lombardi's battery combine for one of her most successful seasons at OU as Keilani Ricketts and Jessica Shults both garnered first-team All-America honors. The duo also received first team NFCA All-Region honors as Ricketts set the program's single-season strikeouts record with 457 strikeouts. Ricketts, who was named the USA Softball Player of the Year, finished the year second nationally in strikeouts (457), strikeouts per seven innings (11.0), ERA (1.08) and wins (37), and she was third in shutouts (15).
 
As a staff, the 2012 Sooners set program records for both strikeouts and strikeouts per seven innings.
 
Lombardi's battery of Ricketts and Shults each earned All-American honors in 2011 as Ricketts and Shults both earned first and second team All-America honors, respectively. The pair each received first team NFCA All-Region accolades as Ricketts set what was then the program's single-season strikeouts record with 452 strikeouts. She finished the year third nationally with 11.1 strikeouts per seven innings. Ricketts also set an OU single-game record with 19 strikeouts vs. Iona while Michelle Gascoigne threw the seventh perfect game in Oklahoma history with an 8-0 win over Appalachian State.
 
In 2010, Lombardi guided a freshman pitcher in Ricketts to second team All-America honors. Senior catcher Lindsey Vandever earned second team All-Central Region accolades and the duo earned first team All-Big 12 honors. Vandever also became the third OU player to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. With a pitching staff of two sophomores and two freshmen, Lombardi aided OU in producing a 1.39 earned run average, a mark that was second best in the nation.
 
Catcher Heather Scaglione earned two straight All-America first team honors in 2004 and 2005. The only two-time first team All-American in school history was also named the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year in those same years. Scaglione remains the only player in Big 12 history to receive the honor twice.
 
The 2007 season was one of the most successful for the OU battery. The team posted a 55-8 overall record and Lauren Eckermann earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors. Eckermann went on to be named an All-American and tied the school record for most wins in a season with 37. In 2008, pitcher D.J. Mathis and Vandever earned All-Midwest Region and All-Big 12 honors. Mathis also earned second team All-America honors and ranked among the nation's best in several NCAA categories. Vandever and Mathis earned all-Big 12 honors in 2009 and were named to the NFCA All-Central Region team.
 
In 2004, Lombardi may have had her biggest challenge since joining the OU staff. The pitching coach had to hold together a staff that was missing its No. 1 and No. 2 pitcher for a combined total of 51 games. Despite the shortage of arms, the Sooners were the third best staff (in terms of ERA) in the Big 12. Lombardi's protégé Kami Keiter turned it up another notch during the postseason when she garnered All-Big 12 Tournament and Region I Championship MVP honors.

In 2003, Lombardi guided Keiter out of the shadows of former Sooner great Jennifer Stewart and into stardom. In just her second collegiate season, Keiter led the Big 12 in wins (47) and was ranked in the NCAA top 15 in two pitching categories. The Sooner pitching staff combined for an ERA of 1.40, which ranked as the 18th best in the NCAA.
 
In her first year on the coaching staff as a student assistant in 1997, the OU pitching staff produced one of the lowest earned run averages in school history and in the country.
 
The staff finished with a 1.14 ERA to rank seventh in the nation. The Sooners' pitching performances continued to rank among the nation's elite in 1998 and 1999 and the Sooners' improvement culminated in 2000 with a national championship.
 
In the national championship season, the team registered a 1.44 ERA which was good enough for second in the Big 12 and ranked 25th nationally. The staff posted 24 shutouts and its best strikeout total in three years with 301.
 
Lombardi helped guide the one-two punch of Lana Moran and Stewart that year. Moran went 26-2 and led the Big 12 with a 1.28 ERA. Stewart was a third team All-America selection and the MOP of the Women's College World Series. Lombardi also helped catcher Ashli Barrett reach new heights as the junior was named a first team All-American.
 
The Glendale, Ariz., native ended her two-year Sooner playing career with a spectacular senior season in 1996. Her team-leading .345 batting average was a key factor during OU's Big 12 Conference Championship run that year.
 
She was also instrumental in helping Jill Most and Jennifer Jaime record two of the best pitching seasons in school history. Lombardi caught all three of Most's wins in OU's conference tournament games and was named to the all-tournament team after going 3-for-8 (.375) at the plate with four RBI, two runs scored, a triple and a stolen base.
 
Lombardi graduated from Oklahoma in 1997 with a degree in health and sports science. She and her husband, John, were married on Nov. 10, 2000. The couple has one child, a son, Gianni Thomas.