# Sarah Dawson (softball)

Sarah N. Dawson (born January 22, 1975) is an American, former collegiate All-American, softball pitcher and head coach. She played college softball for Louisiana–Monroe and is the Southland Conference career leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP and innings pitched. She ranks top-10 all-time in NCAA Division I for career shutouts (9th) and innings (5th).
After graduating from college, Dawson played three years of professional softball for the Orlando Wahoos/Akron Racers. Dawson served as an assistant softball coach at Marshall and Louisiana–Monroe, before serving as the head softball coach at Louisiana Tech from 2003 to 2012.

## Early life

Dawson attended Christian High School San Diego in El Cajon, California, where she played softball for her mother, legendary California high school softball coach Roma Dawson.

## Playing career

She played college softball for Louisiana–Monroe team from 1994 to 1997. She is the Southland Conference career leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP and innings pitched and was named Southland Conference Freshman, Player and Pitcher of the Year during her career. She ranks top-10 all-time in NCAA Division I for career shutouts (9th) and innings (5th). After graduating from college, Dawson played three years of professional softball for the Orlando Wahoos/Akron Racers franchise of WPSL.

## Coaching career

While head coach at Louisiana Tech, Dawson compiled a record of 221–338, and led the Lady Techsters to a WAC conference championship and a berth in the 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament.

## Statistics
### ULM Warhawks

| YEAR | W | L | GP | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| 1994 | 27 | 19 | 51 | 45 | 36 | 15 | 1 | 332.2 | 210 | 70 | 40 | 41 | 290 | 0.84 | 0.75 |
| 1995 | 27 | 16 | 45 | 42 | 34 | 12 | 0 | 284.2 | 173 | 68 | 44 | 49 | 306 | 1.08 | 0.78 |
| 1996 | 21 | 11 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 224.1 | 144 | 38 | 25 | 28 | 238 | 0.78 | 0.76 |
| 1997 | 45 | 10 | 58 | 54 | 50 | 31 | 0 | 400.2 | 190 | 44 | 30 | 46 | 446 | 0.52 | 0.59 |
| TOTALS | 120 | 56 | 187 | 173 | 151 | 74 | 1 | 1242.1 | 717 | 220 | 139 | 164 | 1280 | 0.78 | 0.71 |

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (Western Athletic Conference) (2003–2012) ||||||
| 2003 | Louisiana Tech | 16–42 | 6–14 | 5th | |
| 2004 | Louisiana Tech | 27–33 | 10–11 | 4th | |
| 2005 | Louisiana Tech | 18–49 | 2–16 | 7th | |
| 2006 | Louisiana Tech | 18–31 | 6–11 | 6th | |
| 2007 | Louisiana Tech | 22–38 | 3–15 | 7th | |
| 2008 | Louisiana Tech | 37–29 | 7–10 | 4th | NCAA Regional |
| 2009 | Louisiana Tech | 15–23* | 9–8* | 4th | |
| 2010 | Louisiana Tech | 26–21 | 11–10 | 4th | |
| 2011 | Louisiana Tech | 17–39 | 6–15 | 6th | |
| 2012 | Louisiana Tech | 25–33 | 8–12 | 6th | |
| Louisiana Tech: | Louisiana Tech: | 221–338 (.395) | 68–122 (.358) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 221–338 (.395) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||
* Louisiana Tech vacated 19 wins (including 3 WAC games) in 2009 by NCAA action.