When the 2026 softball season begins, Stefanie Phillips will start her 13th year as a part of the Tarleton Softball program and her first year as Associate Head Coach after serving nine years as the top assistant coach under head coach Mark Cumpian.
After spending her first three seasons as a second assistant under Julie Mata and Cumpian, she has coached pitchers, catchers, and slappers in all 12 years of her Tarleton State tenure and will begin her ninth season of also working with outfielders and serving as the recruiting coordinator.
The first year of postseason eligibility saw history be made once again, this time Phillips helped lead the Texans to their first WAC Championship title game as the Purple and White secured the No. 2 seed in the tournament following a Division I era program best second-place finish. This marks the third straight year the Texans have made the conference tournament.
In the final weekend of conference play through the first game of the tournament for Tarleton State it saw the Texans defeat tournament host California Baptist four straight games, three of them in Stephenville. The Purple and White outscored the Lancers 17-4 over that stretch.
The month of March was another historic time in program history as Tarleton State took the three-game conference series from then No. 24 Grand Canyon. The 2-1 series win that included 3-0 and 5-2 victories marked the first time since the Lopes took a home series loss since 2022, a conference series loss since 2023 and marked just one of two times they were shutout in the 2025 season, both coming in Phoenix. The Texans were just one of two teams to beat the Lopes twice in one season.
Two more historic days came as Hannah Blincoe became just the third pitcher in program history to ever toss two no-hitters in a single season and the first since 2019. She tossed her first one on Feb. 23, 2025, vs. New Mexico in a 2-0 no-hitter shutout victory. Just 19 days later she tossed her second of the season over UT Arlington on March 14, 2025, in the Texans 8-0 walk-off run-rule no-hitter shutout win becoming the first in the Tarleton State’s Division I era to do so.
Individually, Phillips helped Shelby Schultz earn WAC Freshman of the Year, the first time at the Division I level a Texan has earned the honor. She also helped two student-athletes in Kalyn Hill and Shelby Schultz to All-WAC First Team honors while Hannah Blincoe earned All-WAC Second Team honors. All three of these also earned WAC All-Tournament Team for their efforts in driving the Texans to the title game. Shelby Schultz and Hill were also both named to the NFCA All-Region team. Hill was named third team while Shelby Schultz was named second team as she was then named an NFCA All-American Nominee.
At the completion of the 2025 season, the Texans had the 22nd lowest ERA in the nation and second-best in the WAC at just a 2.66. The rock slingers for the Purple and White were also 16th in the nation in team strikeouts per seven innings.
In Tarleton State’s final year of reclassification, the Texans advanced to their second straight WAC Tournament in as many years as eligible propelled by back-to-back home runs by Kayla Wallace and Tristyn Trull in the final regular season contest.
History was once again etched in the books as Kendall Daniel tossed just the 11th no-hitter in program history on Feb. 18, 2024 vs. Mississippi Valley State, second freshman to ever complete the feat.
In Tarleton State's third year in Division I, the Texans notched their second-straight 30-win season and earned the fifth seed in the WAC Tournament for the first team in program history. Tarleton State then was invited to the National Invitational Softball Championships for the second consecutive season and knocked off UC Davis, 10-4. She helped guide Katy Schaefer and Kelci Hill to earning second team All-WAC honors in 2023.
In just their second year as a member of NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference, Phillips was the top assistant for the Texans in one of the nation’s best turnarounds – going from 17 wins in 2021 to 30 in 2022. Tarleton State recorded its first 30-win campaign at the Division I level and qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championships (NISC). It marked the first national postseason berth by any Tarleton State Athletics program in the Division I era and the Texans won the second game of that tournament – 6-4 over UC San Diego – for the first postseason win in school history.
Phillips was a key part of Tarleton State’s transition to NCAA Division I in the spring of 2021 as the Texans won 17 games in their debut season with the Western Athletic Conference. Tarleton State’s move to Division I was the penultimate chapter in a wild two-year span for Tarleton State softball. After making the decision to leave NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference in November 2019, the 2020 softball season was on the verge of becoming Tarleton State’s best yet. The Texans boasted victories over the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and defending national champion Augustana and a doubleheader sweep of No. 2-ranked UT Tyler. Tarleton was leading the Lone Star Conference standings with a 6-0 league mark when the season was abruptly canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Four months later, Tarleton State made the move to the WAC official on July 1, 2020.
Before making the jump, Phillips was an integral part in making Tarleton State one of the elite programs in all of NCAA Division II.
Beginning with the 2018 season, Tarleton State boasted the third lowest ERA in the LSC and the second-most strikeouts. Sophomore Jordan Withrow was named the LSC Pitcher of the Year and a Fastpitch News DII All-American after stepping into the ace role and throwing over 220 innings and striking out – a school-record – 252 hitters. Phillips had two pitchers named all-conference – Withrow and Megan Rosewell – during Tarleton State’s program-record 50-win season. Tarleton State returned to the NCAA playoffs and advanced to the regional finals for the second time in program history. Tarleton State followed up with a 2019 campaign that saw Tarleton State go 40-15, marking the second straight season of at least 40 wins. The 90 wins over the last two seasons were the most in the daunting Lone Star Conference. With Phillips coaching the pitchers, junior Jordan Withrow broke Tarleton State’s all-time career strikeouts record with 570 and was named an all-American for the second straight season. Tarleton State advanced to the NCAA regional tournament for the third straight year with Phillips on staff.
In her first season as the top assistant, Tarleton State qualified for the NCAA postseason for the fifth time in school history with 35 wins. Phillips’ pitching staff boasted the third-best ERA in the Lone Star Conference with 11 shutouts, including two shutouts of then-No. 1 Angelo State to take the regular season series.
During her early seasons on staff, Phillips was a part of the run to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in school history. Tarleton State went 33-22 and entered the regional tournament as the No. 8 seed before defeating West Texas A&M and Cameron to claim the South Central Region 1 Tournament Championship. She coached freshman Haley Freyman to an all-conference season as a freshman and the second-most wins in a single season (21). Phillips has helped Freyman and catcher Nyka Wood earn all-conference accolades in three straight seasons.
Phillips, under her surname Watson, came to Tarleton State after spending the 2013 as a coach at Sterling High School in Baytown. Prior to her time at SHS, Phillips was a graduate assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma. While at OU, the Sooners won the Big XII Conference championships and were the runners-up at the College World Series. She joined the Sooner coaching staff after a four-year playing career at East Central University as a utility player.
She graduated in May 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in science with minors in education and math. She received her master’s degree in 2014 in sports administration. Phillips was married in June 2015 to her husband, Josh. The couple resides in Granbury with their daughter, Hattie, and son, Huck.
