Softball
- Title:
- Head Softball Coach
Mitch Roberts enters his second season as the head coach of St. Cloud State Softball in 2023. In just one season with the program, In his first season with the program, Roberts led the Huskies to a 36-18 record with a 23-7 mark in conference play - establishing a new program record for Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wins.
Roberts’ first season ushered in a new era of offense for St. Cloud State, smashing the program record for home runs in a single season with 60. Prior to Roberts’ appointment, SCSU hadn’t hit more than 50 home runs since their previous record of 51 in 2003. The lineup slashed .295/.367/.469 for a .836 OPS, ranking third across the NSIC in home runs, fourth in slugging and fifth in OPS. St. Cloud State was extremely efficient on the basepaths, stealing the fifth-most bases at a league-best 95.5% success rate. Senior catcher Sydney Trees broke the program record with 17 home runs and was one of three Huskies alongside Raven Vanden Langenberg and Haley McFarlane to post OPS marks north of 1.000. Defensively, SCSU ranked fifth in the NSIC with a .968 fielding percentage while Holly Weinberger won a Gold Glove.
The Huskies pitching staff flourished under the direction of Roberts, posting the third-best ERA in the NSIC at 2.49 and recording 12 shutouts - tied with Winona State for third-most in the league. SCSU also ranked third across the Northern Sun with a 3.49 FIP, fourth in WHIP at 1.21 and logged the fourth-best K/BB ratio at 3.34. Huskies pitchers struck out 291 batters, their highest total since 2015, and limited opponents to a .660 OPS - the second-lowest mark produced by the staff since 2007. Junior righthander Trinity Junker took a major step forward under Roberts, becoming the first pitcher in program history to earn First Team All-NSIC honors by going 19-6 with a 1.63 ERA and 163 strikeouts across 163.2 innings. Junker’s 19 wins were the most a Husky had recorded since Kelly Franks won 20 games in 2013. True freshman Emma Eickhoff enjoyed a breakout debut season, going 10-3 with a 2.86 ERA over 88.0 innings, while veterans Kylie Thomsen and Lauren Kirchberg each posted ERA marks south of 4.00 while logging over 50.0 innings in the circle.
Success in the classroom continued to be a staple of SCSU Softball in year one of the Roberts era as 12 Huskies earned Academic All-NSIC honors, Haley McFarlane and Holly Weinberger earned Academic All-District notice while McFarlane became the program’s first Academic All-American since 2009.
St. Cloud State University Director of Athletics Heather Weems named Mitch Roberts as the new Huskies head softball coach on August 10, 2021.
Prior to his appointment at St. Cloud State, Roberts spent over five years at the Division I including serving as the pitching coach at the Cal-Berkeley from 2020 to 2021. During his tenure, Roberts helped the Golden Bears cut their team ERA by nearly two full runs and handled all pitching responsibilities including pitch calling, pre-game routines and bullpen management. He also organized recruiting efforts and schedules for the Berkeley coaching staff in the extremely competitive PAC-12.
In addition to his experience with the Golden Bears, Roberts served as an assistant coach at both Tulsa and Ball State after spending time as a graduate assistant at Washington. In his single season with the Golden Hurricane, Roberts guided the pitching staff to the sixth lowest ERA in Division I at 1.48 while his hurlers held opponents to a meager .198 batting average. Throughout his young coaching career, Roberts has mentored multiple All-Conference, All-Region and All-America players, including former Washington Husky standout Taran Alvelo, and has coached in one Women’s College World Series.
Coaching softball runs in the Roberts family, as Mitch’s ASA Men’s All-American father Mike Roberts has enjoyed a long career as a pitching coach at the NCAA DI level with stops at Oregon, Washington, Buffalo and Louisiana-Lafayette before reaching his current associate head coaching role at Virginia.
Roberts played college baseball at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa. He graduated in 2016 with a degree in Business Management and a minored in Leadership.
Mitch and his wife Katie reside in St. Cloud.
