Head Coach Fred Gillum | Assistant Coach Sarah Lynch

FRED GILLUM
Head Coach
(email Coach Gillum)

Fred Gillum is entering his second season as head softball coach at Tusculum College.

Gillum took over the program in December 2006. He orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in the program's history. He inherited a program that went 18-32-1 a year before and posted an 11-win improvement going 29-25 in 2007. The 29 victories match the most wins in a season since Tusculum reclassified to the NCAA Division II level.

Gillum has over nine years of collegiate head coaching experience, including four seasons at South Atlantic Conference rival Mars Hill College. He has recorded 145 career wins, including 73 victories at Mars Hill, making him the winningest coach in that program’s history. In 2005, the Lions recorded 25 wins, establishing a new single-season record at MHC.

The 1986 Cumberland College graduate comes to Tusculum from Limestone College where he served this past fall as an assistant coach. Prior to that, he served on the coaching staff at NCAA Division I Stephen F. Austin University during the 2005-06 campaign.

Coach Gillum has made a habit out of building programs into respectable and competitive squads. His first softball assignment was at Sue Bennett College in London, Ky. where he also served as the offensive coordinator for Dragons football team as well as the school's sports information director. In his first season at Sue Bennett, Gillum finished a rain-shortened schedule 0-15. In his next season at the Kentucky school, his squad finished 17-31 with a surprising fourth place showing at the conference tournament. For going from zero wins to 17 wins, his peers voted him the 1997 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Two of his players earned All-KIAC honors while his team led the nation in stolen bases (113).

After giving up football to coach softball full-time, Gillum accepted the head coaching job at Kentucky Wesleyan University to rebuild its program. The year before Gillum arrived in Owensboro, the Panthers finished 3-22 and didn’t complete their season due to injuries. His first KWC team won only 12 games in the always-tough Great Lakes Valley Conference, but made improvement and finished out of the cellar. His next team won four more games with continued improvement while missing the conference playoffs by just one game. His center fielder, Sandy Nevy, earned All-GLVC and NFCA All-Region honors.

Following Gillum's second season at Kentucky Wesleyan, he received a call from Mars Hill to revive the Lion softball program. In the 2002 season, Coach Gillum led his team to a 15-30 record with Jennifer Wilson and Deanna Hinson being named to the All-SAC teams. His second season on the "Hill" saw the Lions improve again with a 21-30 finish with Audrey Riffel and Tessa Ashwell earning All-SAC honors.

In 2004, the Lions suffered an injury plagued campaign to finish 12-47 overall, before posting a 13-win improvement in 2005.

In his four years at the Mars Hill, N.C. school, five of his players earned All-Conference recognition, including two All-SAC First Team selections. His players also shined off the diamond as his teams boasted a team grade point average of 3.00 or better during his tenure with the Lions while 14 of the 18 seniors who completed their eligibility at Mars Hill, graduated.

Gillum has served on the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Advisory Committee (2004, 2005) and the NFCA Division II Top 25 Rating Committee (2005). In 2005, he served as the NCAA representative for the South Atlantic Region Tournament, held in Kennesaw, Ga.

During the summer months, he works a number of softball camps and has served as an instructor at the Blue-Chip Fastpitch Showcase, Cumberland College Softball Camp, Championship Softball Camps, Kennesaw State University Softball Camp, Coastal Carolina University Softball Camp, Kentucky Wesleyan College Softball Camp, Sue Bennett College Softball Camp, Carolina’s Blue-Chip Camp and the Michigan Merchant’s Elite Hitting Camp.

He is also an established Civil War reenactor and has appeared in the films, "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals."

SARAH LYNCH
Assistant Coach
(email Coach Lynch)

Former All-South Atlantic Conference standout Sarah Lynch is in her second season as an assistant coach on the Tusculum College softball staff.

Lynch assists with all aspects of the program, including on-field instruction, recruiting and travel coordination.

Lynch played at SAC member Newberry College from 2004-06, where she garnered All-Conference Second Team accolades in 2005 where she batted .384 with 14 doubles and seven home runs.

In 2006, she hit .316 and drove in 48 RBI, the fourth most in the league. She also tallied a SAC best 18 doubles and was second in the conference in stolen bases (18).

In her two seasons at Newberry, Lynch batted a solid .344 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs and 91 RBI.

Prior to Newberry, she played two seasons at Coastal Georgia Community College where she earned First Team All-Conference status in 2003 and again in 2004.

Lynch also shined off the field where she was a two-time member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and was a 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches' Association (NFCA) All-American Scholar Athlete.