KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southern Oregon University softball coach Jessica Pistole collected more national kudos Wednesday, earning the NAIA Softball Coach of the Year as announced by the national office after the Raiders' championship run.

Pistole and her assistants – Duane Pardue, Cheyenne Bricker, Mike Mayben and Harlee Donovan – were previously named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's NAIA National Coaching Staff of the Year last week.

In setting a program wins record for the third consecutive season, the staff guided the Raiders to a 52-8 record and their first national title, along with Cascade Conference regular-season and tournament championships. In the final NAIA Top 25 poll, they garnered their first-ever No. 1 ranking.

On the national leaderboards, the Raiders ranked sixth in hits per game (10.3), seventh in team batting average (.360) and runs (7.0), and 16th in earned-run average (2.08). They also committed fewer than half as many fielding errors (58) as their opponents (118).

SOU went 15-23 the season before Pistole took over and has gone 219-82 in the five seasons since, including a 149-38 mark over the last three years.

The program's precipitous rise has included three consecutive NAIA World Series appearances (the first in team history), three CCC regular-season titles and three CCC tournament titles.

The Raiders have also earned NAIA Scholar Team plaudits every season under Pistole.

A product of Loomis, Calif., Pistole was also named the CCC Coach of the Year for the third time this season.