Kiki Stokes enters her second season as Head Softball Coach at Upper Iowa in 2022-23. Stokes came to UIU after three seasons with the NCAA Division I Jackrabbit softball program at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota.
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Stokes served as an assistant coach at SDSU from 2019 until departing for the top position at Upper Iowa. She was a part of the team's 37-win season and second-straight postseason appearance in 2019, working primarily with the team's defense. 2020’s squad won 15 games and posted a .652 winning percentage before COVID-19 precautions ended the NCAA’s Division I softball season nationwide. This past season, the Jackrabbits posted their most successful season in program history going 43-8 including a 21-1 record in the Summit League. The season ended with a 2-1, 10-inning loss to Stanford University, just a win shy of the NCAA Division I Fayetteville Regional championship.
Stokes was a two-time All-American for the University of Nebraska during her four-year playing career with the Husker softball program from 2013-16. She left Lincoln, Neb. with a career .350 batting average and the program record in runs scored (200). Stokes is also third in Nebraska history for walks (120) and sixth in hits (233).
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Stokes set single-season program records in runs (66), hit-by-pitches (17) and on-base percentage (.532) in her junior season. As a senior, Stokes became only the third Husker to hit over .400 in consecutive seasons, thanks to a career-high 74 hits; she hit .409 in her last season. As a player, she helped Nebraska to a seventh-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Women's College World Series.
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Stokes was a two-time NFCA All-Midwest Region First Team selection, a two-time All-Big Ten First Team performer and served as the Huskers' team captain her final two seasons. She began her coaching career as a volunteer coach for Nebraska in 2018, working with the outfield and helping with opponent scouting.
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The Olathe, Kansas native was drafted into the National Pro Fastpitch league in 2016 and led the Houston Scrap Yard Dawgs to its first league championship in 2017.
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Stokes graduated from Nebraska with a bachelor's degree in child, youth and family studies in May 2017.
Kiki Stokes: Year-by-Year at Upper Iowa (24-28, 14-15 NSIC, 1 season)
| 2022 |
24-28 (14-15 NSIC) |
NSIC Tournament || D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year- Katie Crogan || D2CCA All-Central Region First Team- Katie Crogan || NFCA All-Central Region First Team- Katie Crogan || NSIC Player of the Year- Katie Crogan || All-NSIC First Team- Katie Crogan |
