Shannon Pivovar is in her 5th season as head softball coach for USF.
In four seasons, Pivovar has directed the Cougars Softball program to a 85-87 overall record. She is 39-45 in NSIC games with three seasons played in league due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In 2022, Pivovar led USF to a 27-25 record, which included a 11-14 NSIC record. USF had a 10-5 record at home and ended the season with a 3rd place finish in the NSIC tournament.
In 2021, Pivovar directed USF to a 23-24 overall mark with a 15-14 NSIC record. USF was 8-8 in home games and 10-9 in road games. Seeded No. 9 in the NSIC Tourney, the Cougars had a 2-2 mark with a 10-2 opening game win over Minot State in the opening game. After dropping a closely contest 2-1 game to No. 1 Augustana, the Cougars earned a 3-2 win over Northern State to advance. The season ended in a heart-breaking 7-6 decision to St. Cloud State. Junior pitcher/infielder Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag was named first team All-NSIC while freshman catcher Damaris Cuevas earned second team All-NSIC honors. Senior Frankie Mickelson was named to the NSIC Gold Glove Team in centerfield. The Cougars had 12 players named Academic All-NSIC and seven named to the Academic Team of Excellence (marked with*) including Kylan Straight*, Shayla Running*, Cassie Van Beek*, Frankie Mickelson*, Rachel Klassen*, Peyton Senger*, Lexie Swift*, Emily Cheloha, Emmie Uitts, Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag, Hanna Cress and Kylie Madrid. In addition, USF's Shayla Running was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VII Team.
In 2020, the Cougars had their season cut short due to the CoVID-19 pandemic. USF finished the season at 11-8 with a 4-3 away mark and 7-5 neutral field record. For the first time in DII history at USF, the Cougars did not play a home game and did not play a league game due to the pandemic. During the shortened 2020 season, USF's Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag was named to the Washburn Invitational All-Tournament Team for throwing a shutout and hitting .588 while leading the Cougars to a 3-3 mark. Lindsey Mossman and Sydney Nieveen were named recipients of the prestigious NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award. Nieveen was also voted to the 2020 Academic All-District VII Team as selected by CoSIDA. Eleven members of the softball squad earned Academic All-NSIC honors with Van Beek, Mossman, Nieveen, Mickelson, Sarah Keen and Kylan Straight being named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence (3.6 GPA or better).
In 2019, Pivovar led USF to a 24-30 record, which included a 13-17 (10th) mark in the NSIC. USF was 5-6 at home, 11-14 in road games and 8-10 on neutral fields. The Cougars compiled a 1-2 record in NSIC Tournament play with a 9-7 extra innings (8th inning) victory over Minot State on May 2 as Sydney Nieveen had a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning to help deliver the win. USF also lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to regular season champion Winona State and a 6-5 decision in 10 innings to St. Cloud State (seeded #4) at the tourney. USF's Emily Miller was named to the All-NSIC Team while 10 student-athletes earned selection to the Academic All-NSIC squad. Kerrigan Hoshaw, Cassie Van Beek, Lindsey Mossman, Sydney Nieveen and Frankie Mickelson also were named to the NSIC All Academic Team of Excellence for a GPA of 3.6 or better.
Prior to joining USF, Pivovar served an assistant coach for
SDSU head coach Krista Wood and helped lead the Jackrabbits to a 37-18 mark with a .673 winning percentage in 2018, which is the best in the program's DI era.
SDSU, which improved its win total by 18 (19-35, 2017), broke the 35-win mark for the second time in history. The Jackrabbits advanced to the postseason for the first time in the NCAA DI era, earning an automatic bid to the 2018 National Invitational Softball Championships (
NISC). At the
NISC,
SDSU reached the championship round and forced a winner-take-all game.
A native of Ralston, Neb., Pivovar joined the Jackrabbit softball staff in August of 2014 after working for one season as a graduate assistant at Wayne State College for Wood.
Before going into coaching, Pivovar was a standout student-athlete at Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Mo. With the Griffons softball team, she was a four-year starter in the middle infield, earning All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) honors three times, and added All-North Central Region honors in 2008. She also helped lead Missouri Western to a pair of NCAA Tournaments.
Named the 2010 Missouri Western Female Athlete of the Year, Pivovar, who had a career average of .306 and a .455 slugging mark, ranks in the top-10 in nine career categories at MWSU, including; assists (3
rd, 387), at bats (5
th, 692), games played (6
th, 226), starts (6
th, 224), hits (7
th, 212), doubles (6
th, 40), home runs (10
th, 21), total bases (10
th, 315) and runs batted in (8
th, 124). She also ranks in the top-10 in three season categories, including doubles (4
th, 18, and 2008); RBIs (10
th, 43, and 2009) and assists (6
th, 136, and 2009).
Pivovar also excelled in the classroom, earning All-MIAA academic honors three times, finishing her Griffon career with a 3.80 grade point average. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management, with a minor in business.
In addition to her work on the field and in the classroom, Pivovar also served on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee throughout college as president, vice-president and secretary. Additionally, she worked for the Missouri Western sports information department helping with football, women's soccer and men's and women's basketball.
After her time at Missouri Western, Pivovar moved on to Creighton where she worked as a sports information intern for two years before landing a full-time position as the assistant sports information director in 2012-13.
