National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- April 12, 1999

Notes

Facilities: The College of William and Mary athletics department unveiled a new 1,000-seat baseball facility March 20. Joseph J. Plumeri II, a 1996 William and Mary graduate who donated $1.8 million toward the facility's construction, threw out the first pitch in the new stadium ... Troy State University completed improvements and enhancements to Memorial Stadium. The improvements were made possible by a $4.5 million gift from the city of Troy and a $1 million gift from Richard M. Scrushy, chairman and chief executive officer of HealthSouth. Improvements included increasing the seating capacity from 12,000 to 17,500, adding new restrooms and concession stands and renovating the luxury suites. Troy State also renovated Trojan Arena, formerly known as Sartian Hall, and the Tine W. Davis Fieldhouse. The latter, funded by private donations, included new administrative and coaches offices, a new 3,000-square-foot weight room and renovations to the men's and women's locker rooms.

Milestones: Kay Brechtelsbauer, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 600 wins in women's softball. Brechtelsbauer, who is in her 32nd season at Southern Illinois, became the 25th softball coach in NCAA history to register 600 career wins ... The same week Brechtelsbauer reached her milestone, University of Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins followed by becoming the 26th coach in NCAA history to register 600 career wins with a 3-0 win over Hofstra March 6. Hutchins is in her 16th season as a head coach (15 seasons at Michigan) and sports a 603-268-1 career record ... Furman University declared April 10 as Paul Scarpa Day in honor of head men's tennis coach Paul Scarpa's 1,000th match at Furman. Scarpa is currently in his 33rd year at the helm of the Paladins program and is the third most-victorious active coach in Division I. Entering the 1999 season, Scarpa was 609-363. Scarpa is the second skipper to coach 1,000 matches.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown