Through 2020 Season / Fourth Season at Radford
At Radford: 74-56 Overall, 25-20 Big South
Career: Same
Announced on Monday, June 19, 2017, former Radford standout Hope Creasy was appointed as the ninth head coach of the Highlanders’ softball program. Creasy spent the previous two seasons as assistant coach of the Highlanders and begins her fourth season as head coach.
In her first season at the helm, she guided her hometown Highlanders to a 36-19 record. The 36 wins are the second-most by any first-year head coach, behind Mickey Dean with 44 in 2007. Three of Creasy’s 36 wins were over ACC foes and two Commonwealth rivals (Virginia Tech and Virginia). She even had a 4-0 start to the season, which was the best four-game start in program history. Creasy had an awesome run in the Big South Tournament and took Radford to its first Big South Championship game since 2011.
The 2018 Highlanders had a tremendous offensive firepower throughout the season with 77 doubles and 41 home runs, both ranking third in the Big South. The pitching was there as well as Radford was third in team ERA (2.50), opposing batting average (.260), wins (36) and strikeouts (226). Defensively, the Highlanders’ .968 fielding percentage was second in the Big South and their 54 errors were the third fewest in the league.
The team was on pace to have a superb record in 2019, but the COVID-19 Global Pandemic ended the season on March 11 with the Highlanders boasting a 13-3 record, which was the second highest winning percentage in the Big South. Radford had six players that batted over .300 and two of them batted over .400 through 16 games. Jessie Marvin was a bright spot in the circle tossing the program's first-ever five inning no-hitter in a 14-0 win over George Mason on March 1. She had an 8-1 record with a 1.81 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Hunter Mundy ended the year giving Creasy her first Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Creasy returned to the New River Valley in August 2015 as an assistant coach for the Highlanders. She primarily worked with the Highlander outfielders while assisting with hitting. Creasy also aided in recruiting and alumnae outreach.
Creasy helped her alma mater to a dramatic turnaround during the 2016 season of 23 more wins than the year prior, the most improvement of any NCAA Division I team. Radford posted its most victories (35) since 2011, jumped 96 spots in the RPI rankings, went from eighth to fourth in the Big South standings and posted its first three conference tournament wins since 2012 to reach the semifinals.
Each aspect of the team saw significant improvement in 2016 as the Highlanders went from ninth to second in team ERA and ninth to fourth in both fielding percentage and runs scored. Offensively, Radford led the Big South in doubles and triples, while four returning upperclassmen posted career-high numbers in multiple categories.
As a player, Creasy was a three-time All-Big South honoree as an outfielder, and ranks tied for fourth in program history in career home runs (32) and is tied for fifth in RBIs (133).
A native of Christiansburg, Va., Creasy enjoyed a stellar career as a four-year starter, leading the Highlanders to back-to-back Big South regular-season and conference tournament titles in 2009 and 2010. As a senior in 2010, she was named the Big South Woman of the Year, an NFCA First-Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection and an ESPN The Magazine/Cosida Academic All-District second-team honoree. During that season, Creasy ranked among the top 10 in the conference in home runs, slugging, runs, RBIs and total bases, while helping Radford advance to the title game of the NCAA Athens Regional. For her career, she batted .298 while also totaling 36 doubles and 93 runs.
Creasy returned to Radford after serving as the head coach at Louisburg College (N.C.) for the 2014-15 season. During that campaign, she led the Hurricanes to a 31-16 record – an 11-win improvement over the previous year – and the NJCAA Region X Championship as the team won three games on the tournament’s final day to earn the title. Off the field, she managed all aspects of the program from scheduling and recruiting to monitoring student-athletes’ academic progress and budgeting.
Prior to Louisburg, Creasy spent two years as an assistant coach at Wittenburg University in Ohio, again playing a role in all facets. Her main focuses were with player development, game preparation and first-base coaching, scouting and recruiting, along with fundraising and community service projects. With Creasy as a member of the staff, Wittenburg posted a combined 46-30 mark and reached its conference tournament final in both seasons.
Creasy began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern from 2010-12, helping the Eagles to the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2012. While with the program, she assisted with all on-field activities, including first-base coaching, along with player development in the areas of hitting and outfield defense. She also played a role in recruiting, fundraising and community service efforts.
In addition to her coaching roles, Creasy worked as Louisburg’s sports information director and was a coordinator of athletic operations and facilities during her time at Wittenburg, while also serving on several different university committees.
Creasy received her Bachelor of Science degree in sport administration from Radford in 2010 and went on to earn a Master of Science in sport management at Georgia Southern in 2012.
