SHAWNEE – After serving the last three seasons as assistant coach,
Jace Brewer was promoted to head coach for the Oklahoma Baptist softball program on Wednesday, June 5, following the resignation of
Sam Maples who served six seasons in Shawnee.
He is the 11th coach in program history dating back to 1976.
"We are thrilled to promote Jace as the new leader of the OBU softball program," Director of Athletics Robert Davenport said. "Jace has had a massive impact on our program the last three years, and I believe he can push our recent achievement even further in the years to come."
Over the last three seasons, Bison softball has reached heights not previously seen in the Division II era. With the help of Brewer, OBU has amassed a 118-48 (.710) record, won two Great American Conference Regular Season Titles and earned back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Plus, OBU has found itself in the NFCA national rankings several times.
Under Brewer's direction as the hitting coach, the Bison saw its batting average reach as high .300, the best in a full season during the DII era. OBU registered three consecutive years with 200-plus RBI and 370-plus hits, including over 400 connections the last two seasons. Additionally, Oklahoma Baptist racked up 126 home runs, led by 41 (second-most in DII era) in 2024, and the most base on balls in school history (165).
Also, standing at third base, Brewer directed Oklahoma Baptist to back-to-back seasons with at least 83 steals, including the second-most in program history (90) in 2023. Prior to his arrival, OBU hadn't reached that figure in a season since 1997.
"I'm very grateful and humbled for the opportunity to lead this program," Brewer said, adding, "I'll be forever thankful for Coach Maples for allowing me and giving me a chance to coach college softball."
Brewer also said, "I look forward to adding to the success that has been built over the last few years. It will be a challenge in the current climate of college sports, but I look forward to attacking that challenge every day."
On top of the Bison's team success since 2022, Brewer has helped coach 17 All-GAC selections, 11 all-region honorees and multiple All-America selections. Additionally, he saw three of his hitters collect GAC Player and Freshman of the Year awards.
Brewer was initially hired as assistant for OBU in June of 2021. Prior to that, he spent eight years as a teacher and coach in his hometown of Washington, Okla.
While at Washington, Brewer was thrice named an All-State Coach and was a part of five state titles in fastpitch and slowpitch softball. Additionally, in his career as a head coach, he brought 15 state tournament appearances to the Washington softball program, six times getting to the 3A State Championship game in fastpitch.
