Pam Parnell Fink’s 629 coaching wins in softball is an OBU record for all women’s athletics. She was named head coach in 1993 and took the Lady Bison to a school record five consecutive regional tournaments. Her 2017 team won the NCCAA National Championship - the first of its kind in program history. Fink was named NCCAA Coach of the Year in 2017.
Coach Fink was inducted into the OBU Athletic Hall of Fame in November 2000. Coach Fink guided the Lady Bison to the NAIA Final Four in 2002, marking their first appearance in the tournament in 20 years. That squad set a record with 43 wins as Fink claimed Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors. The OBU women reached the NAIA Tournament again in 2003 and 2014.
As a player, she is one of only six Lady Bison softball players to earn NAIA All-America honors. She was All-District 9 for three years and holds the OBU record for season batting average. A career starter at shortstop and clean-up hitter, she is the all-time leader in assists. Her career .342 batting average is third all-time, behind two players whom she coached. She also carried a career .344 batting average against All-American pitchers, including a 1-2 outing against two-time Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith.
She graduated from OBU in 1988 and began the softball program at Sumter County High School in Georgia in 1990, earning Area Coach of the Year honors in her second season there. She earned a master’s degree from East Central University in 1998.
Since returning to OBU, the Lady Bison softball program has generated three National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar Team Top Ten awards, including the national academic champions of 2001, and produced 26 NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes. She and her husband, Ray, have two children, Kelly and Collin.
Pam Fink at OBU
| Season |
Wins |
Losses |
| 1994 |
22 |
21 |
| 1995 |
21 |
19 |
| 1996 |
18 |
26 |
| 1997 |
27 |
27 |
| 1998 |
30 |
27 |
| 1999 |
32 |
27 |
| 2000 |
24 |
18 |
| 2001 |
29 |
23 |
| 2002 |
43 |
15 |
| 2003 |
38 |
17 |
| 2004 |
9 |
35 |
| 2005 |
25 |
22 |
| 2006 |
14 |
36 |
| 2007 |
20 |
30 |
| 2008 |
22 |
34 |
| 2009 |
29 |
29 |
| 2010 |
29 |
25 |
| 2011 |
33 |
18 |
| 2012 |
22 |
30 |
| 2013 |
33 |
23 |
| 2014 |
46 |
17 |
| 2015 |
18 |
30 |
| 2016 |
17 |
35 |
| 2017 |
28 |
29 |
| Career at OBU |
629 |
613 |
