Huskers Add Miller to Softball Staff

Diane Miller has been hired as an assistant coach for the <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska softball team, head coach Rhonda Revelle announced on Wednesday, June 4. Miller, whose primary duties will be to serve as the Huskers’ hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, has spent the past eight seasons as an assistant at Colorado State.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

"We feel very fortunate to have Diane Miller join the Nebraska Softball coaching staff,” Revelle said. “Diane has a proven track record as a hitting coach, as her hitters at Colorado State, over the last several years, ranked among the best in the nation in several offensive categories."

 

Miller will be returning to her coaching roots in Nebraska, as she received her start in the business as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1993.

 

"I am humbled and honored to have been entrusted with the responsibility of carrying on the tradition and expectation that comes with being a part of the University of Nebraska,” Miller said. “I am excited to get started and to meet the players and all those associated with the program. I look forward to the challenge and anticipate a bright future for Nebraska softball."

 

Miller comes to Nebraska after a highly successful eight-year stint at ColoradoState, where she served as the Rams’ hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and camps director, while also instructing the catchers. During her time in Fort Collins, Miller emerged as one of the country’s premier hitting instructors.

 

Colorado State has featured one of the nation’s top offenses over the past five years, while establishing 14 school records and 44 Mountain West Conference records. In 2008, ColoradoState hit .313 as a team while pounding 68 home runs, 86 doubles and scoring 302 runs in only 51 games. Over the past five seasons, the Rams have averaged more than 55 home runs per season while averaging more than five runs per game and hitting at a .307 clip.

 

Nationally, Miller helped guide ColoradoState to the top of the NCAA statistical rankings. This season, the Rams currently rank fourth in home runs per game (1.33), sixth in doubles per game (1.69), seventh in slugging percentage (.522), ninth in scoring (5.92 runs per game) and 14th in batting average (.313).

 

Over the past three seasons, ColoradoState was the only team in Division I to rank in the top 20 nationally in home runs per game, doubles per game and slugging percentage every season. During the final five years of Miller’s tenure, CSU ranked in the top 11 nationally in home runs on four occasions, the top 12 in slugging percentage four times, the top 20 in doubles four times and the top 25 in scoring three times.

 

At Nebraska, Miller will work with a young, but talented lineup. The Huskers feature three players who have combined to earn five All-Big 12 awards, but only four of Nebraska’s 13 returning position players can boast more than one year of experience at the Division I level. On a positive note, the Huskers did not lose a single player to graduation and return their starting lineup in tact.

 

Colorado State’s Offensive Totals in Miller’s Final Five Years

Year

Average

Runs

Runs/Gm

Hits

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SLG%

BB

SO

OB%

SB-ATT

2008

.313

302

5.9

446

86

4

68

269

.522

147

267

.385

30-38

2007

.279

289

5.0

442

90

6

78

263

.491

167

359

.353

14-21

2006

.319

267

5.1

476

74

11

53

249

.491

115

258

.373

41-50

2005

.301

221

4.3

420

78

12

21

203

.419

90

225

.347

16-25

2004

.327

276

5.1

479

96

8

58

259

.521

104

211

.374

25-33

Totals

.307

1,355

5.1

2,263

424

41

278

1,243

.489

623

1,320

.369

126-167

Colorado State's Top-25 National Offensive Rankings (since 2004)
Average

• 4th in 2004
• 6th in 2006
• 14th in 2008

Doubles

• 2nd in 2004
• 6th in 2008
• 10th in 2007

Home Runs

• 4th in 2008
• 5th in 2007
• 8th in 2004

Slugging Percentage

• 4th in 2004
• 6th in 2006
• 7th in 2008

Scoring

• 9th in 2008
• 15th in 2004
• 21st in 2006

Note: NCAA Statistical rankings for the 2005 season are not available