Softball

You could say Zoe Schafer is very familiar with the Tennessee Tech softball team. In April 2021, Schafer played first base, donning the red and black of the SIUE Cougars. She had a fitting weekend for one of the program’s top hitters historically, going .500 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored.

Now, she’s trading in her alma mater’s colors for Tech’s purple and gold as she joins Michelle DePolo’s staff.

“I am tremendously excited to join the staff at Tennessee Tech,” Schafer said. “I certainly want to thank Coach DePolo and the athletic department for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to bringing my experience as a player in the OVC to the program and being able to give back to the sport that has given me so much. I am very excited to be a part of the Cookeville community and am looking forward to building on to the great softball tradition at Tennessee Tech.”

DePolo said, “I’m very excited for Zoe to be joining our staff this summer. She has a tremendous work ethic, is detail-oriented, and is an energetic young leader who will compliment myself and Coach (Mario) Hernandez nicely.”

A native of Noblesville, Ind., Schafer started her collegiate career at SIUE in the fall of 2015. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in May 2019, then completed her master’s of science in kinesiology with a specialization in exercise and sports psychology.

Over the course of her career with the Cougars, Schafer proved to be one of the top players in the program’s Division I history, setting SIUE’s Division I home run and RBI career records, as well as second in doubles. She also became the first player in program history to go two seasons without being charged with an error.

Schafer has been highly regarded in the Ohio Valley Conference, earning three All-OVC selections in 2018, 2019 and 2021 – no team selected in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – as well as a 2017 All-Newcomer Team nod and a 2018 All-Tournament pick. She also earned National Player of the Week honors by Fast Pitch News in 2018 and was a Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in 2018.

This past season, Schafer started all 39 games for the Cougars, hitting .354, while leading the team with 45 hits, seven home runs, 29 RBI and a .354 batting average. A strong softball program historically, SIUE saw Schafer become the 10^th player all-time to reach 200 career hits, only the third since the team made the jump to Division I competition.

Schafer was a team captain and served on the team’s leadership council, also taking part in SIUE’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee chapter.

“Zoe had a tremendous college career in the OVC both on and off the field,” DePolo said. “Her experience and passion for coaching will be helpful to our student-athletes striving for the same path of accomplishments.”