UNC Greensboro softball head coach Janelle Breneman announced the addition of recent alumna Stephanie Bryden as volunteer assistant in September of 2019, completing her first season as a Spartan coach in 2020. One of the most decorated pitchers in program history, Bryden was named to the All-Southern Conference Team her last two seasons and won the conference’s freshman of the year.
The 2021 season saw the Spartans sweep the SoCon Regular Season Championship and the Tournament Championship for the second time in program history. UNCG earned its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and recorded a single-season program record of 90 home runs. As a team, they finished in the top-50 nationally in seven categories: 4th in home runs per game (1.79) and walks (216), 13th slugging percentage (0.543), 18th in scoring (6.25), 21st in on base percentage (0.394), 23rd in doubles (76), and 33rd in doubles per game (1.49). Makenna Matthijs, Kayleigh Willis, and Jasmin Palmer earned CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors, while Matthijs was also named to the NFCA Mideast All-Region second team. Morgan Scott was named SoCon Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, while Scott, Matthijs, and Willis were named to the first team, Palmer and Maycin Brown were selected to the second team, while Brown and Scott were named to the All-Freshman team.
The Spartans won 15 of their 22 matchups in 2020 before the season was brought to a sudden halt. In that short time, UNCG grabbed three wins against ACC, including Virginia, Clemson and North Carolina. Freshman Morgan Scott won SoCon Pitcher of the Month for February, and was the conference leader in K/BB (3.93), K/7 (9.2) and total strikeouts (106) for the season. The Spartans ranked 12th in all of Division I softball with a total of 99 walks, while the team's 1.27 home runs per game was 15th. The side was the highest scoring team in the Southern Conference with 5.36 runs per contest, while its .365 on base and .428 slugging percentages were both SoCon-highs. The Spartan roster totaled 28 home runs, led by Kayleigh Willis (7), Samantha Lagrama (6), Delaney Cumbie (5), Makenna Matthijs (4) and Hannah Kincer (4).
“I am pleased to add one of UNCG most successful pitchers to our coaching staff,” said Breneman. “Stephanie brings first-hand experiences and a very competitive mind set to our program and will assist in many areas. She loves the game and has a passion to teach and develop the game with a strong desire to pursue a future in coaching.”
PLAYING CAREER
Honors
2019: First Team All-SoCon (Pitcher)
2018: NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team (pitcher/utility player) and All-SoCon Second Team (pitcher)
2016: SoCon Freshman of the Year
Career
Ranks third in program history in strikeouts (553), fourth in wins (54), ninth in ERA (2.62) and 10th in innings pitched (516.1).
2019 (Senior)
Selected to the All-SoCon First Team as a pitcher … Named the SoCon Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player … Allowed just two earned runs for a tournament-low 0.51 ERA, had a WHIP of 0.732 with a tournament-high of 26 strikeouts and at the plate hit two homers with four runs and a walk in 27.1 innings pitched in three starts and five appearances … Selected the conference pitcher of the month in March and pitcher of the week on Feb. 25, March 18 and April 8 … Ranked in the nation 17th in victories (25) and strikeouts (246), 25th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.02), 45th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.9), 76th in hits allowed per seven innings (5.44) and 77th in walks allowed per seven innings (1.58) … Led the SoCon in strikeouts, wins, opposing batting average (.206), innings pitched (217.1) and appearances (40) and was second in batters struck out looking (49) and starts (29) and third in ERA (2.35) … Recorded the second-most strikeouts, fifth-most innings pitched, eighth-most shutouts (six) and ninth-most complete games (21) and appearances in a single season in school history and tied for the second-most wins … Had the eighth-best winning percentage at .684 (25-11) … Posted a 9-2 record, 1.94 ERA, 88 strikeouts to just 12 walks and a .183 opposing batting average in SoCon play … Recorded eight 10+ strikeout outings … Registered a .234 batting average with 29 hits, 22 runs and 14 RBIs … Walked 12 times for a .302 on-base percentage … Had three homers and five doubles for a .347 slugging percentage … Threw a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and just one walk against Oakland (Feb. 19) … Struck out 12 batters again in a win over NC State (April 3) with just four hits, one run and no walks allowed … Had 11 strikeouts in wins over Fairfield (March 2) and at Chattanooga (March 31), a one-hit shutout against Elon (March 16) and against Samford (March 24) … Registered a four-hit shutout with no walks and nine strikeouts against ETSU (May 4) … Went 3-4 with a home run, two doubles and three runs in the win versus Towson (March 9).
2018 (Junior)
Named to the NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team as a pitcher/utility player and All-SoCon Second Team as a pitcher … Selected the conference pitcher of the month in March and pitcher of the week on March 12 and April 2 … Started 26 of 30 games played in the circle or as the designated player … Led the SoCon in ERA (1.49), opposing batting average (.152) and was second in strikeouts (160), third in wins (16) and seventh in strikeouts looking (27) … In the nation placed ninth in hits allowed per seven innings (3.86), 17th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.2), 27th in ERA and 37th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (160-37) … Posted the best win percentage of .941 (16-1) in a single season in program history and also had the fourth-best ERA, ninth-most strikeouts … Made 12 starts in 27 appearances and 122.1 innings pitched … Limited opponents to a .152 batting average with just six home runs and one triple given up … Pitched lights out in conference play with a 4-0 record, 0.22 ERA, .128 opposing batting average and 43 strikeouts to 14 walks in 32 innings … Threw the school’s 12th no-hitter in a five-inning win versus Virginia (Feb. 24) … Tied for the third-most innings pitched (10) in school history in a win at North Carolina (April 4) and also pitched nine innings in a win versus Jacksonville State (March 2) … Struck out 15 batters, second-most in school history, in a win against Canisius (March 16) and also 12 hitters twice in wins at Elon (March 10) and Jacksonville State … Recorded 10 strikeouts in consecutive starts in wins at ETSU (April 14) and Appalachian State (April 18) … Registered a .449 slugging percentage, .367 on base percentage and .295 batting average … Collected six multiple-hit games and six multiple-RBI games … Held the longest reached base streak of 17 games and the second-longest hitting streak of nine games on the team … Had six doubles, two homers, 23 RBIs and eight walks.
2017 (Sophomore)
Missed first half of season due to injury ... appeared in nine games, all relief appearances ... posted a 3.15 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched ... recorded 18 strikeouts, compared to 12 walks ... tallied a 1-1 win/loss record ... allowed one hit over 4.2 innings in the circle against Samford (Apr. 14), fanning four on the way to her lone win of the season ... tossed 3.2 innings the next day against the Bulldogs (Apr. 15), surrendering one run on six hits ... slammed the door on Western Carolina in the Southern Conference Tournament (May 11), registering her only save of the campaign after holding the Catamounts hitless in 0.2 innings.
2016 (Freshman)
Played in 48 games with 42 starts … made 34 appearances in the circle posting a 12-14 record in 27 starts … named SoCon Freshman of the Year and earned SoCon All-Freshman Team honors … batted .336 (40-for-119) and slugged .496 on the season … drove in 24 runs and tallied 12 extra-base hits, eight doubles, one triple and three home runs … got her first career hit against Jacksonville (Feb. 11) in the season opener and drove in her first career RBI that same game with her first triple … hit her first career home run, a grand slam, against Coastal Carolina (Feb. 12) during her first multi-hit and RBI game … Earned her first career win in the circle against CCU with five innings pitched … tallied 11 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games while stringing together the longest hit streak of the season (9 games)… struck out a career-high 13 batters against Bryant (March 15) which ranks second most in a single game in UNCG history … A game later she struck out 11 batters against Northern Illinois (March 18) … finished the season with a 3.83 ERA in 150 innings of work … tallied her 100th career strikeout against Furman (April 16) … hit .365 in SoCon action and posted a 3-5 record in the circle
High School
Named to the 2014 All-Metro squad as a pitcher at East River High School in Orlando, Fla. ... led her team to two district championships (2012 and 2014) and made three regional appearances ... as a junior hit .371 on 23 hits, 18 RBI, three doubles and a home run ... in the circle, she posted a 1.38 ERA with a 12-3 record in 19 appearances, including 168 strikeouts in 116 innings ... played club softball for the Florida Storm who was ranked No. 9 in the nation (No. 1 in Florida) at the ASA under-16 nationals in 2013 ... has played in numerous prestigious tournaments being involved with the Florida Storm and the Jacksonville Storm.
Personal
Stephanie Jo Bryden ... born April 29 in Orlando, Fla. ... daughter of Kevin and Jennifer Bryden ... has two siblings, Nicole and Blake ... majors in Kinesiology.
