NWOSU SOFTBALL

Softball

Joe DiPietro Named to Lead Ranger Softball Program

ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State University director of athletics Brad Franz has announced Joe DiPietro will take over as the new head coach for the Ranger Softball program. DiPietro is the eighth coach in program history.
 
"We are very pleased with the selection of Joe DiPietro as our head softball coach. He is a seasoned veteran head coach at all levels. His experience and ideas to move Northwestern forward, and his ability to provide excellent leadership for this team, stood out in the search. He is a proven recruiter and strategist of the game. He understands today's landscape of college athletics at the NCAA level. Most importantly, Joe's values align with Northwestern's for the program and the student-athletes," said Athletic Director Brad Franz.
 
DiPietro brings 23 years of coaching experience to Northwestern with a background in professional, Division I, and Division II softball. The Rangers bring DiPietro from Central Washington University. He was with Central Washington for three seasons, hired in 2021. He led Central Washington to a conference tournament appearance and was the Academic Softball Team GPA leader in the conference.
 
Before his time at Central Washington, he was the assistant coach at Radford University as the outfield coach and was the recruiting coordinator. In 2017, DiPietro was hired by NCAA Division I Incarnate Word as the head coach. His team earned the 2020 community service award at Incarnate Word with over 800 hours of service through the season. While there, he helped lead the program to its best finish in Division I history.
 
"I'd like to thank Dr. Hannaford, Director of Athletics Brad Franz, Associate Athletic Director Nathan Weatherly, and the search committee for believing in my vision for the Ranger Softball program.  It's refreshing to be somewhere where I was wanted, and that was made clear to me early on in this process. Having a beautiful facility and the resources to win now was very important to me.  I'm looking forward to meeting the team and getting started!" said head softball coach Joe DiPietro.
 
Prior to Incarnate Word, he was at Hampton University, having 42 wins in his two seasons at the Division I program. Before Hampton, he spent time with NCAA Division I programs at Drexel University, Temple University, and La Salle University.
 
At Temple, DiPietro was the head coach, where he accumulated 130 wins in his tenure. With the Owls, he led a team that hit 94 home runs, leading all of Division I that season. He coached the Atlantic-10 Softball Player of the Year. In 2013, he broke Temple's school record for most wins in a season with a 32-win season. While at Temple, he recruited and developed an NFCA Softball All-American catcher at Temple.
 
With LaSalle University, he led the program to the most wins the University had in the previous 15 years with his 22-win season.
 
Outside of the universities, DiPietro has had a lot of success and experience in the game of softball. In 2014, he was inducted into two Hall of Fames, first the Camden Catholic High School Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the New Jersey Softball Hall of Fame in 2014.
 
DiPietro was the Head Coach of the USA Softball select team that traveled to Sydney, Australia in 2010, and the team that competed in Italy in 2018 & 2021. He was also the head coach of the Philadelphia Force, a professional softball team.
 
He has coached seven All-Region Softball selections, 35 all-conference selections, Atlantic-10 softball Player of the Year, a 100% graduation rate, and 25 Division II academic All-Americans.
 
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