As the second-longest head coach in University of North Florida softball’s 22-year history, Marcie (Hickey) Higgs enters her 14th year at the helm of the Ospreys. She is the all-time wins leader in UNF’s Division I history with 337 victories.

Under Higgs’ tutelage, the Ospreys completed their final year in the Division I reclassification process and had at least one player earn postseason honors in each of the last eight years.

NOTEABLE DATES

Feb. 6, 2009: First win as UNF Coach vs. Minnesota (6-5)
Mar. 23, 2009: Took one game from Florida State (5-3)
Mar. 20, 2010: Beat Ohio State (1-0)
Mar. 19, 2011: Beat Rutgers (9-3)
Feb. 11, 2012: Beat Ohio State (10-5)
Mar. 3, 2013: Won Osprey Invitational
May 4, 2013: Clinched regular season Atlantic Sun title
Feb. 8, 2015: Swept Troy Invitational
May 6, 2015: Beat Jacksonville in 5 innings in game one of the Atlantic Sun Tournament (12-1)
Feb. 28, 2016: Beat Penn State (2-1)
Feb. 17, 2017: Beat Kansas (8-6)
Mar. 18, 2017: Beat Rutgers (6-5)
May 10, 2017: Took down Jacksonville in game one of the ASUN Tournament (6-5)
Feb. 24, 2018: Defeated No. 15 Louisiana, 1-0, on its home field
May 4, 2019: Won her 300th game at UNF at Stetson
May 11, 2019: Secured a spot in the ASUN Championship game for the first time in program history
Mar. 17, 2021: Defeated No. 22 UCF 9-7

Higgs' leadership was also evident in the 15-inning marathon vs. Florida A&M (April 18, 2017) for the 9-8 victory. It was the most innings played under Higgs' in UNF’s Division I era and the longest game inning-wise since a 14-inning game with Mercer on Apr. 2, 2006.

ATHLETE HONORS

8 ASUN All-Academic Team honorees
14 ASUN All-Freshman Team honorees
18 All-Conference selections
2011 ASUN Freshman of the Year
2017 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year
2013 ASUN Pitcher of the Year
2013 Capital One Academic All-District 4 honoree
2018 & 2021 ASUN Scholar Athlete of the Year
3 NFCA All-Region Honorees
2013 ASUN Coach of the Year

NORTH FLORIDA HIGHLIGHTS

Under Higgs, the Ospreys have not posted a season with less than 20 wins.
Junior Navia Penrod highlighted the 2018 season with her second straight selection to the ASUN All-Conference first team and earning ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Classmate Dominica Cocuzza joined her on the first team as well.
The 2017 season was a record breaking year for the Ospreys offense setting team school records in batting average (.295), doubles (82), sacrifice flies (22) and stolen bases (84).
Senior Shelby Duncan was an All-Conference first team honoree as well as an Academic All-ASUN selection to highlight the 2016 season. Penrod and Cocuzza garnered spots on the All-Freshman team, while Penrod earned a nod to the all-league second team.
In 2015, the Ospreys started off their season 7-0, the best in Division I program history. The Ospreys finished 31-28 and placed fourth in the final A-Sun Regular Season Standings.
Higgs coached a record number of All-Conference selections, including Stacy McClelland and Kelly Wilson (First Team), Kaylie Wallace (Second Team, All-Academic), Duncan (Second Team) and Alex Arciola (All-Freshman). McClelland was also named an All-Region selection by the NFCA.
UNF smacked 22 home runs for its second-straight season of 20+ homers in 2014. Ashia Kerr and Kaylie Wallace were recognized with Atlantic Sun honors. Kerr was selected to the All-Freshman Team after a remarkable rookie campaign that saw her lead the Ospreys in doubles and walks. Wallace received Atlantic Sun Softball Academic All-Conference recognition for her efforts on both the field and in the classroom.
After being picked seventh in the 2013 Atlantic Sun Preseason Poll, Higgs guided the Ospreys to their first 40-win season in Division I history (42), their most Atlantic Sun wins in a single season (18), an Atlantic Sun Regular Season title and a No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
During the season, UNF established a new Division I winning streak, won seven of the eight Atlantic Sun series played (the series with Florida Gulf Coast was rained out) and posted winning records in each of its four early-season tournaments.
The 11-game winning streak had another streak develop – a seven-game shutout streak.
Cortney Radke pitched her second no-hitter in the Osprey’s 8-0 five-inning win over Towson.
In 2013, Higgs was selected as the Atlantic Sun’s Coach of the Year and sophomore pitcher Kaylie Wallace earned Pitcher of the Year, while Danica Mandarano and Kelly Wilson each earned Second-Team All-Conference. Wallace and Wilson were also named to the All-Atlantic Sun Tournament Team.
Wallace, who had a stellar sophomore campaign with a 1.63 ERA, was also named NFCA Second-Team All-Region, Capital One Academic All-District 4 and UNF’s co-Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
When the 2013 season was complete and the final stats from across the nation were in, UNF finished in the Top 100 in the NCAA statistics for ERA (19th, 1.97 – also led the Atlantic Sun), Win-Loss Percentage (20th, .737), Fielding Percentage (70th, .965) and Doubles Per Game (84th, 1.25). Meanwhile multiple players were listed among the NCAA’s Top 100 leaders.
In 2012, UNF collected 27 victories and had a nine-game winning streak midway through the season, which at the time, was UNF’s longest Division I winning-streak. It was also the longest spurt of wins since a 14-game streak in 2005
Wallace was selected to the 2012 Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team after a stellar rookie season that included a 1.82 ERA, pitching 33.1-consecutive scoreless innings and earning A-Sun Pitcher of the Week twice.
Higgs headed up a 2011 team that included 11 new players - seven freshmen and four transfers. Radke, who pitched most of the season, was tabbed the 2011 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year and an All-Freshman honoree, while transfer Kaley Brosky was a Second Team All-Atlantic Sun selection and Lauren Pollack was named All-Freshman.
In 2010, Higgs led North Florida to a record of 23-31 overall in her second campaign as head coach. The Ospreys finished just one win shy of making the A-Sun Tournament in its first year of Division I postseason eligibility.
In addition, she mentored first baseman Caroline Torre to a Second-Team All-A-Sun Conference honor as a junior.
During her first season at UNF, Higgs led the 2009 Ospreys to its fourth top-six finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference in as many years. Higgs notched her first All-Conference performer in catcher Ashley Battaglia, who was a unanimous First-Team selection.

PRIOR TO UNF

Prior to UNF, Higgs was the head coach at the University of Vermont the previous two seasons, leading the Catamounts to a record number of victories in America East Conference play in 2008, as well as non-conference wins against Big East foes Providence and Villanova.

No stranger to success, Higgs turned around a Coppin State University program in just five years. In her first two years at Coppin State, Higgs became the program’s all-time wins leader. In 2002, she became the first Coppin State head coach to earn Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors after leading her squad to an 11-9 record in league play, and a third-place finish in the conference’s northern division.

She went on to lead Coppin State to a school-record 12 conference wins in 2003 and a second-place finish in the northern division, the highest in school history. A year later, the Eagles duplicated that 12-win mark in league play and also set a new standard for wins in a season with 18. Higgs left Coppin with the fourth-highest single-season win total in school history and is still the only Coppin coach to post double-digit wins in the conference.

Before taking over the head job at Coppin, Higgs served as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island for two years, helping lead the Rams to an appearance in the 2001 Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game.

PERSONAL

A native of Washingtonville, Pa., Higgs played collegiate softball for Division II power Bloomsburg University. She earned All-America honors in 1997 and was a four-time all-conference selection as an infielder. Higgs played three infield positions – shortstop, third base and first base. She is sixth on the school’s all-time home runs list with 26 in her career. She is also 10th on the all-time hits list, while ranking fourth in runs scored and sixth in doubles.

Higgs graduated from Bloomsburg in 1999 with a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice. She received her master of science in criminal justice from UNF in 2013.

Year	Overall	ASUN
UNF OVERALL	337-319
2021	21-23	9-9 (2nd-S)
2020*	12-6	NA
2019	30-24	8-12 (6th)
2018	24-30	4-14 (7th)
2017	31-27	9-9 (3rd)
2016	20-29	6-12 (7th)
2015	31-28	12-9 (4th)
2014	26-23	10-16 (7th)
2013	42-15	18-6 (1st)
2012	27-28	7-11 (7th)
2011	24-21	8-12 (8th)
2010	23-31	9-11 (8th)
2009	27-24	11-9 (6th)
CAREER OVERALL	430-524

*CoVID shortened season

Name	Title	Email Address	Phone	Twitter
Marcie Higgs	Head Softball Coach	marcie.higgs@unf.edu	(904) 620-2947	@marcie2525
Ashley Iveson	Assistant Coach	a.iveson@unf.edu	(904) 620-2954

2015 Softball Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff

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