Lori Sippel
Associate Head Coach - Nebraska
Bio: Associate Head Coach Lori Sippel is a truly accomplished player and coach. She has extensive experience, including on the international level, where she is among an elite group of fewer than 150 worldwide members of the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame. As a head coach, she guided Team Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, Canada's best finish ever. Back at home, Sippel has produced 22 all-region pitchers in the last 21 seasons.
Arguably the most dominant pitcher in NU history, Sippel was a two-time All-American as well as the 1988 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, when she was also a Honda Award nominee. In 2015, she was selected as softball's inductee in the inaugural Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame class. Her success as a player has translated into the coaching field, where she is widely regarded as one of the top pitching coaches in the country, and she earned high praise on the international level with Team Canada.
Sippel has had a pitcher earn regional or conference accolades nearly every season over the past 20 years. She has produced 22 NFCA All-Midwest region pitchers in the 21 years the award has existed and coached 23 pitchers to All-Big 12 or All-Big Ten accolades in the 20 seasons since the Big 12 was formed in 1996. Sippel has coached more all-region pitchers than any other coach in the Midwest region, and she produced more All-Big 12 pitchers than any other coach in the conference during Nebraska's time in the league (1996-2011). Sippel has also coached four All-Americans, including two-time selection Tatum Edwards in 2013 and 2014.
Over the past 15 seasons, the Husker pitching staff has compiled at least 350 strikeouts 11 times, while posting nine of the top 10 single-season marks in school history. NU broke the single-season record in 2001 when the staff tossed 502 strikeouts.
In addition to tutoring the Husker pitchers, Sippel works with all phases of the program, including coaching the outfielders, recruiting, film study and administration. Sippel was recognized for her contributions to the program when she was promoted to associate head coach on Aug. 5, 2002. Sippel had served as an assistant coach for the previous 13 seasons.
A two-time All-American as a player at NU, Sippel still holds one NU single-season record, eight class records and four career records. On April 9, 1986, she threw the first seven-inning perfect game in NU history with a 2-0 win over Drake. It stood as the only seven-inning perfect game in Husker history until James tossed a perfect game against Oklahoma on May 14, 2004, under Sippel's tutelage. DeBuhr, another Sippel pupil, added her own perfect game against Iowa State in 2005.
A 13-year member of the Canadian National Team, Sippel was inducted into the Canadian Softball Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1994 she helped the Canadians qualify for the 1996 Olympics with a fourth-place finish at the World Tournament, and in 1990 she was on the team that finished sixth at the World Tournament.
n the spring of 1997, Sippel and Head Coach Rhonda Revelle were both inducted into the Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame. A true testament to her accomplishments, Sippel is enshrined in the hall of fames of her alma mater, her native country and at the most elite international level.
An international guest speaker, Sippel graduated from NU in 1988 with a degree in special education. She returned to her alma mater in 1990, after serving one season as an assistant coach at Kansas.
