The 2019 season will mark Bobby Reeves’ ninth season as the Wildcats head softball coach.

The 2018 campaign featured a 23-26 overall record and a 15-12 mark in the Southland Conference, earning its first-ever appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament in its first season of eligibility. ACU fell at the hands of Northwestern State, 4-3, in the opening round to end its season.

Senior pitcher Hannah Null earned first team all-league honors in the circle, while senior Peyton Hedrick was named second team at shortstop and Alyson Bishoff and Donelle Johnson scored third team accolades at designated player and outfielder, respectively. First baseman Briana Barnhill was named Second Team Google Cloud Academic All-America by the members of CoSida. Barnhill along with classmates Null and Hedrick were named to the Southland Conference All-Academic First Team, joining Nicholls as the only two schools with three on the first team.

Two seasons ago (2017), the Wildcats finished second in the Southland Conference with a record of 33-22 overall and 20-7 SLC. ACU competed in the National Invitational Softball Championship at the end of the regular season where they beat UT Arlington in the first round 5-4 in extra innings. The Wildcats later fell to Lamar (1-6) and Louisiana at Monroe (0-7).

Seven Wildcats earned all-conference postseasons honors at the end of 2017. Senior outfielder Taylor Brown, junior shortstop Peyton Hedrick and junior second baseman Holly Neese were named all-conference first team. Senior third baseman Casey-May Huff and junior first baseman Brianna Barnhill were named second and third team, respectively. Senior catcher Kaleigh Singleton and junior left fielder Braegan Hamilton each garnered honorable mention honors.

Reeves’ ACU teams recorded three consecutive winning seasons from 2011-13 under his expertise, and in 2016 – the Wildcats surprised many in the Southland Conference by finishing third of 12 schools with a 19-8 record.

Four of Reeves’ players received league postseason honors at the end of 2016. Junior center fielder Taylor Brown and sophomore shortstop Peyton Hedrick were second team selections. Hannah Null rebounded from missing all of 2015 with an injury to make the conference’s third team and utility player Holly Neese was a honorable mention.

Brown, Hedrick and Null additionally were named Southland All-Academic, and with a team 3.12 grade-point average for the 2015-16 academic year, 12 of Reeves’ 16 student-athletes were tabbed to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Before flipping their fortunes against the Southland, the 2016 Wildcats endured a tough non-conference slate that included games against seven DI championship teams: Baylor, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas State, Tulsa and Weber State. ACU nearly upset Texas, losing 3-2 on a game that was televised by the Longhorn Network, but the following day they bounced back with a 2-1 win over Tulsa.

Null pitched a complete game against the Hurricane and was backed by run-scoring hits from Hedrick and Neese. Null went on to finish the year with 15 victories and was honored by the school’s athletic trainers as their ‘Comeback Student-Athlete of the Year.’
Null tossed her second career no-hitter on March 5 vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff, and as the season started to wind down in late April, she pitched an absolute gem of a ball game at Texas Tech as the Wildcats held on to beat the Red Raiders, 3-1.

Null finished the year with a magnificent series vs. Houston Baptist, scoring two wins and a save through three appearances to earn her Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.

The Wildcats finished in the middle tier of the Southland rankings in hitting (.269) and pitching (3.69 ERA) but continually found ways to win games. For the second straight year, they were the first school to hand McNeese its first conference loss and prior to that the Wildcats swept Southeastern Louisiana on the road and took two of three games from the fourth-place Lamar Cardinals.

ACU then pushed Central Arkansas twice into extra innings and after losing their series at McNeese, the Wildcats won their final five conference series vs. Incarnate Word, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist.
Individually, Brown led the league for the second-straight year with seven triples and tied the Southland’s record for most hits in a single game with six during the team’s 10-inning win at SFA. Her final base hit proved to be the game-winner.

Hedrick, meanwhile, finished among the league’s top-10 leaders in four categories: slugging percentage (.652), home runs (12), runs scored (41), and triples (2).

Prior to his arrival at ACU Reeves spent two seasons as the assistant coach at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., helping the Bison to a combined record of 57-49 over those two seasons. In 2009, Harding finished 32-25 and reached the Gulf South Conference Tournament.

After serving as an assistant coach at Texas Tech from 1997-99 when the Lady Raiders went a combined 115-79-1, Reeves went to Texas State in 2000 where he led the Lady Bobcats to a 35-24 record in his only season there. The 35-24 record was the best record in the 16-year history of the program.

Reeves was then hired as the head softball coach at Texas Tech where he served from 2001-04. He finished his four seasons there with a 94-111 mark, including a 37-24 mark in 2001 that included a trip to the Big 12 Tournament championship game and the NCAA regional tournament.

During his four seasons as the head coach, Reeves coached one all-America player, six all-region performers and eight All-Big 12 Conference selections. He also coached eight Academic All-Big 12 players and each of his teams carried a combined GPA of at least 3.0.

Prior to his first stint at Texas Tech, Reeves served as an assistant baseball coach at Lubbock Christian University for two seasons, helping lead the Chaparrals to one Sooner Conference championship with a 52-16 record. 

After leaving Texas Tech he went into private business until becoming the head softball coach at Shallowater High School in 2007. He then went to Harding for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Reeves played football for West Texas State University, now West Texas A&M University, in Canyon, Texas, before graduating from LCU with a degree in Kinesiology. Reeves and his wife, Robin, have been married for over 30 years and have two sons, Tanyon and Tagen, and three grandchildren.