HEAD COACH WOMEN'S SOFTBALL
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
games, and that lost ten letterwinners in the process. She led the
team to impressive wins over Indiana University, Kent State and
eventual MAC champion Western Michigan.
In Baird’s second season (2004), the Eagles were a much improved
team. EMU’s 19 wins (13 more than 2003) marked the third-best one-
year turnaround in program history, and the team’s eight conference
wins doubled 2003’s output. The team showed the ability to win on the
road, winning nine games away from home, and proved they could
compete with national powerhouses. The Eagles played nationally
ranked Michigan three times, and pulled off an unthinkable upset
over then #2 ranked Florida State, May 10, to end the season.
Individually, Baird mentored two All-MAC selections in 2004, the first
time two Eagles had been honored at season’s end since the 1999
campaign.
In the MAC season, the Eagles won back-to-back conference series’
against eventual MAC champion Bowling Green and Ohio, the No. 5
seed in the postseason tournament. Baird’s team GPA was 3.6, the
best of any other athletic program at EMU in 2004.
A native of Indianapolis, IN, Baird grew up in Northville, Mich. and
graduated from Northville High School in 1989. She went on to
complete her bachelor’s degree at Adrian College in 1994, where she
was a first-team All-American shortstop during the 1993 season. She
was also the Most Valuable Player in the MIAA in the same campaign
and a first-team All-League selection in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Baird completed her Master’s degree in Sports Administration from
Wayne State in 2000.