Entering her 18th season as the head coach of the McKendree University softball program, there isn’t much that Evelyn Bean has left to do. Already the program’s all-time leader in wins with a record of 503-373-1, she has established the Bearcats as an annual threat to win conference championships.
In 14 seasons as members of the NAIA, Bean guided the Bearcats to the NAIA Softball National Championship three times, including a fifth-place finish at the 1999 event. She also led McKendree to three American Midwest Conference regular season championships and two AMC tournament titles.
During Bean’s tenure, the Bearcats had three All-America players, three conference Player of the Year honorees, two players named conference Newcomer of the Year, one conference Pitcher of the Year, two conference Freshman of the Year honorees, one NAIA Region V Player of the Year, 59 All-Conference players and 23 NAIA All-Region V players.
Bean has put together a program that is not only successful on the field but in the classroom as well. The Bearcats have had 50 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 30 NAIA Region V Academic All-Region players and 264 Academic All-Conference performers. In 2011, the McKendree softball team had the third-highest GPA in the NAIA, and earned the top ranking in 2010. In 2008 and 2009, the team had the second- and fourth-highest GPA’s in NAIA softball, respectively.
Bean’s success in leading her program on and off the field has not gone unnoticed as she was named the conference Coach of the Year three times, with the most recent honor coming in 2007. She was also named the NAIA Region V Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001.
A 1985 graduate of Greenville College, Bean earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education. While at Greenville, Bean played both softball and volleyball.
Bean came to McKendree after spending 10 years as the head coach of both the softball and volleyball programs at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Ill., where she compiled an overall record of 215-202 as softball coach.
In 2007, Bean earned her master’s degree in Education from McKendree and she’s also a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines.
A firm believer in the term student-athlete, members of the McKendree softball program are students first and athletes second, a combination that has led to the success of Bean’s program.
