Bailey Dillender just finished her eighth season as head coach of the UC Softball Program after being hired in June of 2017. She is the third head coach in program history and is coming off three-straight NAIA World Series appearances. In 2023, Coach Dillender was named the Mid-South Conference "Coaching for Signifiance" Award winner.
Coach Dillender led the Patriots to their third straight NAIA World Series in 2025 with an overall record of 40-9, and led UC to a perfect 18-0 in MSC play to claim their third consecutive regular season title. Coach Dillender and the Patriots went undefeated at the MSC Tournament to claim their second tournament championship in three years, and wen ton to go 3-0 in the NAIA Opening Round to advance to the NAIA World Series as the number one overall seed. Coached the MSC Player and Pitcher of the year in Carly Oliver and Lindsey Shope and won MSC Coach of the Year for the fourth time. Had nine MSC All-Conference honorees, three MSC Gold Gloves, and four NAIA All-Americans in Oliver, Shope, Amber Gainer and Maliyah Wilkins.
In 2024, Dillender led the Patriots to a 49-9 overall record and 23-1 in MSC play for their second straight MSC Regular Season Title. UC hosted and won the NAIA Opening Round to make their second-straight NAIA World Series Appearance. The Patriots went 2-2 at the World Series, defeating Georgia Gwinnett and Oklahoma City University. Coach Dillender and the Patriots swept the MSC Top-Honors with Jade Gainer and Talli Burgess winning Player and Pitcher of the Year, Coach Alyssa Richards being named Assistant Coach of the Year, and Coach Dillender earning her second-straight MSC Coach of the Year award. The Patriots coaching staff also earned NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
Coach Dillender has guided the Patriots to a record setting season in 2023. UC posted a program record 49 wins, which marked Dillender second 40+ win season after compiling a 49-5-1 record, including a 21-0 record in the Mid-South Conference. The Patriots became the first MSC school to record an undefeated conference regular season and captured the MSC regular season before also winning the Mid-South Conference tournament title. UC went on to host the NAIA Opening Round for the first time in program history, where they notched a 3-0 record to advance to the NAIA World Series. Cumberlands closed out the year ranked third in the NAIA. The Patriots had three NAIA All-Americans (Makenzie Keatts, Talli Burgess, Bailey Turnbow) and four NFCA All-Americans. Keatts was named the MSC Player of the Year, while Burgess earned MSC Pitcher of the Year honors. The Patriots had 12 MSC All-Conference selections and six MSC Gold Glove honors. Coach Dillender was named the MSC Coach of the Year, while Assistant Coach Alyssa Richards was named the MSC Assistant Coach of the Year. The Patriots coaching staff also earned NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. Jade and Talli, along with Amber Atkins and Amber Gainer were named NAIA All-Americans
For the 2022 season, the Patriots recorded their third straight 30+ wins season after compiling an overall record of 35-16 and 21-7 to finish third in the Mid-South Conference. The team saw two program records broken the season ERA with 2.01 and stolen bases at 108. UC earned eight on the Mid-South All-Conference list with three First Team (Emily Bryant, Maddie Sickua and Hailey Wood), three Second Team (Talli Burgess, Emily Jasper, Kaiti White) and two Honorable Mention (Katie Cheeseman and Morgan Radford). Both Cheeseman and Wood were also honored with MSC Gold Gloves for their play in the field. The Patriots also set a record in the classroom with 23 MSC All-Conference the most in the program’s history.
In the team's 2021 campaign, they earned the program's first 40 win season compiling an overall record of 41-16 with a conference record of 21-9 to finish fourth in the MSC. Dillender helped lead the team to multiple program records including wins (41) and doubles (92) as well as individual season records in the top-five including Talli Burgess with five saves (1st), Maddie Sickau with 51 RBIs (t-1st), and Hailey Wood with 41 stolen bases (third). The Patriots earned plenty of accolades for their historic season including the program's first ever NAIA All-American and NFCA All-American in Sickau who earned second team for both. Sickau also earned NFCA Region VI First Team honors, just the second to make First Team in the program history and Hailey Wood earned Second Team All Region honors. The team had the most on the MSC All-Conference teams in program history with eight, the previous record was six in 2007. Five First Team All-Conference recipients (Burgess, Emily Jasper, Meryn Livingston, Sickau, Wood), a trio of Second Team All-Conference recipients (Emily Bryant, Katie Cheeseman, Kaiti White) and a MSC Gold Glove recipient (Livingston). Also setting records in the classroom with 19 earning MSC Academic All-Conference, the most in UC softball history.
Dillender guided the Patriots 32-21 record, including a 17-11 record in the Mid-South Conference, to enter the 2019 Mid-South Conference Tournament as the third-seed. The Patriots notched several milestones including the 32 wins being the most since 2001, their most conference wins (17) since 2002, and their first winning season since 2008. Cumberlands garnered numerous accolades, including Dillender being named the MSC Coach of the Year, the MSC Freshman of the Year (Maddie Sickau), three First Team All-Conference recipients (Sickau, Hannah Stephenson, Jessica Webb), a pair of Second Team All-Conference recipients (Emily Jasper, Sidney Pennycuff), and a MSC Gold Glove recipient (Maddie Sickau). The Patriots also shined in the classroom as Hannah Stephson was named a CoSIDA Academic All-America, while UC had five Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes and nine MSC Academic All-Conference honorees.
In her first season as head coach, Dillender led the Patriots to a 17-34 (9-19 Mid-South Conference) record and an appearance in the 2018 Mid-South Conference Tournament. She earned her first MSC Tournament win as the seventh-seeded Patriots knocked off sixth-seeded Pikeville 6-2 on 5/4/18 in Bowling Green, KY. Dillender coached a First Team All-Conference honoree and Gold Glove recipient (Elisa Mauldin), two Mid-South Conference Pitcher of the Week recipients (Sidney Pennycuff, Sydney Maynard), one Mid-South Conference Player of the Week (Tara Comer) and 11 Academic All-Conference honorees.
Prior to joining the Patriots, Dillender spent three years as an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech. She performed a variety of tasks at Tennessee Tech, including conducting individual workouts, recruiting players and field work. Dillender specialized on defense, primarily working with the infielders and catchers. While at TTU, she helped the Golden Eagles to the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championships and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Dillender began her coaching career as an assistant coach at her alma mater Campbellsville. In her two seasons with the Tigers, she helped guide them to an 87-38 record and a share of the Mid-South Conference regular season title in 2013. Her duties included: conducting individual workouts, assisting with hitting and infield, scouting and game management, recruiting and field work.
Prior to starting her coaching career, Dillender was a standout player for four years at Campbellsville. She played in 230 games for the Tigers, finishing her career with a .383 batting average, 269 career hits, 215 RBI's, 55 doubles, and 48 home runs. She garnered MSC Player of the Year honors in both 2010 and 2011, while being a four-time First Team All-Conference selection. Dillender made Mid-South Conference history as she was the first MSC player to earn NAIA Player of the Week accolades. She also garnered NFCA Second Team All-American honors and was a two time NCCAA All-American. Dillender was also a two-time Mid-South Conference Academic All-Conference selection.
| Year |
Record |
MSC Record |
Honors |
| 2024 |
40-9 |
18-0 |
MSC Regular Season Champion, MSC Tournament Champion, NAIA National Qualifier, NAIA World Series Appearance, MSC Coach of the Year, NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, 4 NAIA All-Americans, 2 NFCA All-Americans, MSC Player of the Year, MSC Pitcher of the Year, 8 MSC First Team, 1 MSC Second Team, 3 MSC Gold Gloves, 13 Academic All-Conference |
| 2023 |
49-5-1 |
21-0 (1st) |
MSC Regular Season Champion, MSC Tournament Champion, NAIA National Qualifier, NAIA World Series Appearance, MSC Coach of the Year, NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, 3 NAIA All-Americans, 4 NFCA All-Americans, MSC Player of the Year, MSC Pitcher of the Year, 6 MSC First Team, 4 MSC Second Team, 2 MSC Honorable Mention, 6 MSC Gold Gloves, 12 Academic All-Conference |
| 2022 |
35-16 |
21-7
(3rd) |
3 MSC First Team, 3 MSC Second Team, Two MSC Honorable Mention, 2 MSC Gold Gloves, 23 Academic All-Conference |
| 2021 |
41-16 |
21-9
(4th) |
1 Second Team NAIA All-American, 1 Second Team NFCA All-American, 1 NFCA Region VI First Team, 1 NFCA Region VI Second Team, 5 MSC First Team All-Conference, 3 MSC Second Team All-Conference, 1 MSC Gold Glove, 19 Academic All-Conference. |
| 2020 |
8-12 |
0-0 |
|
| 2019 |
32-21 |
17-11 (3rd) |
Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year, 3 MSC First Team All-Conference, 2 MSC Second Team All-Conference, 5 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete, 9 Academic All-Conference, 1 MSC Gold Glove, 1 CoSIDA Academic All-America. |
| 2018 |
17-34 |
9-19 (7th) |
1 MSC First Team All-Conference, 8 Academic All-Conference, 1 MSC Gold Glove |
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