Head Coach Heather Tarter

McKendree University Director of Athletics Anthony Francis has announced the hiring of Heather Tarter as the school's new head softball coach on June 28, 2021.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Coach Heather Tarter as the newest member of our Bearcat family. She is a well-respected coach at all levels that will certainly build upon the success we've had here at McKendree University," said Francis. "Amongst many things Coach Tarter offers, our student-athletes will absolutely love her approach to developing leaders both on and off the field. I'm excited to see this team get to work with Coach Tarter at the helm."

Tarter comes to McKendree after spending the past four years as an assistant softball coach at the University of Evansville an NCAA Division I school that is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and is located in Evansville, Ind.

In her four seasons with the Purple Aces, Evansville went 69-97 overall, including a 35-33 record the past two seasons as the program posted back-to-back winning seasons in 2020 and 2021. The 2021 team finished with a 23-22 record and the 23 wins were the most for the team since 2016 when Evansville finished 24-26.

"I would like to thank Director of Athletics Anthony Francis for entrusting me to take over the McKendree University softball program. I am excited to build off the recent success and continue on the journey to take this program to the next level," Tarter said. "I'm looking forward to meeting the players, staff and university community and I am thrilled to be Bearcat."

Prior to serving as an assistant coach at Evansville, Tarter was the interim head coach during the 2017 season at IUPUI, an NCAA Division I school that is now a member of the Horizon League and is located in Indianapolis, Ind. In that one season as the interim head coach, Tarter led the Jaguars to a 23-31 overall record and a 11-6 mark in the Summit League, which earned her Summit League Coach of the Year honors. Tarter the first-ever softball coach in school history to earn Coach of the Year accolades.

In 2017, IUPUI was the top seed in the Summit League Tournament and advanced to the championship game for the second year in a row. Additionally, the Jaguars received its first-ever postseason bid as they played in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).

Before going to IUPUI, Tarter was the head coach at Purdue University Calumet for three seasons. She led the Peregrines to a 28-8 mark in the program's inaugural season. The 2104 PUC team was ranked in the Top 25 in the NAIA Division II in five statistical categories and earned a 2-1 win over NCAA Division I Purdue University in the fall season.

Tarter's first stop in her collegiate coaching career was at Parkland College in Champaign, Ill., as she served as an assistant softball coach with the NJCAA program from 2009-2013. In her time with the Cobras, the team nearly 71 percent of its games as they posted a 168-70 overall record and earned three consecutive NJCAA Region 24 titles and made two appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament, including a third place finish in 2012. She coached 23 All-Conference players, five NJCAA All-Americans and 10 Academic All-Americans.

Tarter played collegiately at Kankakee Community College in Kankakee, Ill., before transferring to the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for her junior and senior seasons. Tarter was a standout catcher for the Lady Cavaliers as she was an All-Region selection and helped KCC to a pair of Region IV titles, in addition to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

She earned her Associates degree from Kankakee in 2006 and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from the University of Northern Iowa in 2008.