Bailey Wittenauer's second season as the assistant coach for Truman State University softball in 2017 was another successful one. Wittenauer helped head coach, Erin Brown, lead the Bulldogs to the sixth 40-win season in program history and the 16th NCAA Division II Tournament in school history. Along the way, five Bulldogs were named All-GLVC, five were featured on All-Region lists and two (Christa Reisinger and Lex Van Nostrand) were named All-Americans. One of those All-Region performers, Lauren Dale, turned into the unquestionable ace for Truman and was brilliant as a sophomore in 2017. Dale was tied for third in the GLVC in wins with 22 and her 203.1 innings pitched were good for fifth.
Previously an honorable-mention all-American at the University of Indianapolis and a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference recipient at NCAA-I program Indiana State, Wittenauer joined the Bulldog softball staff after spending a season in a similar role at fellow GLVC program Drury. While with the Panthers, she was placed in charge of the pitching and catching instruction, where she helped lower the team ERA by nearly two full runs in one season and increased the total number of strikeouts by DU pitching. After graduating with her undergraduate degree at Indiana State, she finished her collegiate career with one season at UIndy before serving as a graduate assistant with the Greyhounds for one season.
