Hall of Fame
After completing high school in Reinbeck, Iowa, Tamara Billerbeck starred for the Bulldogs from 1984-87 in softball, and also played on the basketball and volleyball teams as well. However it is her exploits on the softball field as a utility player that have etched her name into the Bulldog record book. As a pitcher, Billerbeck is second at Truman in both career earned run average at 0.85 and strikeouts with 392. She is also third in career wins (34), shutouts (22), innings pitched (373.3) and complete games (48), and fourth all-time with a winning percentage of .654 after posting a career record of 34-18. Billerbeck was more than just a pitcher, however. She also led the team in hitting with a .336 batting average her junior season. These astounding numbers helped lead the Bulldogs to conference titles in 1985 and 1986. In '86 the Bulldogs finished fourth in NCAA Division II with a 34-14 record. Billerbeck erased five school records at the conclusion of her career and still holds Truman marks for single season assists with 171 and career assists with 380, as well as the single game mark for innings pitched, hurling through 16 innings in a game against Southwest Texas State in 1985. She was a first-team all-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association selection in each of her four seasons with the team, the only Bulldog to ever accomplish that feat, and was the conference MVP her final year. Billerbeck was an all-Midwest region pick as a junior and senior, and earned third-team all-America honors following her senior campaign. She completed her final year ranked third in the nation in strikeout average with 7.6 a game, and was 14th with a 0.84 ERA. In 1988, Billerbeck served as a graduate assistant coach for the softball team. Billerbeck excelled in basketball as well. She started during her final three seasons, and as a senior earned honorable mention all-conference accolades. She played in 102 career games for the Bulldog basketball team, the eighth-most in school history, and put together a string of 73 consecutive games played during her tenure, which is the seventh-longest streak in school history. Billerbeck is tied for fifth all-time at Truman with 32 blocked shots, and is ranked 14th all-time with 726 points during her four seasons. She earned two letters in volleyball in 1986 and 1987, and was an honorable mention all-conference choice in 1987. Billerbeck earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Truman in 1988, and completed another bachelor's degree in fine arts at Iowa State University last December. She is currently employed by E-WorldTrain in Des Moines Iowa, as a multi-media digital designer .
