West Texas A&M University Athletics

Having been hired to re-start West Texas A&M softball following a 24-year absence, Kevin Blaskowski has wasted little time in building the Lady Buffs into a perennial national title contender. In 11 years at the helm, he has registered a 424-235 mark, recorded six NCAA tournament berths and an overall record of 776-512 over 24 seasons.

While at WT, Blaskowski has claimed four Lone Star Conference title, three LSC Tournament Title, three South Central Regional Championships, two South Central Super Regional Titles and made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division II College World Series, claiming the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship.

The Lady Buffs continued to prove themselves as one of the top programs in all of Division II Softball during the 2017 campaign as they claimed the program’s fourth Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship and hosted the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for the fifth straight season. The Lady Buffs hit .371 as a team with 120 doubles, 10 triples and 98 homeruns to drive in 401 RBI for an incredible slugging percentage of .667. Blaskowski reached another career milestone during the 2017 season as the North Dakota native claimed his 800th career victory on March 25th in a 3-1 win over Midwestern State at Schaeffer Park. Blaskowski became the 26th head coach in Division II history to reach the 800-victory plateau while being just the 12th active DII coach to reach the milestone.

2016 was arguably one of the best seasons in Lone Star Conference history as the Lady Buffs finished the season ranked fifth in the final NFCA DII Top-25 Poll with an overall record of 59-5 while rolling thru the LSC with an incredible mark of 30-2 to claim their third straight conference title. The Lady Buffs started out the season on a roll as they went unbeaten in their first 30 contests to set a new LSC and South Central Region record for consecutive wins. WT claimed their third straight LSC Title with over two weeks left in the regular season followed by a run to the LSC Tournament Championship, WT then hosted the South Central Regionals as they came thru the loser's bracket with a pair of Sunday wins over Colorado Mesa including a walkoff homerun in the finale. The Lady Buffs then hosted St. Mary's in the Super Regionals and a Schaeffer Park record crowd sparked a sweep of the Rattlers as WT made their second trip to the DII College World Series. 

The Lady Buffs continued their dominance in 2015 as Blaskowski led the program to their second straight and third overall Lone Star Conference Championship as they finished the season 45-11 with a 22-6 mark in LSC play. WT made national news during the 2015 season, remaining the top team in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top-25 Poll for a record 56-straight weeks (2/26/14 - 3/25/15). WT led the nation in four offensive statustical categories during the 2015 season while also hitting 102 homeruns to become the first team in Division II history to reach the century mark in back-to-back years after hitting 105 bombs in 2014. Senior outfielder Renee Erwin concluded her incredible collegiate career in style as the Anna, Texas native became the first player in history to be named a back-to-back winner of the Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year award.

2014 saw the Lady Buffs capture the program’s first ever NCAA Division II National Championship as WT topped perennial power Valdosta State in a Memorial Day thriller at the Moyers Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia. The Lady Buffs finished their dream season with an overall record of 60-7, becoming just the fourth team in NCAA history to win a title while also reaching the 60-win mark (Cal State Northridge-1985; Augustana-1991; North Dakota State-2000). Blaskowski and his staff were rewarded for their efforts on the diamond, being named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II National Coaching Staff of the Year while Coach B also picked up Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year accolades.

Coach B reached another career milestone in 2013 as he claimed his 600th career victory against St. Edward’s in Austin, Texas on April 14th. The 2012 season saw the Lady Buffs make another appearance in the LSC Tournament before falling to rival Angelo State in the semifinal round, WT just missed out on the NCAA Postseason, finishing the season with an overall record of 35-18. Blaskowski reached a personal milestone on February 19, 2012 as he coached his 1,000th career game in a win over New Mexico Highlands in Canyon.

The 2011 season saw the Lady Buffs make a historic run to their first ever South Central Regional Championship as they finished the season with an overall record of 50-18. WT claimed the program’s first ever Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in 2011. Blaskowski also reached a personal milestone in 2011, claiming his 500th career victory on March 5 in a 15-2 win over Eastern New Mexico at Lady Buff Yard in Canyon, the win was also special for WT’s centerfielder Kim LeComte who hit for the first cycle in program history. The Lady Buffs finished the 2010 season with a 45-18 overall record and advanced to the NCAA South Central Region Finals. Blaskowski was honored as the Lone Star Conference South Division Coach of the Year.

Blaskowski was hired in December of 2004 to bring back the softball program to WTAMU’s campus after a 24 year absence. Blaskowski came to WT from Lone Star Conference rival Eastern New Mexico University where he served as the head coach for one year.  Prior to ENMU, Blaskowski coached at Southern Arkansas University for five years, where he started the SAU softball program and led them to the postseason in each of his five years. In 2003, SAU was the Co-Champion of the West Division in the Gulf South Conference with a 31-19 overall record and a 19-4 conference mark.

While at Southern Arkansas, Blaskowski’s teams also excelled in the classroom as they finished in the top ten in the NFCA Team GPA Rankings his last four years. SAU was ranked in the Top 10 of the team grade point average rankings in 1999-00 (5th), 2000-01 (7th), 2001-02 (8th), and 2002-03 (7th). While at SAU, Blaskowski served as a member of the NCAA Division II South Region rating committee in addition to being named Gulf South Conference Co-Coach of the Year in 2000.

Blaskowski also has served as the head coach at Phillips University from 1996-1998. He started the program at Phillips which qualified for postseason play in each of its two seasons before the school closed in 1998. He was also the head coach at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., and Kansas Wesleyan University, in Salina, Kan. He was chosen at the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Coach of the Year at Kansas Wesleyan in 1993 and was selected as the NAIA District 10 Coach of the Year at Kansas Wesleyan University in 1994.

Blaskowski received a Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in Physical Education from Valley City State University in North Dakota in 1986. He completed a Master of Science in Education with an emphasis in Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Emporia State University in Kansas in 1989.

In his career, Blaskowski has also been an instructor at Eastern New Mexico, Southern Arkansas, Kansas Wesleyan and West Texas A&M. He was the Sports Information Director at Phillips and Kansas Wesleyan, and also served as head coach of women’s basketball at Kansas Wesleyan and Assistant Sports Information Director at Washburn.

Blaskowski and his beautiful wife, April, are the parents of two daughters, Kaelyn Rose and Kelsey Rhea.