- Highlights: Arguably the greatest hitter in Slippery Rock program history, still holds numerous SRU career records including hits, runs, doubles and total bases, a two-time All-PSAC honoree and the 2005 PSAC West Rookie of the Year.
Current SRU head softball coach
Stacey Rice is being enshrined in the Hall of Fame on the merits of a stellar playing career from 2005-08 that saw her establish multiple single-season and career records at The Rock.
She wasted little time in establishing herself as one of the top players in the region when she earned PSAC West Rookie of the Year honors in 2005 after hitting .349 with eight doubles and eight home runs as a true freshman.
She would go on to earn a pair of All-PSAC awards and bat .315 or better in all four years of her career. Her junior season in 2007 saw her hit a remarkable .414 with 15 doubles and 14 home runs. She followed that up by batting .372 with nine home runs and also going 8-4 as a pitcher in 2008, helping to lead SRU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Rice closed her career ranked first in SRU history in games played (179) and games started (175) after hitting .364 with 186 hits, 143 runs scored, 37 doubles and 35 home runs. She also posted a 3.34 ERA and a 9-5 record as a pitcher.
To date, she still ranks first in SRU history in career on-base percentage (.461), games played (179), runs scored (143), hits (186), doubles (37), walks (86) and total bases (334) while ranking second all-time in games started (175), home runs (35) and RBI (129) and third in stolen bases (60) and slugging percentage (.664). She also owns single-season records for slugging (.821 in 2007), doubles (15 in 2007) and home runs (14 in 2007).
Rice earned All-PSAC honors in both 2007 and 2008 and added Daktronics All-Region recognitions in both years as well.
In addition to her excellence on the field, Rice was a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and member of the Dean's List at SRU. She earned her undergraduate degree in secondary education in 2008 and picked up a master's degree from SRU in 2010.
Rice began her coaching career immediately after finishing her playing career, first serving as a graduate assistant with the program during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. She returned to the University in 2012 and spent two years as an assistant coach before taking over as the head coach in 2014. She has led SRU to back-to-back trips to the PSAC Tournament in the last two seasons, marking the first repeat trips to the conference playoffs for the program in the last 40 seasons. Included in the last two-year stretch was a single-season program record 29 victories during the 2023 season.
A native of South Park, Pennsylvania, Rice married former SRU baseball player Scott Rice. The couple have one daughter, Harper, and reside in Evans City, Pennsylvania.
