Austin Peay State University Athletics

Angela Thompson literally went from being unwanted to becoming one of the greatest softball pitchers in Ohio Valley Conference history. 

In summer 1991, then-new Austin Peay Softball Coach Chris Austin got a phone call from John Thompson, Angela’s father, who was looking for a college where his daughter could play softball. A graduate of tiny Nashville Christian, few if any college coaches saw her pitch so her father didn’t want to see his daughter’s dream, of playing college softball, die. APSU proved to be a perfect match. When Austin took over as coach, he only had five players on the roster.  

If 2003 Hall of Fame inductee Andrea Miller is the greatest Lady Govs softball position player in history, no question Angela Thompson became the greatest hurler in the program’s nearly two decades of existence. 

The Nashville native was unassuming athletically until she stepped onto a softball pitching mound. There she became one of the OVC’s all-time best hurlers. She was a three-time, first-team All-OVC selection and was named to the OVC all-tourney team in 1995. Remarkably, of her 106 career starts, she completed 103, and was the winning pitcher in 69 percent of the team’s total victories during her four-year career. 

As a freshman on a team comprised almost exclusively of freshmen, she posted a 6-18 mark but a respectable 2.76 ERA. But between the end of her freshmen season and the start of her fall campaign, Thompson developed and perfected a rise ball. All of a sudden, a capable pitcher became a great one. The following spring, Thompson led the Lady Govs to a program-best 28-22 record, posting a 24-6 record with a 0.78 ERA, fanning 282 batters in 225 innings.  

She was 10-13 a year later with a terrific 1.54 ERA. She owned an almost unbelievable 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in fanning 171 batters that season. As a senior, Thompson was 17-14 with a 1.87 ERA, fanning 242 batters in 198.3 innings. Over her last three seasons, Thompson had nearly a 9-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio, doling out free passes to just 81 batters over those three seasons.  

In her career, she tossed one perfect, six one-hitters and a dozen two-hitters. 

Thompson holds APSU school records for games pitched (124), games started (106), complete games (103), wins (57), shutouts (25), innings pitched (737.6) and strikeouts (789).   

She also holds single-season records in wins (24/1993), shutouts (10/1993), strikeouts (282/1992) and earned-run average (0.76/1993). In fact, Thompson holds the top two spots for single-season strikeouts by a pitcher at APSU: 282 (1993) and 242 (1995). She also holds the fourth spot with 171 (1994). As a result of her strikeout prowess, she is the OVC’s all-time strikeout leader (789).  

During her career Thompson was ranked in Top-10 among Division I pitchers in earned-run average (1993) and strikeouts (1993 and 1995). 

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in mass communications (public relations major) in Fall 1995, Thompson could not get softball out of her blood. She spent three seasons at Middle Tennessee, first as a graduate assistant before becoming a full-time assistant. She then headed to Alabama-Birmingham for one season before moving to Top 25 powerhouse South Carolina for the last five years, where she serves as No. 1 assistant/pitching coach.