How Caitlin Walsh turned around BSU field hockey, and why this might just be the beginning

MUNCIE, Ind. — While Caitlin Walsh was well aware of Ball State's field hockey program during her years as an assistant at Kent State, she never actually stepped foot on campus.

The field hockey field at Briner Sports Complex sits north of the university, so whenever she came to Muncie it was to play — and win — a match and leave.

During her three-year tenure as an assistant at Kent State, Walsh's visits to Muncie occurred in the fall. She made another visit this spring when deputy athletics director Haven Fields reached out to her to see if she was interested in replacing former coach Stephanie Bernthal, who elected to pursue a career outside of college coaching.

Walsh met several members of the program's leadership team, including Angel Nkosi, Libby Kraus and Emma Hilton. It was there she learned that the team had taken it upon themselves to continue practicing in the offseason, even without a coach.

While the field hockey's program hadn't seen much success since it was led by Karen Fitzpatrick in the 80s and 90s, when it had won nine Mid-American Conference titles and appeared in the conference championship match almost every season during Fitzpatrick's tenure, Walsh saw the hunger in the players who comprised the current team.

She knew then it was a program she wanted to lead.

"I came on the interview and I immediately really aligned well with the players that I meant with and kind of what their vision was for where they wanted the program to go," Walsh said. "Then, obviously, after seeing campus itself and the resources and support here, it definitely was a place where I could totally see myself being at."

While none of the 26 players on the current roster were her recruits, Walsh was drawn to them. A team that gets up a 5:30 in the morning and organizes its own practices, tasking different classes to lead drills and practice plans each week, without anyone to tell them to do so? Walsh was in. She was named Ball State's head coach on March 24, 2022.

Quickly, Walsh built a culture of hard work and collaboration. The team told her they were tired of being at the bottom of the MAC and she told them, if they keep working the way they had been and focused on constant improvement, they'd have an opportunity to rise to the top of the league.

Everything about Walsh's approach was intentional from practice to game planning to workouts. She kept things simple, focusing on two-touch hockey, executing two-on-ones and individual defense, and worked on the minor details. She didn't expect perfection, but if there was a mistake to be made, she expected it to be done at full speed.

The team's confidence grew in the offseason and throughout the summer. While senior midfielder/defender Kerrianne McClay said the team always set goals in the preseason, this year felt like the first time they'd be able to achieve them.

Walsh's first match was a 2-1 victory against Saint Francis on Aug. 26. The Cardinals started the season 4-2, which included a victory against Longwood in their first conference match. While Walsh didn't have any win-loss expectations heading into the season, she told the team they could make some noise this fall.

Under Walsh's leadership, Ball State has done just that.

In her first year at the helm, Ball State went 7-11 and 4-3 in conference, its best conference record since 2006, and clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament, marking just the second time the team had qualified for the semifinals in 15 years.

“It’s so exciting," McClay said. "I’ve been here for three years and it’s all I’ve wanted since I came here and to finally have it my senior year with my senior class, it’s super special and exciting and we just want to take it home, that’s the biggest goal. We have an opportunity this weekend and it would just be such an awesome accomplishment.”

Ball State ended its season on a five-game losing streak, including a 7-0 defeat on Oct. 28 to No. 1 seed Miami, which it will play in the MAC semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Oxford, Ohio.

But being able to play the RedHawks again is an opportunity Walsh and her players are eager for. With the regular season meeting fresh on the minds for both teams, Walsh believes her team will make the adjustments needed in order to compete for a right to play in the MAC Championship.

Whatever happens this weekend, Walsh is confidence the foundation for the future of Ball State field hockey is set. While the inner competitor in her — Walsh led Old Dominion to three NCAA Tournament appearances from 2011-13 — wants Ball State to be at the top of the league right now, even she has to remind herself it's a slow and steady process to get a program back to its winning ways.

"I think we've set the bar high for ourselves moving forward and I'm excited," Walsh said. "I think we have a great foundation and I think our culture off the field is trending in a good way, as well. I think the more success we're starting to see, we're going to start recruiting our classes to get that better and build that depth."

Eventually, Walsh said she wants to get Ball State playing at the level it did under Karen Fitzpatrick. While a handful of seniors will be graduating this season, McClay doesn't have any hesitation Ball State will get there.

"It's such a different program, it really is," McClay said. "She just completely changed everything."

She added: "I think with Caitlin Walsh, this program can make an appearance in the MAC (tournament) every year, making it to the championship every year. I would say within the next few years Ball State field hockey could be seeing the NCAA Tournament consistently, which is so exciting."

Robby General covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high school sports for The Star Press. Contact him via email at rgeneral@gannett.com or on Twitter @rgeneraljr.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State field hockey has best season since 2006 under Caitlin Walsh