Fresno State softball coach on leave from team, did not make trip to Colorado State

Fresno State softball coach Linda Garza is taking a leave of absence and did not travel with the Bulldogs on Friday when they departed for a weekend Mountain West Conference series at Colorado State.

The school gave no reason for the leave and issued this statement in response to questions from The Bee: “Fresno State softball head coach Linda Garza has taken a leave of absence. Assistant coach Jodie Cox has been named interim head coach. No additional comments will be made at this time.”

Garza did not return a phone message.

Fresno State swept the weekend series, winning 8-3 and 8-7 Saturday and 6-0 Sunday, improving to 25-7 overall and at 11-1 tied with UNLV for the conference lead behind the pitching of ace right-hander Hailey Dolcini and an offense that is leading the Mountain West in every major statistical category from batting average (.295) to runs (182), hits (207), doubles (40), triples (16), home runs (24) and walks (102).

The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to seven games and have won 22 of their past 24 games.

Garza is in her fifth season at Fresno State and has a career record of 146-77 (.655).

The Bulldogs were 21-4 in 2020 before the season was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, and recovered quickly after a slow start this season. After Colorado State, Fresno State has five series remaining including four in conference play, ending the regular-season May 14-15 at San Diego State.

This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 2:59 PM.