Former Fresno State softball player says coach grabbed her by jersey in on-field incident

Fresno State softball player Kaitlyn Jennings blasted former Bulldogs coach Linda Garza on social media on Wednesday, relaying her version of events that apparently led to Garza taking a mysterious leave of absence midway through the season and her resignation at the end of it.

Jennings, who played last season as a sixth-year senior, recounted an incident from the second game of an April 6 doubleheader against Santa Clara.

After leading off the third inning with a single, Jennings attempted to steal second base and was thrown out. She said in a Twitter post that she made a comment to the umpire about missing the call — “You missed that call, blue” — and that as she was returning to the dugout was confronted by the Bulldogs’ coach.

“Coach Garza grabbed me by the front of my jersey and began yelling at me for saying something to the umpire,” Jennings wrote. “She was holding me on the field at that point, but I managed to pull away and get into the dugout.

“Coach Garza then grabbed me again by the front of my jersey, and shoved me into the dugout wall, holding me there while she continued to yell at me for saying something to the umpire. She only let go of me after I said, ‘You can’t do this right now, there’s people around.’”

Video of the game shows Jennings turning her head toward the umpire twice while running off the field and apparently saying something, but the camera moves away as she gets back to the dugout. Returning to the game, there is a very brief shot of the Fresno State dugout, but no players are moving toward or away from a confrontation.

An athletics department spokesman had no comment on Jennings’ social media post and Garza could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jennings continued with the umpire, with the Bulldogs up 8-3.

“Once she was out of my sight line, I did hear Linda ask her, ‘Kaitlyn, just stop.’ I’ve replayed this in my head, I don’t know how many times: ‘Kaitlyn, just stop.’ Kaitlyn did not stop …,” former director of operations Denise Rich said. “I also know the next thing that I heard before I turned around was K.J. say, ‘Please let go of me’ and I immediately turned around when she said that and Linda’s hands were up by her ears and she said, ‘K.J., I’m so sorry. I’m sorry’ and immediately let go.

“Linda immediately afterwards went to her supervisor for help with the situation and self-reported what had happened. I don’t think guilty people do that. I don’t think abusers do that. I think people who know that they’ve made a mistake or went too far do that.”

Jennings continued, writing in her social media post, “Nothing can fully describe how that kind of treatment makes you feel. That sensation of overwhelming betrayal, worthlessness, and shock. I have been experiencing intense depression and anxiety every day since this happened.”

She said she was sharing the story to bring awareness to what may be a much larger problem across college athletics and because Garza has not been held fully accountable for her actions.

“The precedent set by allowing actions such as this to be more or less disregarded by numerous oversight bodies is not a good one,” Jennings wrote. “The message sent here is that protecting the interests of a coach is more important than protecting athletes.”

Garza took her leave of absence three days after the Bulldogs played Santa Clara, and did not return as Fresno State won a Mountain West Conference championship and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 2017.

The athletics department announced she had resigned June 15, ending a 4 1/2 run at her hometown school.

Pitching coach Jodie Cox was elevated to interim coach while Garza was away from the team, and was credited with wins and losses.

Jennings said that she would be stepping away from social media.

“I’m saddened that this incident will now forever be a footnote in my career at Fresno State,” she wrote. “But I know that bringing light to this could prevent the next generation of athletes across the country from the same experience, and that makes all of this worth it.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 7:05 PM.