Jody Gabriel begins her 14th season as the Macalester College head softball coach in 2025. In 13 years at Macalester, Gabriel has 197 wins and is now 305-324-1 overall in her 17-year career.
The Scots went 20-18 in Gabriel's initial season to post the school's first winning record since 1997 and wrap up the MIAC campaign with a 9-13 slate after winning just one conference game the year before. In 2017 she achieved a pair of milestones, earning her 200th win as a college coach and her 100th victory as the coach of the Scots. In 2024, Gabriel earned the 300th win of her career with a sweep of Carleton onApril 12, 2024. The milestone was a part of a special season for the Scots, as the team went 26-15 for the second-most wins in program history and qualified for the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since the conference began the playoff system in 2004.
Prior to arriving at Macalester, Gabriel served as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for four years. She led UW-River Falls to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular-season (13-3) and playoff (4-0) championships in 2011 as the Falcons finished with a 28-15 overall record and a four-game appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs. UW-River Falls went 108-60 during her four seasons leading the program and never had a losing record in the competitive WIAC.
Gabriel was selected 2011 WIAC Coach of the Year and her staff was named 2011 Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year. Wisconsin-River Falls was ranked No. 19 in the final national poll and went undefeated at home with a 14-0 record. Gabriel also taught full-time in the Hudson (Wis.) school district as a secondary social science instructor while coaching at UW-River Falls.
Gabriel was an assistant coach with the Falcons for five seasons before serving as interim head coach. She also coached as an assistant for two years at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, where the Cardinals were co-MIAC champions in 2001 and placed second in 2002. She has also coached for various teams at the high school and traveling levels in the Twin Cities.
Gabriel played collegiately at UW-River Falls from 1994-96. The 1994 team won the WIAC title and competed in the NCAA Division III playoffs. She earned her undergraduate degree in accounting in 1996 and her M.S.E. degree (social studies) from UW-River Falls in 2000.
| School |
Season |
W |
L |
T |
Pct. |
| UW-River Falls |
2008 |
29 |
13 |
0 |
.690 |
| UW-River Falls |
2009 |
27 |
16 |
0 |
.628 |
| UW-River Falls |
2010 |
24 |
16 |
0 |
.600 |
| UW-River Falls |
2011 |
28 |
15 |
0 |
.651 |
| Macalester |
2012 |
20 |
18 |
0 |
.526 |
| Macalester |
2013 |
13 |
27 |
0 |
.325 |
| Macalester |
2014 |
20 |
20 |
0 |
.500 |
| Macalester |
2015 |
19 |
20 |
0 |
.487 |
| Macalester |
2016 |
13 |
27 |
0 |
.325 |
| Macalester |
2017 |
19 |
21 |
0 |
.475 |
| Macalester |
2018 |
11 |
29 |
0 |
.275 |
| Macalester |
2019 |
16 |
24 |
0 |
.400 |
| Macalester |
2020 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
.667 |
| Macalester |
2021 |
7 |
15 |
0 |
.318 |
| Macalester |
2022 |
15 |
23 |
0 |
.395 |
| Macalester |
2023 |
15 |
22 |
1 |
.408 |
| Macalester |
2024 |
25 |
16 |
0 |
.610 |
| Totals |
17 Seasons |
305 |
324 |
1 |
.485 |
| Macalester |
13 Seasons |
197 |
264 |
1 |
.427 |
