Mercedes Hargett, the 2023 MEAC Co-Coach of the Year, is in her second season as the head softball coach at Coppin State University after spending the previous three years as the head coach at Shaw University, a Division II program in Raleigh, N.C.
Her first season at the helm of the Eagles program was a historic one as Coppin won a school-record 23 games and reached the MEAC Championship Game for just the second time. CSU went a program-best 15-6 in MEAC play while setting single-season records for runs, doubles, runs batted in, total bases, sacrifice flies and fielding percentage.
At the conclusion of the regular season, she shared MEAC Coach of the Year honors while Vanessa Carrizosa was named MEAC Pitcher of the Year. Carrizosa, Seryna Esparza and Manaia Fonoti received 1st Team All-Conference accolades while Brooklyn Tapusoa, Celeste Gonzales and Julianna Mejia also earned All-MEAC honors. The six All-Conference players were the most in school history.
During her time at Shaw, Hargett helped the Bears raise their team batting to .292 during the 2023 season while helping the pitching staff lower their ERA by nearly two runs. Prior to Shaw, Hargett spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Grambling State after getting her first collegiate coaching opportunity at Alabama A&M where she helped the Bulldogs to a SWAC East Division title in 2018.
A native of Havelock, N.C., Hargett was a two-way standout at Winston-Salem State where she led the Rams to a pair of CIAA Championships and NCAA Regional appearances in 2014 and 2016. Hargett earned First Team All-CIAA honors in both 2015 and 2016, was named the CIAA Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2016 and earned CIAA All-Rookie Team accolades in 2014.
Graduating from Winston-Salem with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology in 2017, Hargett was a .327 career hitter with 35 home runs and 110 RBI while recording 55 wins from the circle with 629 strikeouts and a 3.35 earned run average.
