Entering his fourth season as head coach of the Samford softball team, Mark Voisard is the winningest coach in Samford softball history posting 68 wins in his first three seasons. He is second all-time in winning percentage with a .402 mark. Jim Nolen had a .404 winning percentage from 1991-93. Voisard is the first Samford coach to begin a fourth season with the program. He believes that winning is contagious and that working hard at the little things produces success.
During his tenure at Samford, the Bulldogs have broken 18 team records including wins most runs scored (183, 2000), most doubles (70, 2001) and most home runs (26, 2000) in a single-season. Voisard's squad has put together back-to-back records for most wins in a season. The Bulldogs won 24 games in 2000 and posted 26 wins in 2001. Voisard is 8-11 in three years against SEC schools including a 4-2 mark against Auburn and a 2-0 record against Tennessee. The Bulldogs have also beaten Mississippi and Mississippi State under Voisard.
There have been a number of outstanding players who have played at Samford under Voisard. Brianne Mertens is the school's all-time leader in seven pitching catogories and Michelle Ashley is currently a member of the Canadian National Team. Voisard has had three first team, five second team, and two third team All-TAAC selections over his first three years. Along with two all-freshman and two all-TAAC tournament selections.
Before his arrival in Birmingham, Voisard coached a woman's professional baseball team in Buffalo, N.Y., and worked with the Colorado Silver Bullets' Woman's Baseball Team, managed by Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro.
Drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 13th round out of Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) College in the 1992 Amateur Baseball Draft, Voisard spent five seasons in their farm system, earning a spot on their 40-man roster in 1994 and reaching the Rockies' Double-A affiliate in New Haven, Conn. He started his minor-league career as a member of the Bend (Ore.) Rockies and also played overseas in Taiwan. While at MVNC, Voisard led the District and Conference in strikeouts in his final two seasons
Voisard is married to the former Kim Braatz of Santa Ana, Calif. Braatz, while a member of the Colorado Silver Bullets, hit the first ever home run by a woman off of a male pitcher. Their marriage was the ever pro baseball marriage. They have two children, Madison Lee, who was born on Nov. 4, 1998 and Franklin James, who was born on Sept. 16, 2001.
