Two Missouri college softball programs are in the limelight after a heated email exchange between coaches of the programs became public.
The original emails started between Missouri State head coach Holly Hesse and Lisa Simmons, the director of operations for the University of Missouri, as the two tried to schedule a game between the two schools for the 2016 season.
The two started communicating about a month before their 2015 game, going back and forth about 2016 scheduling. The two teams played each other on April 23 and Missouri won that game 6-0.
The day after the 2015 game, Simmons emailed Hesse again trying to set up a game for 2016. Hesse responded two weeks later, listing several reasons for which she did not want her team playing Missouri again in the future, which can be read here.
Missouri head coach Ehren Earleywine was apparently made aware of this situation and sent a response to Hesse, as well as the entire Missouri State coaching staff, which can be read here.
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The emails were made public after the University of Missouri complied with an open records request, and Earleywine issued an apology through the Missouri athletic department’s media relations official, Chad Moller, for his part in the email exchange.
"I am sincerely sorry for the unprofessional comments I made. I understand that is not the right way to represent the University of Missouri, and serving as a role model and a positive example for our students is very important. I apologize to Coach Hesse, the Missouri State softball program and our fans for the way I reacted and know this was not the proper way to handle the situation,” said Earleywine.
Hesse also put out an apology through Missouri State saying, "I regret that an email exchange in which I was involved has created negative attention for our University and our program. As a mentor and leader of young women, I understand how my comments were interpreted as disrespectful, and I am a strong advocate of respecting one's opponents and the sport of softball at all levels. I accept coach Earleywine's apology for his part of the exchange, and I hope that we can move past this incident as professionals and colleagues."
According to Moller, neither the Missouri administration nor the Missouri State administration were aware of the emails between the two programs before the open records request.
{module Coaches' Email Exchange}
