Lourdes University Athletics

Caitlin Blanchard was named the second head coach in the Lourdes University softball program's history in the summer of 2021.

Blanchard enters the 2024 season, her third with the Gray Wolves, with a 26-49 record both at Lourdes and in her collegiate career.

While at Lourdes, Blanchard has produced a First Team All Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference selection along with a pair of Second Team All-WHAC performers.  Her players have also produced in the classroom, with 14 being named to the WHAC All-Academic Team and 12 earning NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.  In addition, her 2022 and 2023 squads were named a NAIA Scholar Team.

Blanchard arrived at Lourdes from the University of Illinois at Springfield, where she was an assistant coach for the Prairie Stars for three seasons.  She helped guide UIS to a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament appearances and a NCAA Division II regional tournament appearance in 2019.  She coached six GLVC All-Conference players and one student-athlete earned NFCA Midwest All-Region accolades.

Blanchard was a graduate assistant at Black Hills State University in South Dakota for two years prior to Illinois-Springfield.  She was the head coach at Summerfield High School in Michigan in 2016 and an assistant coach at Whiteford High School the previous season.

During her own collegiate playing career, Blanchard was a catcher and first baseman at the University of Michigan from 2011-2014, where she helped the Wolverines win four Big Ten championships.  A two-time All-Big Ten honoree (2011, 2013), she was a Second Team All-Region selection in 2013 and a Third Team All-Region performer as a senior.  She was a member of the Michigan team that advanced to the Women’s College World Series in 2013.

Originally from Petersburg, Mich., Blanchard is a 2014 graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in history.