Kasey Griffith - Softball Coach

Kasey Griffith

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
KaseyGriffith@MissouriState.edu
Phone:
(417) 836-4136

Kasey Griffith was named the seventh head coach of Missouri State softball on June 5, 2024.

Griffith joined the Missouri State softball staff in July 2022 and was promoted to associate head coach in July 2023. She serves as the third base coach while working closely with the Bears’ hitters and infielders. In Griffith’s four seasons as part of the Missouri State coaching staff, the Bears have produced six players for eight total all-conference selections (two as HC), four all-region honorees for five total nods (two as HC) and three first-team all-conference players (one as HC).

Year two for Griffith saw Missouri State go 22-28 overall and 10-17 in the team’s first season in Conference USA. The Bears turned 23 double plays in 2026, which ranked 46^th nationally and 1^st in CUSA and marked the most double plays on record in program history. Missouri State’s defense also ranked inside the top 100 in NCAA DI with a .968 fielding percentage (81^st).

Freshman pitcher Emily Koranda was named to the CUSA All-Freshman team and earned a spot on the NFCA Midwest All-Region third team. The Mo State pitching staff ranked 38^th nationally with nine shutouts on the season.

In her first season at the helm of the Mo State program, Griffith led the Bears to a 20-33 overall record and a 16-11 league record in the team’s final season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears advanced to the MVC Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed and Missouri State left the MVC with the most tournament titles (7) and conference tournament victories (78) of any team. Griffith’s squad featured three all-conference players in McKenzie Vaughan (first team), Alexis Perales (second team) and Emily Gerardy (all-defensive team), while Vaughan also earned NFCA Midwest All-Region recognition for the second time in her career.

Griffith arrived in Springfield after spending the previous 10 years at Drake University. She started out as a volunteer assistant for the Bulldogs in 2013, before being promoted to assistant coach beginning with the 2015 season. In her tenure at Drake, the Bulldogs won two regular-season MVC titles and captured the MVC Tournament crown in 2018 and 2019. Drake was also recognized as the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year three times (2015, 2018 and 2019) during her 10-year stint in Des Moines. During her time, the Bulldog staff developed an MVC Player of the Year (2018), four MVC Pitchers of the Year (2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and 44 all-conference selections.

She worked primarily with the Bulldogs’ hitters and infielders, and assisted with team travel and game day logistics, directed fundraising efforts and alumni relations and events, and partnered with support staff to ensure team success and cohesion among other duties.

Prior to her coaching career, the former Kasey Schlafke, played softball at SIUE. She spent three years playing shortstop before moving to third base in her final season. When she graduated, she ranked fifth all-time in career home runs at SIUE with 18, and she started 182 games in four seasons for the Cougars (2008-11).

An excellent student, Griffith was named to the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll twice and to the Great Lakes Valley Conference All-Academic team once. She graduated from SIUE with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science in 2011.

Griffith was a multi-sport athlete in basketball, softball, track and field and volleyball at Dallas Center Grimes High School (Iowa), where she earned all-conference, all-district and all-state honors in softball. Her head coach for softball was her dad, Steve Schlafke, a longtime and highly-successful high school head coach who has won more than 1,300 games and three state titles leading DCG.

Griffith and her husband, Calvin, have two sons, Beckett and Maddox, and one daughter, Nolan.