Softball
Ciolli Bartlett, Megan
Megan Ciolli Bartlett
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- mcbartlett@bsu.edu
- Phone:
- 765-285-5137
- Alma Mater:
- Notre Dame '05
Megan Ciolli Bartlett, a two-time All-American as a player at Notre Dame, completed her fifth and final season as the head coach of the Ball State softball program in 2020. She left the program in July of 2020 to become an assistant coach at Texas.
The ninth head coach in program history, Bartlett led the Cardinals to a 141-108 (47-41 Mid-American Conference) record over her five seasons at the helm. She finished her career as Ball State’s fourth-winningest coach in the sport of softball and earned her 100th career coaching victory Feb. 24, 2019 with a 9-1 win over Montana at the Silicon Valley Classic I.
She guided the program to three consecutive 30-win seasons, and was on pace for a fourth before the COVID-19 global pandemic cut the 2020 season short. Her 2018 squad finished the year with a 37-19 overall record and won the MAC West Division championship with a 16-7 league mark. The team's 37 wins rank as the fourth-most in a single season in program history.
Over her five seasons, the Cardinals played 74 games versus teams ranked in the top 100 in the end-of-year* NCAA RPI rankings, including a program-record 24 games versus such opponents in her first season.
Ball State won eight of those games in 2016, tying as the second-best total in program history. The only Ball State team to win more top 100 RPI games was the 2010 squad, which won 10 on its way to advancing to the NCAA Regionals after capturing both the MAC regular season and tournament titles.
Bartlett mentored four Cardinals to NFCA All-Great Lakes Region accolades, with outfielder Rachel Houck (2017) and designated player Madison Lee (2016) picking up second team honors and pitcher Nicole Steinbach (2016) and infielder Stacy Payton (2019) earning spots on the third team.
Maddy Labrador become the 31st player in program history, and the first under Bartlett’s tutelage, to earn First Team All-MAC honors when she ranked fourth in league-only contests with a .387 batting average in 2017.
Labrador picked up her second First Team All-MAC honor in 2018, and was joined on the squad by pitcher Aeshia Miles and outfielder Haley Dominique. In 2019, Payton became the fourth player to pick up first team honors under Bartlett’s direction, while pitcher Tieghan Morio also garnered Second Team All-MAC accolades.
Morio and outfielder Trinity Eckerty were both named to the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2019, while the Cardinals had three players, pitcher Darcie Huber, Dominique and outfielder Kennedy Wynn, earn the honor in 2017, giving Bartlett six recipients. The first was Lee in 2016.
In addition to their hard work on the field, Bartlett’s players earned 29 Academic All-MAC honors. To earn the award, a student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and have completed one full year of academic work at their current institution prior to the start of the current season.
The Cardinals have also had six players, Payton (2019), Dominique (2018), Labrador (2018), Miles, (2018), Houck (2017) and pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker (2016), recognized as a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete for the sport of softball under Bartlett.
Before being named head coach at Ball State, Bartlett spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Purdue where she helped the Boilermakers earn a 31-25 overall record and advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The team’s defensive coordinator, she helped Purdue climb to third in the Big Ten with a .970 fielding percentage after the squad ranked 10th with a .956 mark in 2014.
Prior to joining the Purdue staff, Bartlett helped guide DePaul to a 44-11 overall record, the Big East regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Regional berth as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2014 season.
Bartlett is no stranger to the MAC either, having spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois (2008-12). As a member of the Huskies’ staff, she worked with both infielders and outfielders, plus served as the hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator. She helped NIU’s offense tally numerous single season records, culminating in 2011 when the Huskies set program records for runs scored (291), runs batted in (259), doubles (96), home runs (35), batting average (.312) and slugging percentage (.461).
Overall, the Northern Illinois offense finished the 2011 season ranked in the top 40 nationally in doubles (second, 1.81 per game), batting average (24th, .312), scoring (33rd, 5.49 runs per game) and slugging percentage (39th, .461). Ciolli Bartlett helped 10 NIU student-athletes earn All-MAC honors with one also earning all-region accolades.
Bartlett began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Loyola University Chicago for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. A member of the 2007 Horizon League Coaching Staff of the Year, she helped the Ramblers improve from a 10-10 league mark in 2006 to a 14-5 record and conference title in 2007. She also helped coach six all-conference honorees and one all-region selection during her stint on the Ramblers’ staff.
As a player, Bartlett was a four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame (2002-05), helping lead the Irish to four Big East regular season championships, four NCAA Regional appearances and two Big East Tournament titles. A two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, she captained the 2005 team to a 46-15 record and helped secure UND’s first NCAA Regional home games.
The 2004 Big East Player of the Year, Bartlett finished her playing career as Notre Dame’s career leader in hits (284) and stolen bases (76), while ranking in the top five in batting average (second, .368), at bats (second, 771) and runs scored (second, 161). She also finished her career ranked in the top 10 in doubles (ninth, 37), triples (seventh, nine), home runs (ninth, 13) and RBI (10th, 101).
Following her collegiate career, Bartlett went on to play two seasons of professional softball for the Chicago Bandits, helping guide the team to National Pro Fastpitch regular season titles in both 2005 and 2006.
Bartlett was a three-sport standout at North Vigo High School in Terre Haute. Following her senior year in 2001, she was named Indiana Miss Softball and the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year.
Bartlett earned her bachelor's degree in business administration at Notre Dame in 2005. She completed her master's of business administration in heath care administration at Loyola in 2007 and went on to earn a juris doctor from Northern Illinois in 2012.
A licensed attorney in the state of Illinois, she is married to Mike Bartlett, a former professional hockey player. The couple has two daughters, Vivian and Maren.
* - only one ranking was available for the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shortened season
The ninth head coach in program history, Bartlett led the Cardinals to a 141-108 (47-41 Mid-American Conference) record over her five seasons at the helm. She finished her career as Ball State’s fourth-winningest coach in the sport of softball and earned her 100th career coaching victory Feb. 24, 2019 with a 9-1 win over Montana at the Silicon Valley Classic I.
She guided the program to three consecutive 30-win seasons, and was on pace for a fourth before the COVID-19 global pandemic cut the 2020 season short. Her 2018 squad finished the year with a 37-19 overall record and won the MAC West Division championship with a 16-7 league mark. The team's 37 wins rank as the fourth-most in a single season in program history.
Over her five seasons, the Cardinals played 74 games versus teams ranked in the top 100 in the end-of-year* NCAA RPI rankings, including a program-record 24 games versus such opponents in her first season.
Ball State won eight of those games in 2016, tying as the second-best total in program history. The only Ball State team to win more top 100 RPI games was the 2010 squad, which won 10 on its way to advancing to the NCAA Regionals after capturing both the MAC regular season and tournament titles.
Bartlett mentored four Cardinals to NFCA All-Great Lakes Region accolades, with outfielder Rachel Houck (2017) and designated player Madison Lee (2016) picking up second team honors and pitcher Nicole Steinbach (2016) and infielder Stacy Payton (2019) earning spots on the third team.
Maddy Labrador become the 31st player in program history, and the first under Bartlett’s tutelage, to earn First Team All-MAC honors when she ranked fourth in league-only contests with a .387 batting average in 2017.
Labrador picked up her second First Team All-MAC honor in 2018, and was joined on the squad by pitcher Aeshia Miles and outfielder Haley Dominique. In 2019, Payton became the fourth player to pick up first team honors under Bartlett’s direction, while pitcher Tieghan Morio also garnered Second Team All-MAC accolades.
Morio and outfielder Trinity Eckerty were both named to the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2019, while the Cardinals had three players, pitcher Darcie Huber, Dominique and outfielder Kennedy Wynn, earn the honor in 2017, giving Bartlett six recipients. The first was Lee in 2016.
In addition to their hard work on the field, Bartlett’s players earned 29 Academic All-MAC honors. To earn the award, a student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and have completed one full year of academic work at their current institution prior to the start of the current season.
The Cardinals have also had six players, Payton (2019), Dominique (2018), Labrador (2018), Miles, (2018), Houck (2017) and pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker (2016), recognized as a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete for the sport of softball under Bartlett.
Before being named head coach at Ball State, Bartlett spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Purdue where she helped the Boilermakers earn a 31-25 overall record and advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The team’s defensive coordinator, she helped Purdue climb to third in the Big Ten with a .970 fielding percentage after the squad ranked 10th with a .956 mark in 2014.
Prior to joining the Purdue staff, Bartlett helped guide DePaul to a 44-11 overall record, the Big East regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Regional berth as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2014 season.
Bartlett is no stranger to the MAC either, having spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois (2008-12). As a member of the Huskies’ staff, she worked with both infielders and outfielders, plus served as the hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator. She helped NIU’s offense tally numerous single season records, culminating in 2011 when the Huskies set program records for runs scored (291), runs batted in (259), doubles (96), home runs (35), batting average (.312) and slugging percentage (.461).
Overall, the Northern Illinois offense finished the 2011 season ranked in the top 40 nationally in doubles (second, 1.81 per game), batting average (24th, .312), scoring (33rd, 5.49 runs per game) and slugging percentage (39th, .461). Ciolli Bartlett helped 10 NIU student-athletes earn All-MAC honors with one also earning all-region accolades.
Bartlett began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Loyola University Chicago for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. A member of the 2007 Horizon League Coaching Staff of the Year, she helped the Ramblers improve from a 10-10 league mark in 2006 to a 14-5 record and conference title in 2007. She also helped coach six all-conference honorees and one all-region selection during her stint on the Ramblers’ staff.
As a player, Bartlett was a four-year letterwinner at Notre Dame (2002-05), helping lead the Irish to four Big East regular season championships, four NCAA Regional appearances and two Big East Tournament titles. A two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, she captained the 2005 team to a 46-15 record and helped secure UND’s first NCAA Regional home games.
The 2004 Big East Player of the Year, Bartlett finished her playing career as Notre Dame’s career leader in hits (284) and stolen bases (76), while ranking in the top five in batting average (second, .368), at bats (second, 771) and runs scored (second, 161). She also finished her career ranked in the top 10 in doubles (ninth, 37), triples (seventh, nine), home runs (ninth, 13) and RBI (10th, 101).
Following her collegiate career, Bartlett went on to play two seasons of professional softball for the Chicago Bandits, helping guide the team to National Pro Fastpitch regular season titles in both 2005 and 2006.
Bartlett was a three-sport standout at North Vigo High School in Terre Haute. Following her senior year in 2001, she was named Indiana Miss Softball and the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year.
Bartlett earned her bachelor's degree in business administration at Notre Dame in 2005. She completed her master's of business administration in heath care administration at Loyola in 2007 and went on to earn a juris doctor from Northern Illinois in 2012.
A licensed attorney in the state of Illinois, she is married to Mike Bartlett, a former professional hockey player. The couple has two daughters, Vivian and Maren.
* - only one ranking was available for the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shortened season
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