The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2022
- Class:
- 2004
A 2000 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Second-Team and Easton Bell All-American, as well as a two-time NFCA All-Midwest Region (2000 & 2002 First Team) and a three-time All-Big 12 Conference (2000 First Team, 2002 & 2003 Second Team) and Big 12 All-Tournament selection, Lindsay Gardner helped lead the Longhorns to a combined 153-78-1 overall record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a third-place finish at the 2003 Women’s College World Series, and to a pair of Big 12 Regular Season and Tournament titles (2002 & 2003). During her stay on the Forty Acres, the Longhorns finished in the national rankings twice, with a then program-high No. 4 rating in the final 2003 Top 25. A product of Katy, Texas, Gardner completed her career as the program leader in numerous categories and continues to rank in the Texas all-time top 10 in at-bats (fifth – 673), batting average (sixth – .355), hits (sixth – 239), stolen bases (seventh – 60) and runs scored (eighth – 134). During a 2000 campaign that saw her earn Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year honors, Gardner led the league with a .519 batting average (counting league games only) while setting then single-season Texas records for batting average (.421) and hits (83). Her single-season hit mark stood for 22 years until finally being broken by Longhorns four-time All-American Janae Jefferson in 2022. During her final Texas campaign in 2003, Gardner earned her third career All-Big 12 Conference honor by hitting .288 overall with 49 hits, 10 doubles, 11 steals, four HR’s and 20 RBIs while helping lead the Horns to a third-place national finish (No. 4 final national ranking) in the program’s second all-time visit to the WCWS. Internationally, Gardner played for the USA Softball Women’s National Team from 2001-2003, hitting .375 overall for the Red, White & Blue while playing second base and left field. She also played as a professional in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) with both the Texas Thunder and the Rockford Thunder from 2004-08. A three-time NPF All-Star, Gardner was selected as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 while helping power Rockford to the NPF regular season title. A 2004 graduate of The University of Texas with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology, Gardner spent time post-college as both an assistant (2007-08) and head coach (2012-16) at St. Edward’s University in Austin before starting “Just Dig In,” her very own baseball/softball training facility, in Los Angeles, Calif., in 2017. In conjunction with the Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center, Gardner also became the first female coach in Atlantic League of Professional Baseball history by being named in 2022 as the Hitting Development Coordinator for both the Lexington Legends and the Wild Health Genomes.
