Crissy Buck
Assistant Coach

Crissy Buck enters her eighth season as an assistant coach at Oregon State.

Buck was promoted to the first assistant position in September of 2004. Off the field, she serves as recruiting coordinator, coordinating all written correspondence, unofficial visits, and official visits. She also coordinates all of the team's academics and serves as the academic liaison with Student Services.

The Oregon State softball team has consistently posted a team GPA above 3.0 during her tenure overseeing the academic area.

Buck will continue her on the field work with the Beavers defensively. She works primarily with the infielders and oversees full defensive responsibilities for every position. In addition she works with the entire staff with all Oregon State hitters as well as assisting the catchers with scouting opponents.

Buck helped lead Oregon State to its first ever appearance in the NCAA Women's College World Series during the 2006 season and earn a program-best No. 5 national ranking as well as reel off a 28-game winning streak. No stranger to the WCWS stage as a student-athlete at UCLA, the Bruins held an 11-4 record in World Series games during Buck's playing career.

During the 2005 campaign, Buck helped lead Oregon State to its first ever Pac-10 championship. She and the rest of the Beaver coaching staff were honored as the 2005 Speedline/NFCA Pacifc Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

A 2002 graduate of UCLA, Buck was a four-year starter and letterwinner for the Bruin softball team. A versatile athlete, Buck saw action in both the infield and the outfield.

Buck started every game at shortstop for the 1999 NCAA Champion Bruins and belted the game-winning home run against DePaul in the opening contest of the 1999 Women's College World Series.

Buck finished her UCLA career with a .245 batting average, 125 hits and 73 runs scored. In her four seasons of competition (1999-2002), the Bruins amassed a record of 226-32-1.

Buck ranks in a tie for first place in the UCLA single season record book with 69 games played during the 1999 campaign.

A native of Las Vegas, NV, Buck received a degree in history from UCLA in 2002.

Dana Sorensen
Assistant Coach

Dana Sorensen begins her first season as assistant coach for the Beavers after spending three seasons as an assistant at UC Davis.

Currently still playing on the Professional Fastpitch Xtreme (PFX) Tour, Sorensen played two seasons in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league. She spent the 2004 season with the New England Riptide before the following season with the Arizona Heat. She was a member of the USA Softball Elite Team in 2005, in which Walker was an assistant coach, and she attended the USA Softball National Team Camp five times.

All of her professional experience came after one of the best pitching careers in school history at Stanford from 2000-04. Sorensen racked up five no-hitters and two perfect games during her career, amassing three NFCA All-America honors (first-team selection in 2001 and 2004, second-team in 2000) and four All-Pacific Region accolades. She posted a 105-36 career record with a 1.05 ERA, including a 34-win campaign as a senior. Her solid work in the circle helped lead the Cardinal to a pair of Women's College World Series trips and until the 2008 season, she held every single season pitching record.

Sorensen earned a bachelor's degree in both sociology and communications from Stanford in 2004. She received a master's in exercise and sport science from North Carolina in 2006.

Heather Smith begins her ninth season as Director of Softball Operations serving as an assistant coach during the 2004 season.

Smith's operations position focuses on travel planning, equipment, scheduling, the Cathedral City Softball Classic and special project coordination.

Smith rejoined the Beaver staff in September of 2004 for her second stint as an assistant coach and her fourth season overall in the dugout. Smith helped lead Oregon State to its first ever Pac-10 championship and reel off a school record 22-game winning streak in the process. She and the rest of the Beaver coaching staff were honored as the 2005 Speedline/NFCA Pacifc Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Prior to her return to Oregon State, Smith spent two years outside of the college coaching ranks working as a personal trainer and coaching softball at Desert Hot Springs High School in Palm Springs, Calif.

Smith, who was the first recruit to sign a letter of intent to play for Kirk Walker at Oregon State, played for the Beavers from 1995-99 and helped lead Oregon State to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999. She enjoyed her most successful season as a senior, when she batted .252 with 32 hits and 12 RBI and was third on the team with six doubles. She was recognized as an honorable mention Pacific-10 All-Academic Team selection in 1999.

The 1999 Beavers had a school record 47 wins and finished one game shy of heading to the College World Series.

Smith earned a bachelor's degree in nutrition and food management from OSU in 1998 and originally planned to give up her final year of eligibility after graduation. But, after returning to Corvallis to participate in an alumni game in October, 1998, she decided to return to Oregon State to continue her studies and play her final year of softball eligibility.

She served as assistant girls' basketball coach at Canby High School, her alma mater, for part of the 1998-99 season until deciding to return to Oregon State.

Smith worked as a coach at Oregon State's winter and summer softball camps and clinics from 1994-98, and she also worked at the Oregon State women's basketball camp in 1996.

The former Heather Chinn, a Portland native, married Mikiah Smith in August, 1999. The couple has a daughter, Kiya, who was born on Oct. 13, 2003, and a son, Elijah, who was born on Jan. 11, 2006.