SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. – Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Associate Vice President for Athletics Kevin Lanke announced today (August 1) the hiring of Gina Furrey Buhse (pronounced GEE-nah FUR-ee boo-SEE) as the new SMWC Softball head coach. Buhse replaces Jim Walker who left the college earlier this summer for the same position at Oklahoma Panhandle State.

Buhse spent the past season as the volunteer pitching coach and assistant coach for Pomeroy Softball, under the direction of coach Walker. She helped improved the pitching staff speed, accuracy and effectiveness through expert mechanical coaching. She coached three SMWC pitchers to All-River States Conference awards and had several pitchers achieve ERA marks under 3.00. She was also instrumental in the successful winter pitching camp held on campus.

"I am thrilled to announce the hiring of Gina Furrey Buhse as the new SMWC Softball Head Coach," Lanke said. "Gina will continue the winning tradition of our softball program and her experience with the Pomeroys and in the River States Conference will prove beneficial moving forward. I want to also thank Jim Walker for all of his efforts with our athletic department and we all wish him the best in the future."

Buhse has owned Furrey Fastpitch, LLC since 2008 – a business which specializes in private batting and pitching lessons. She also has served as the owner and coach of Wicked Elite Travel Softball from 2016-21 where she coached multiple travel softball teams while also leading the program's fundraising efforts. Additionally, she produced college recruitment videos for the players which aided players in securing athletic scholarships.

"This is a dream job for me and I can't thank Kevin Lanke and the staff at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College enough for giving me this opportunity," Buhse said. "I grew up five minutes away from campus and have had multiple family members work at SMWC over the years so I am very familiar with our campus and the Pomeroys. We are going to hit the ground running and build on the past success of this program. I want to thank Jim Walker for giving me the opportunity to join the program last year which has directly led to this chance to lead the program myself."

A native of West Terre Haute, Ind., Buhse graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2020 with a Psychology degree. She minored in Health and Human Performance as well as Nutrition.

Gina is married to Tyler Buhse and they have one child (Charlie).