Tiffany Buckmaster, a former head softball coach with a proven record of success, enters her second year on staff at Shawnee State University and currently serves as Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). She was promoted into this role following an impactful tenure leading the Indiana University Southeast softball program.
During her three seasons at Indiana Southeast, Buckmaster guided the Grenadiers to back-to-back River States Conference Regular Season Championships in 2023 and 2024, along with consecutive NAIA Opening Round appearances. Over her final two seasons, she compiled an impressive 69-37 overall record, including a dominant 49-11 mark in conference play.
A native of Lima, Ohio, Buckmaster is a graduate of Lima Bath High School, where she was a multi-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball, and softball. She continued her athletic career at Bluffton University, competing in softball and contributing to a team that captured the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship in 2008. During her four-year playing career, the program posted a 92-68 record with three winning seasons.
Buckmaster began her coaching career at Columbus State University (Ga.), where she was part of a staff that achieved 40 wins, captured the 2012 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship, and earned an NCAA Division II Regional Tournament berth. She later transitioned into higher education at Williston State College, serving as Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Business, while also assisting with softball operations. She was subsequently named head softball coach at Williston State, where she led the program for three seasons, producing multiple all-conference and all-region student-athletes, as well as numerous academic honorees.
She later returned to Ohio, serving as an assistant coach at Lourdes University before earning her first head coaching role at a four-year institution at Wheeling University. At Lourdes, she helped develop three First-Team All-WHAC selections. At Wheeling, she significantly strengthened the program by expanding the roster from 12 to 26 student-athletes, improving the team GPA from 2.9 to 3.3, and leading the team to a promising start before the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Buckmaster broadened her professional experience by accepting a leadership role at the Reeves County Recreation Center, where she contributed to the development of one of the nation’s first integrated health model facilities. In this capacity, she managed departmental budgeting, oversaw inventory and equipment procurement, implemented youth programming, and collaborated across multiple operational units.
Buckmaster returned to intercollegiate athletics at Indiana Southeast from 2022 to 2024 before transitioning into administration as Athletics Compliance and Operations Manager at SSU.
Buckmaster and her family -- her wife, Brooke, and son, Jaxon -- have embraced the Shawnee State community, along with their pets.
