Brittini Merchant - Softball Coach - Central Michigan University Athletics

Photo by: Gina Munson

Brittini Merchant

Title:
Assistant Coach
E-Mail Address:
merch1bk@cmich.edu
Year at CMU:
6th
Hometown:
Wayland, Mich.
Alma Mater/Year:
Central Michigan/2011
Experience:
12th year

Former Central Michigan standout Brittini Merchant enters her sixth season as an assistant coach for Chippewa Softball.

She was named a member of the Chippewas’ coaching staff, headed by McCall Salmon, that took over after the 2019 season with the retirement of legendary coach Margo Jonker.

Merchant was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection while playing middle infield at CMU from 2008-11. She works with Chippewa hitters and outfielders.

In the abbreviated 2020 season, Merchant and fellow assistant Sara Driesenga joined Salmon in leading the Chippewas to a 6-13 finish, including wins in four of their final six games.

In year two, Merchant helped CMU to 18 Mid-American Conference victories, including nine wins in its last 11 games. She worked closely with outfielder Abbey Tolmie, who flourished in her freshman season, earning Second Team All-Mid-American Conference honors.

The third season for Merchant and the program, the Chippewas posted a 27-26 overall record, and 17-11 in conference play. Shannon Stein was named All-Great Lakes Region Third Team by the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association after a season where she batted .364 and had a Mid-American Conference leading 20 doubles for the 2022 season.

2023 held more success for the Chippewas, ending with a 29-26 record, 18-11 in MAC play, and finishing third in the MAC Tournament. Kelsey Alexander was named to the NFCA All-Region Team and the Chippewas hit .281 as a team on the season. Abbey Tolmie hit .394 in her junior campaign, good for 6th in program history.

In 2024, Carly Sleeman exposed herself as an offensive force for the Chippewas where she hit 19 doubles in her freshman campaign – just two short of the program record. Sleeman ended the season with 45 hits. Allyssa Hollo hit a team leading seven homeruns and slugged .500 on the season charting 35 hits. Six Chippewas recorded 30+ hits in 2024.

Merchant, who works primarily with the hitters for CMU, led the offensive to a record-breaking season in 2025. Team 47 charted milestones that set new records in CMU Softball history. The Chippewas finished with a 26-25 record, 17-8 in MAC play, and made their fifth tournament appearance with Merchant on staff – the 14^th consecutive for the Chippewa Softball program.
The 2025 squad had an offensive season that set new records in runs scored (281), RBI (259), walks drawn (198) and sacrifice flies in a single season (19).

In the Mid-American Conference ranks for the 2025 season, the Chippewas drew the most walks, charted 81 doubles which was good for 2^nd best in the conference, and recorded a .970 fielding percentage, also 2^nd best.

The team batting average of .304 was 3^rd best in the MAC, along with their 258 RBI and the team strikeout total was also the 3^rd best in the conference (197).

In MAC play, the Chippewas had a .417 on-base percentage, which led the conference.

10 Individual hitters in 2025 for CMU ranked in the top 10 offensive spots for the Mid-American Conference went to Chippewa batters.

Carly Sleeman ranked in the top 10 in batting average (.373), slugging percentage (.753), on-base percentage (.483), OPS (1.238), hits (59), RBI (50), home runs (17), and walks drawn (34).

Sleeman’s 50 RBI set a new program record, and her 17 home runs tied the record set by Shannon Stein in 2022, also under Salmon’s leadership.

Allyssa Hollo’s 15 doubles ranked her 3^rd in the MAC, and also took the No. 5 spot in single season totals in program history.

Freshman, London Williams charted 10 home runs in her first year with the Chippewas, which was the 7^th most in the conference.

CMU had two First Team All-MAC honorees, Mackenzie Langan and Carly Sleeman, Grace Koenig and London Williams earned second team honors, and Williams and Maddison Diekman were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Williams is just the third player to earn All-MAC recognition and be on the All-Freshman Team in program history – Merchant is one of those other two honorees in 2008.

The Chippewas charted two wins over power conference opponents in 2025, grabbing a win over Northwestern on February 28^th (4-2), and over Michigan State on March 26^th (4-0), in East Lansing.

Merchant’s final season with CMU in 2025 was a remarkable one as her and her wife made the move back to their hometown to pursue other personal and professional endeavors.

A native of Wayland, Merchant served from 2017-19 as an assistant at Davenport under current Chippewa head coach McCall Salmon. Merchant joined Salmon in leading Davenport to second-place finishes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in both 2018 and 2019, the program’s first two seasons as an NCAA Division II program.

The pair led Davenport to an historic 2017 season which included the Panthers’ first NAIA World Series berth and a fifth-place finish.

Merchant began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Minnesota in 2012 before moving on to Northwestern, where she served in the same capacity. She served as an assistant at Southern Illinois Edwardsville in 2016. She also coached at Grand Rapids-based Elite Baseball and Softball from 2013-16.

Merchant was named to the All-MAC first team in 2011, her senior year, and was an all-conference second teamer and earned a spot on the league’s all-freshman squad in 2008. She earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree with a major in family studies and a minor in athletic coaching from CMU in 2011.