Cornell College

Jackie Yoder (formerly Sernek) returned to her alma mater in May 2017 as Cornell's head softball coach.

A record-setting pitcher for the Rams from 2011-14, Yoder played on Cornell’s first NCAA Division III Tournament team in 2013. She led the Rams back to nationals during a dynamic 2018 campaign, her first as head coach of the program.

The Yoder-coached 2018 squad earned an automatic NCAA berth by winning the Midwest Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Rams went on to record the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win at the Luther Regional and finished a successful season 27-21.

Yoder's Rams also qualified for the MWC Tournament in 2024 and 2023. Cornell has fielded 23 all-MWC performers under Yoder, who ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time coaching wins list with 103.

A native of Chicago, Ill., Yoder had an accomplished playing career at Cornell, twice collecting first team all-MWC honors (2013, 2014). She was tabbed 2013 MWC South Division Pitcher of the Year, and also landed on the Pella Regional All-Tournament Team that season.

Yoder was part of history in 2013 when the Rams captured their first MWC Tournament title and received an NCAA berth. Cornell won 92 games during Yoder's time on the Hilltop. As a senior, she was selected Cornell’s Sportswoman of the Year. 

Yoder holds Cornell pitching records for shutouts in a season (7 in 2013) and opponent batting average for a career (.230). She ranks third on the program’s career list for strikeouts (321). Yoder made 73 appearances in the pitching circle, fashioning a 37-13 record and 1.95 ERA in 373.2 innings.

Yoder spent the 2017 season as pitching coach at NCAA Division I Hampton University. The Pirates won the Northern Division of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with a 17-1 record. Yoder’s staff featured an all-MEAC pitcher on a team that finished 23-22 overall.  

Prior to landing in Hampton, Va., Yoder was a graduate assistant during the 2016 campaign at Division I Eastern Illinois University. She served as pitching coach there, working with a first team all-Ohio Valley Conference pitcher and helping the Panthers earn the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament.

Yoder was an assistant at Lake Land College (Mattoon, Ill.) in 2015. The Lakers finished that season 53-10, rolled through the Great Rivers Athletic Conference at 18-0 and took runner-up at NJCAA regionals. 

Yoder was head coach of Premier Fastpitch Girls Club Softball, based in Gays, Ill.

Yoder earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell in kinesiology. She added a master’s in kinesiology and sport studies, with an emphasis in sports administration, from Eastern Illinois in May 2016.