Patty Stockman

Hardworking, humble, loyal and competitive, Patty Stockman is regarded as one of the best college softball pitchers in Iowa’s history.

A native of Oxford, Stockman came to UNI to study physical education from Clear Creek High School. During her four-year playing career for the Panthers from 1973 to 1977, she compiled 60 victories in the pitching circle to just five losses with three state titles and three Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) College World Series appearances. UNI most notably finished as national runners-up in 1975 and climbed the college softball mountain with a national championship in 1977.

In an April 1977 interview with The Northern Iowan, Stockman’s UNI-first mentality took center stage, even as she was preparing to be drafted into a professional softball career. 

“We play 84 games from May 28 through about August 20, but I told them (professional teams) I wouldn't be able to start right away,” Stockman said. “I am hoping UNI will be playing in the World Series again!” 

Stockman also played amateur softball in her college summers and later was drafted by the Buffalo Briskies of the International Women’s Professional Softball Association. Following her playing career, she would go on to coach multiple sports at Crestwood High School in Iowa, as well as softball at the University of Iowa, and was later inducted into the Iowa Girls Softball Hall of Fame in 1982. 

Stockman would use her UNI degree in physical education to teach at Clarion-Goldfield High School and later became the school’s athletic director.

A two-time inductee into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame as both an individual (1988) and team member (2008), Stockman became the first player in Panther softball history to have her jersey retired, which came in an April 2026 ceremony on UNI’s home diamond.