Lamar University out of Beaumont, Texas, had an idea. They wanted to restart their college softball program in 2013. Here's the problem: they did not have a facility, team, players, or a coach.

Enter head coach Holly Bruder, who decided to accept the challenge of starting a softball team from scratch. Why?

"I'm crazy," coach Bruder joked in an interview with FloSoftball. "Professionally, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. Before Lamar, I took over a bad program and turned it around. But this was the most difficult ever."

In a matter of five years, coach Bruder went from figuring out where Lamar would be playing softball to being one controversial decision away from winning a postseason championship. The progress from nothing to something was very fast. So how did Holly Bruder get this softball program to the point where Lamar ranks in the top 100 RPI every year and is competing for titles?

It's a testament to what happens when you combine hard work, a commitment to the process, quality players, and weathering difficult battles.

Coach Bruder Motivated By Outworking Competition

The first time you talk to Bruder, you're immediately struck by her undeniable energy, passion, and determination to be successful. If you told coach Bruder she needs to reach the Women's College World Series in the next five years, she would find a way to make get the Cardinals to OKC.

That determination is rooted in her first year as Lamar head coach. The average skipper would have been happy just making sure they had a team, uniforms, and a schedule. Not coach Bruder.

"I did not want to just be competitive, I wanted to win," she said.

How about that first roster? Seventeen freshmen, seven JUCO transfers, and no softball field. Lamar softball started at a county park near campus in Beaumont. Not only was coach Bruder tackling a list of 10,000 things required to start a softball team -- including trying to create a playable softball field -- but she wanted to win right away.

"I had no kids with DI athletics experience. But, they loved softball and loved the experience," she recalled before noting the ownership she felt about the team. "These were my kids -- I recruited them. So, I had to hold myself accountable: 'How good and fast can we be today?' We had to practice harder than everyone else."

How Do You Win At Softball Without A Field?

The demands that Bruder placed on herself were equal to the demands she placed on her players. She was not interested in hearing excuses why Lamar could not be successful right away. It did not matter that their "softball field" was rented out on weekends or that the program's "facilities" were nonexistent.

Perhaps the biggest moment of success in the early years was a trip to Austin to play Top 25 Texas. Lamar shocked the Longhorns and the softball world with a 9-1 victory. Coach Bruder remains very proud of that moment, but recalls how quickly she was brought down to earth. Lamar just beat the flagship program in Texas and she returned home to clean up trash and debris from their softball field after it was rented out to a local league.

"It was so humbling," she recalled. "It was the hardest two years of my career."

How about things becoming more difficult? Bruder knew that Lamar Softball needed a consistent home; they could not continue to play at a local park. But until the university could build a facility, there was nowhere to play.

So coach Bruder and her loyal coaching staff that have been vital for Lamar's success built a softball field.

"I took it upon myself to make a field on campus after playing at the park," she said. "My mindset was: 'If we don't have a true field, we'll make one.'"

The Lamar coaching staff turned a driving range behind the baseball field into a softball field. To create a backstop, they strung an old baseball cage and painted it black. They used turf for home plate. They also strung together a net with cables and poles to create the hitting area. And they sprinkled in a little dirt to create the infield.

Here's the kicker: they did not even have a left field wall when they started playing. It didn't matter, though. The players were conditioned to be professionals, do their job, overcome adverse situations, and outwork their opponents. That mentality was certainly put to the test in the 2017 postseason.

Lamar Cardinals Win And Lose Postseason Tournament

In just the fifth season of Lamar Softball, the Cardinals qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championship. Coach Bruder's team advanced through the opening rounds, advanced through the semifinals, and made it to the finals against Liberty University.

Lamar just needed to beat Liberty once to claim the NISC Title. However, Liberty won game one of the championship. That set up a winner-take-all game two -- and a world of controversy.

In the second championship game, Liberty held a 3-1 lead after five innings. Then Lamar made their comeback and took a 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning. But a rain delay stopped play. After only 19 minutes, tournament officials called the game. That decision canceled out Lamar's rally, reverting to the 3-1 score, which gave Liberty the championship.

The decision to call the game came one day after Triple Crown Sports officials waited 4 hours and 30 minutes through a rain delay during Lamar's victory over Kennesaw State in the semifinals.

Thus, the decision to call the championship game after a quarter-hour delay did not sit well with coach Bruder.

"When it happened, I don't mind winning or losing. Neither winning nor losing scares me. I am disappointed to be cheated," she said. "Triple Crown -- I applaud them for trying to have a second level postseason championship. It's a great tournament. But, to this day, I have not gotten an apology. I feel like I'm owed that and I know we were cheated."

It was also painful for coach Bruder because that's how the softball careers ended for a handful of her seniors. These were the same seniors who played at a county park and a makeshift field because they believed in a vision from coach Bruder.

How will Lamar respond to this adversity going forward? Bruder wants her team to take away two major lessons:

1. Shut the door on an opponent when the opportunity is there. If Lamar won the first championship game, there never would have been a second game.

2. Remain professional and do not make excuses. Coach Bruder does not believe in playing with a chip on your shoulder, so her message is that Lamar Softball does not have to prove anything to anyone. That's why she is imploring next year's team to not think about how last year ended because they cannot control that result.

Bruder never made excuses when she started a softball program from scratch. She demanded maximum effort from herself and her team, whether playing on a makeshift field or not receiving a fair shake in a postseason championship.

These lessons will drive Lamar to even more success in the future, especially now that the Cardinals have a complex to support their team.

Coach Bruder Drawing Elite Opponents To Lamar Complex

The Lamar Softball Complex has put the Cardinals on the map of college softball. This brand-new facility is not only a great recruiting tool to bring in elite softball players, but an opportunity to attract high-level opponents.

Bruder is scheduling softball powers like Washington for a series in Beaumont. She also has an agreement with LSU for a series. Who could have imagined that in 2013 when the softball program started?

"We went from playing in a park to no park to a multi-million dollar facility. We came from nothing to make a name for ourselves," she said.

So what's next for Lamar Softball? Here is their three-pronged plan:

1. Win the Southland Conference Championship.

Bruder says Lamar has the athletes, coaching staff, and facility to win a conference title. Now they need to actually go do it.

"All of that first-year stuff -- I don't want that to be forgotten," she said. "We want to stay competitive and be a threat in conference even during a down year. Every year, no matter our strength, we are going to be competitive, scrappy, play softball right, and do the right things on and off the field."

2. Keep winning 30 games per season and rank in the RPI top 100.

Coach Bruder wants her team to win the conference title to qualify for the NCAA tournament. But she also foresees a time when the Southland will get an at-large berth. With teams like McNeese State leading the way, the conference is slowly rounding into a respected mid-major that could generate more than one bid to NCAAs.

3. Win championships.

Coach Bruder was one game away from claiming a postseason title in Lamar's fifth season of softball. The Cardinals will not rest until they claim a title. Just look at this progression:

• 2013: One player on all-conference team
• 2016: Newcomer of the year -- Ciara Luna
• 2016: Made conference championship game
• 2017: Played in NICS title game
• 2017: Six players on all-conference team

Suddenly, though, Lamar hit a potential roadblock in their progression. In late August, Hurricane Harvey swept through South Texas, damaging homes, properties, and families. At the time, Bruder was trying to get her next softball team ready for offseason workouts. She even grilled a ridiculous amount of food for a "welcome back" BBQ at her house. Then, everything changed.

When Hurricane Harvey hit the Beaumont area, some players returned home with their parents, while other players stayed on campus and then had to be evacuated.

"Now in 20 years of coaching, I was experiencing this for the first time," Bruder said. After all, she's from Michigan, where she knows snow, not hurricanes.

Fortunately, Bruder was able to draw from her experience of starting a team from scratch to pull her team together and get through the massive storm. Everyone ended up safe and eventually started school, albeit a few weeks late.

The storm also set back fall conditioning. Instead of being able to pace the schedule, Bruder had to figure out a way to get her team prepared with fewer weeks to work with.

"I have to win more games than I lose in softball," she said. "In May, no one is going to care about the Harvey setback. Our mindset is: 'Don't rush through things, but we have to get a lot done.' As much as you hate to say it, we have to move on despite seeing remnants of the hurricane all around us."

If anyone can handle the adversity that comes with a major obstacle, it's Bruder.

Watch out for the Lamar Cardinals in 2018 and beyond. This team is battle-tested, having been through the unbelievable challenges of a start-up softball program. Make no excuses, be professional, work hard, and outwork your opponent. Sometimes that opponent is another softball team, while other times it's a massive storm.

That's the identity Holly Bruder wanted her team to develop when she took over in 2013. And that will be the identity of a tough-minded team through the ups and downs of being a start-up softball program looking to do big things in college softball going forward.