Tina Kramos was announced as the head coach of Redbird softball on August 28, 2022, after long-time head coach Melinda Fischer announced her retirement. She enters her 25th season at Illinois State and her third at the helm of the program as head coach. Prior to being handed the reins of the program, Kramos had been promoted to her previous title of senior associate head coach on July 24, 2017, entering her 17th season with Illinois State.
During the 2024 season, Kramos guided the Redbirds to a 16-11 conference record, earning them the No. 3 seed and first-day bye in the MVC Tournament where they advaced to the semifinals. Illinois State had six softball student-athletes selected to All-MVC teams, as junior catcher Bella Wilkerson, junior second baseman Delainey Bryant, and freshman designated player Adisyn Hopkins all earned First Team selections while freshman pitcher Paige McLeod and junior outfielder Addison Masching earned Second-Team honors. Senior Jayden Standish also earned a spot on the MVC All-Defensive team for the second consecutive year.
As an assistant coach at ISU, Kramos has coached three All-Americans (Amber Smith - 2006; Kara Nelson - 2007, 2010; Abby Olson - 2010), and played a large role in then-freshman Kara Nelson earning the 2007 Valley Player of the Year Award, the first time in conference history that a freshman had that award bestowed upon her. Nelson went on to claim a second MVC Player of the Year honor in 2011 under Kramos’ guidance, while catchers Elizabeth Kay won the award in 2013 and Jordan de los Reyes won the award in 2017.
Kramos has also mentored 10 NFCA All-Region selections since 2017, one of them, Emme Olson, in back-to-back seasons. Olson also became the new program record-holder in career doubles in the 2023 season in the Kramos era. The Redbirds finished third overall in Missouri Valley Conference regular season play, and made it to the MVC quarterfinals. Before arriving at Illinois State, Kramos coached softball from 1995-97 at Colorado-Colorado Springs before she spent three years on the coaching staff at Nicholls State.
Prior to her coaching career, Kramos was a member of the Missouri State softball team from 1990-95 and was a two-time All-Valley First-Team selection. Kramos has continued her softball career beyond coaching, as she was selected to the Greek National Team in the summer of 2002. Earning multiple championships, Kramos played for the team that won the 2003 European Championship in Italy, while the Greek National Team took second-place honors in 2005 at the European Championships in Prague.
She played with the Greek Olympic softball team in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2006 Women’s Softball World Championships. In 2015, she was selected as the head coach for the Greek National Team that competed at the European Championships in Rosemalen, Netherlands. Kramos also played for the East Peoria Avanti’s (1995) and Michigan Cruise (1996-2000), with both teams part of the ASA Women’s Majors.