Head Softball Coach | Pitching Summit

13Nov

Rachel Lawson

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Entering her 13th season as UK's head coach, Lawson has developed the Wildcat softball program into one of the nation’s best. The winningest head coach in program history, Lawson has lead UK to its first-ever Women's College World Series (2014), seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last nine seasons, and a program-best 50 wins in 2014.
Six of the last seven seasons, Lawson has led the Wildcats to a national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The school's first-ever national seed was in 2013. Kentucky, which has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last 11 seasons, is one of just 18 schools nationally to claim that honor.
The 2016 team finished with some of the best pitching numbers in program history, setting school records for lowest team ERA (1.71), lowest opponent batting average (.191), fewest runs allowed (130), fewest earned runs allowed (98), fewest hits allowed (280) and fewest doubles allowed (44).
Lawson has helped UK players earn 3 NFCA All American Honors, 37 All-SEC honors and 25 SEC Player of the Week honors.
As the pitching coach for the Wildcats, Lawson has had three different pitchers throw no-hitters against top-25 teams. In all, UK has 17 career no-hitters - all of which have come under Lawson's tenure - including two perfect games.
Lawson

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30Nov

Piper Ritter – 2018

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Former Minnesota pitcher Piper Ritter is in her 11th season with theGophers as pitching coach,having developed 3 of the top hurlers in Minnesota softball history in Brianna Hassett, Sara Moulton and Sara Groenewegen.
In 2017, Ritter helped coach the Gophers to a historic season:
- Third lowest ERA in the NCAA in 2017 with a staff 1.19 ERA
- Program best 56-5 record
- Longest win streak to start a season with 19 and longest win streak ever with 26 straight
- Prior to the 2017 season the Gophers were never ranked in the top-10 in either major polls. They reached No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll
- They won their first regular season Big Ten title since 1991 and their third Big Ten tournament championship in 4 years. Ritter was part of the 2017 NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
Ritter guided Groenewegen to numerous honors during her Gopher career: Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-American. In 2017, Groenewegen finished her Gopher career impressively, posting a 31-4 record with a 0.63 ERA and 307 strikeouts. The ERA was the 2nd lowest in the NCAA and 2nd lowest ever recorded in Gophers history. Groenewegen graduated as the all-time Gophers s

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29Nov

Kelly Inouye-Perez – 2018

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Kelly Inouye-Perez begins her 12th season as theBruins' head coach in 2018, with an overall record of 486-159-1 (.753). This season also marks her 30th straight season in Westwood – she started her career as an All-Conference catcher for the Bruins, and then spent 13 years as an assistant coach under the legendary Sue Enquist.

Her time with the Bruins is highlighted by 7 NCAA Championships and 8 Pac-10 titles.

In 2017, Inouye-Perez led the Bruins to yet another stellar season in their storied history, as the Bruins advanced to the Women's College World Series for the 3rd season in a row. In addition, Rachel Garcia was named the NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Pac 12 Freshman of the Year, and NFCA 2nd Team All-America, and 5 Bruins were named to the All-Pac-12 Teams.

In 2010, Inouye-Perez led the UCLA softball program to its 12th national title and 11th NCAA Championship. The Bruins (50-11) went a perfect 10-0 in the postseason.

Over Inouye-Perez's 11 seasons, the Bruins have earned 27 All-American awards, 53 All-Region honors and 76 All-Pac-10/12 accolades.

Under Kelly’s tutelage the Bruin pitchers and catchers are a who’s who lis

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29Nov

Trisha Ford – 2018

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Trisha Ford was hired to lead theSun Devils Softball Programin 2016, after successful coaching stints at Fresno State, Stanford, and St. Mary’s (CA).

In her 1st season at the helm of the Sun Devils, the team finished with a 31-22 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devil statistics revealed just how far the program had come under Ford, as the ASU pitching staff dropped their ERA to a combined 2.32, a full point lower than their 3.66 mark from 2016.

Ford arrived at ASU with a reputation for mentoring and developing pitchers. In her 4 years at Fresno State (head coach) and Stanford (primary pitching coach), Ford’s pitching staffs posted sub-3.00 ERAs 11 times with 4 sub-2.00 campaigns.

After taking over the storied Bulldog softball program in 2012, Ford claimed her 1st conference title in 2015 and led Fresno State to back-to-back postseason campaigns. She posted an overall record of 142-71-1 (.667), including a record of 82-28-1 (.743) in 2015 and 2016, and was named MWC Coach of the Year both years.

In her 9 years with the Cardinals prior to Fresno State, Ford helped guide Stanford to its greatest run in school history and a 385-155 (.713) overall record. The team advanced to the postseason each season, making 6 Super Regionals and 1 Women's College World Ser

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27Nov

Larissa Anderson – 2018

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Larissa Anderson is entering her 1st season as the head coach at theUniversity of Missouri.

Prior to being named head coach at Missouri, Anderson fashioned a 130-73-1 (.640) record during her four years as the Head Coach at Hofstra University, with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, and two Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) titles.

Anderson also spent 13 seasons on the Hofstra staff as an assistant, including the last 10 as the associate head coach. She was just the 6th head coach in program history since 1980, where she took over for Bill Edwards.

The 2018 campaign was a historic one for Hofstra Softball, as Anderson led the 24th ranked Pride to a 41-14 record, the CAA Tournament title and a NCAA Regional bid. The squad set school records for runs scored, home runs and RBI. Hofstra also garnered a league high 8 CAA postseason honors headlined by Sarah Cornell’s selection as CAA Pitcher of the Year.

In 2017, Anderson led Hofstra back to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship game, as the Pride posted its 28th consecutive winning season. Under Anderson’s guidance, freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell was named to the NFCA All-Northeast Region 1st Team, All-CAA 2nd Team and All-Rookie Team.

In her 1st season as head coach in 2015, Anderson led Hofstra to

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