Rounding Third Softball

Houston has announced the hiring of Courtney Oliver as associate head coach. Oliver joins the Cougars after leading the program at fellow AAC competitor East Carolina the last six seasons. The hiring comes as a bit of a surprise as Oliver had been considered high on the list of potential candidates for the open head coaching position at Hofstra being a program alum.

Ashley Fleming is joining the coaching staff at Missouri-St. Louis. She fills the assistant position that was recently left behind by Lauren Lappin who joined the coaching staff at Arizona. Fleming spent the last six years as head coach at McKendree where she compiled a record of 149-119.

Georgia Southern and new head coach Sharon Perkins has announced her inaugural coaching staff. The Eagles have added Heather Gelbard and Mary Beth Dennison to the staff. Gelbard will work with the GSU hitters and comes from South Carolina where she spent the last two seasons as the volunteer assistant. She also had coaching stops at Barry, Florida Atlantic, and was head coach in stints at both Maryland-Baltimore County and Florida International. Dennison is a Georgia Southern alum and returns to Statesboro as pitching coach after serving on staffs at Michigan, Georgia College, and East Georgia State.

Rhode Island has named Whitney Goldstein their new head coach. Goldstein has served the last eight seasons leading the program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She was named NEWMAC Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2019 and ECAC New England Coach of Year in 2016. Before coming to WPI she was an assistant at Amherst College after an All-American playing career at UMass.

Louisiana Tech has added Shelby Hiers to their coaching staff. Hiers joins the Lady Techster program under new head coach Josh Taylor after spending the past two seasons as the volunteer assistant at Georgia. The former Arkansas standout helped guide the Bulldogs through a miraculous run in the NCAA Postseason that was capped with an appearance at the 2021 Women’s College World Series.

Mercer finally landed on their new head coach. The Bears have hired Santa Fe College coach Lindsay Fico to lead the program. Fico coached the Florida JUCO the last three seasons compiling a 70-58 record. Before her first collegiate appointment at Santa Fe, the former Florida Gator infielder worked in private lessons and coached club ball.

University of St. Thomas has named Jennifer Bagley Trotter their new head coach. Trotter comes to the Tommies after 20 seasons leading the program at DII Missouri Western State. She compiled a record of 676-404 with the Griffins and made the NCAA Postseason 11 of the last 16 seasons. Trotter replaces Hall of Fame Coach John Tschida who guided St. Thomas from 2001-2021 and won two Division III National Titles. St. Thomas makes the unprecedented move from Division III to Division I starting in the 2021-22 sports year.

After the departure of both Chris and Kate Malveaux to join the coaching staff at Tennessee, Missouri is making moves to shore up their staff moving forward. The Tigers have promoted assistant coach Sara Marino to associate head coach, while also hiring volunteer assistant coach Michaela Transue in a full-time capacity. Marino was part of head coach Larissa Anderson’s staff at Hofstra and joined her on the move to Missouri in 2018. Transue, a former Hofstra letterwinner, joined the Tiger coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2019 before taking on the volunteer role.

Sam Marder has joined the coaching staff at Oregon. Marder spent the 2021 season as an analysis for the National Champion Oklahoma Sooners. She has been one of the up-and-comer names in the coaching profession in recent years having made stops at Texas Tech, College of Charleston, and Boise State. She will work primarily with the Duck offense.

Delaware Valley University has announced the promotion of Jamie Stefani to full-time head coach after the competition of a national search. The DVU Alum assumed the head coach position on a part-time basis in January of 2020, two months before the 2020 campaign that was ultimately cut short by the pandemic. Prior to taking charge, she was a graduate assistant with the program. The Aggies went 3-22 in the 2021 season.