Texas Tech Welcomes Letty Olivarez to Softball Staff

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech head softball coach Adrian Gregory has hired Letty Olivarez as an assistant coach announced Friday.

Olivarez most recently served two seasons as an assistant coach at San Jose State. She was the co-head coach at Arizona State in 2016 when the Sun Devils made an NCAA Regional appearance and previously held stints at CSUN (2015), Stanford (2012-14) and Wisconsin (2011).

"We are very excited to welcome 'Coach O' to our family," Gregory said. "Her playing and coaching experience at the elite level will bring seasoned direction to our pitching staff. I am fired up to see what she will do with our talented athletes in the circle! This is a great addition for our program, and we are ready to get to work!"

Olivarez worked with pitchers and catchers at San Jose State, helping lead the Spartans to back-to-back 30-win seasons. A team known for years for its hitting prowess, Olivarez had an immediate impact on the pitching staff that helped elevate the program to heights unseen.

Olivarez improved the team era from 5.24 prior to her arrival to 3.00 her first year and 3.30 in 2018. Last season, she groomed junior Madison Aurin, who had only pitched 0.2 innings since high school, into an All-Mountain West Conference performer. Aurin posted 11 wins in 16 starts with a 2.97 ERA that ranked seventh in the conference.

In 2017, the Spartans boasted the Mountain West's top pitching staff behind senior Katelyn Linford. Due to their success in the circle, the Spartans won their first Mountain West softball title, a bid to the NCAA Regional and their first postseason victory.

Under Linford's tutelage, Linford earned All-America, NFCA All-Pacific Region and first-team All-Mountain West honors after going 24-8 with 192 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA. Linford ranked among the Mountain West's top two in ERA, innings, strikeouts, wins and appearances.

In 2016, as co-head coach at Arizona State, she led the Sun Devils to an NCAA Regional appearance while developing four NFCA All-West Region, three All-Pac-12 Conference, and two Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selections.

Olivarez spent the 2015 season at Cal State Northridge (CSUN) where she helped lead the Matadors program to its first outright Big West Championship in 19 seasons and its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2007.

After two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Stanford, Olivarez was promoted to assistant coach for the Cardinal in 2014. During her time there, the team made two appearances in the NCAA Regional. She coached two National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans, nine NFCA All-West Region award winners, 13 All Pac-12 Conference Team selections, one USA National Player of the Year and two Finalists for Lowe's Seniors Class.

Olivarez played her college ball at Wisconsin where she earned All-Big Ten honors as a senior. She spent one year (2011) with the Badgers as a student assistant before returning home to Northern California and joining the staff at Stanford.

Texas Tech returns its top pitcher from 2018 in rising-sophomore Erin Edmoundson. Tech also welcomes DePaul transfer and All-Big East First Team pitcher Missy Zoch to the program for 2019. Additionally, Gregory signed two high school pitchers in Brooke Blackwell of Grandview, Texas, and Morgan Hornback from Oregon City, Ore.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the softball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by liking TexasTechSB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechSB on Twitter and Instagram.

Texas Tech Welcomes Letty Olivarez to Softball Staff

Players Mentioned

Erin Edmoundson

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