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Josh Taylor
Josh Taylor enters his third season as head coach of the Louisiana Tech Softball program.
In year two, Taylor led LA Tech to a 32-24 overall record with a 13-11 mark in Conference USA play. The Bulldogs went 16-9 at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field. LA Tech swept SEMO in the season-opening series, outscoring the Redhawks 18-1 overall to increase their home winning streak to 15 games which was the nation’s fifth longest home winning streak at the time.
Wins over NCAA Regional Participant and A-SUN Champions Central Arkansas and NC State highlighted non-conference play. The Bulldogs' win over the Wolfpack was the first over a power five opponent since Feb. 24, 2019.
Taylor led LA Tech to an eight-game winning streak from April 14-April 28. During the win streak LA Tech swept UTSA and UTEP and also defeated Grambling in a midweek before earning a thrilling 4-3 series opening win over NCAA Tournament Participant Charlotte.
In the circle, the Bulldogs posted a 2.38 ERA which was the lowest by a Louisiana Tech pitching staff since 1999.
Offensively Kylie Neel and Katelin Cooper both cracked the top-10 in single season RBI with 45 and 42 respectively. In addition to leading the team in RBI, Neel led Tech in batting average (.351), doubles (11), total bases (81) and slugging percentage (.536).
Numerous Bulldogs took home postseason honors as pitcher Allie Floyd was named CUSA Freshman of the Year and Sierra Sacco (first team), Neel (second team) and Mary Martinez (freshman team) all earned CUSA honors.
In addition to conference awards, Neel was named second-team NFCA All-Mideast Region while Floyd was selected to the NFCA All-Mideast Region third team.
It didn’t take long for Josh Taylor to make his mark in Ruston in 2022.
In only his first year as the Louisiana Tech head coach, Taylor was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding the program to the 2022 C-USA regular season title.
It was quite a turnaround.
Taylor, who was named head coach by VP and Director of Athletics Eric Wood on June 7, 2021, took a Tech team that finished 22-30 in 2021 and orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in the collegiate softball world in 2022.
Under Taylor’s guidance, the Bulldogs posted a mark of 39-20, including a 18-6 record in league games to claim only the second regular season conference title in program history. Tech started league play 0-3 but then won 18 of its final 21 C-USA games, including the final 11 of the season to win the crown by one game.
The 39 wins were tied for the seventh most in program history and the 18 league wins were the second most in program history.
Not bad for a program that was picked to finish seventh in the C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, a team that didn’t have a single representative on the 15-player preseason all-conference team.
It took an unforgettable two-out, five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning of the season finale against Southern Miss, but Katelin Cooper’s bases-clearing, walk-off triple gave Tech an 8-7 win on Senior Day Sunday at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field sending the Tech players, coaches and fans into a celebration that won’t soon be forgotten in Ruston.
Taylor’s impact on the Tech program was also seen on the stat sheet. As a team, Tech raised its batting average by 60 points (.233 to .293) and almost doubled its run production from the previous season. In the circle, Tech lowered its team earned run average significantly, finishing with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Outfielder Sierra Sacco was named the Conference USA and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Freshman of the Year while being one of 10 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award. Sacco, who didn’t sign with Tech until after Taylor arrived on campus in July, broke the program’s single season hits record while ranking among the national leaders in hits, batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases and runs scored.
Senior Audrey Pickett and junior Amanda Gonzalez joined Sacco on the C-USA first team while Brooke Diaz, Madie Green and Kylie Neel were all named second team all-conference. Sacco, Gonzalez and Diaz were all named all-Mideast Region.
Taylor came to Ruston after spending the past eight seasons at the University of Nevada, including the last five as the head coach of the Mountain West program.
He led the Wolf Pack to a 27-16 record in 2021, including a program record 16 wins in Mountain West action. Nevada posted a non-conference win over No. 2 ranked Washington, a team that finished with 45 wins and an appearance in the Super Regional vs. No. 1 Oklahoma. Nevada won seven of its eight Mountain West series, including a sweep against second place UNLV.
The Wolf Pack hit .289 as a team with five players batting over .300 while recording a school record 62 stolen bases. During his five years as the head coach, all five of his teams finished in the top 10 in program history in batting average. Defensively, his 2019 team shattered the school record for fielding percentage and fewest errors in a season.
Taylor's 2018 team posted two wins over Louisiana Tech in Puerto Vallarta Classic.
Taylor, who served as an assistant coach at Nevada for three seasons (2013-16) before taking over the helm, led Nevada to three straight NISC postseason appearances (2017-19). He developed 19 all-Mountain West honorees during his head coaching stint – five in 2021 – and another 22 Academic All-Mountain West performers.
Under Taylor's guidance, Nevada softball posted impressive marks in the classroom, sporting a fall team grade points average of 3.71 and a spring GPA of 3.75.
Prior to joining the Wolf Pack, Taylor served as the head coach at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. Taylor, who was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Feather River baseball team in his first stint from 2004-07, led the Golden Eagle softball program to three-consecutive Super Regional appearances from 2010 to 2012. His overall record in his four years at Feather River was 113-59, including a 92-37 mark over his final three seasons.
The 2012 season was highlighted by Taylor's third-consecutive 30-win season and his 10th playoff victory in the regional playoff. In 2011, Feather River reached its second-straight Super Regional in a season that also saw Taylor receive the Gatorade Coach of the Year award.
In 2010, Taylor was named Golden Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles to their first GVC title since 2006. The Taylor-led offense topped the GVC in team batting average, runs, RBI, doubles and triples.
Taylor previously served as associate head coach for the Marysville Gold Sox, a collegiate summer league team, from 2008-11. On top of running all aspects of hitting and fielding instruction, Taylor coached multiple players who went on to earn Division I scholarships and two big leaguers in Cody Anderson and Max Stassi. Prior to joining the Gold Sox, Taylor spent a season as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at San Joaquin College in Stockton, Calif. from 2007-08.
A former Wolf Pack baseball player, Taylor was inducted into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015 as part of the 1994 baseball squad that finished with 41 wins, was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation and earned the program's first NCAA regional appearance.
Taylor and his wife, Michelle, have one daughter, Madyson, who graduated from Nevada.
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