Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University Dept of Athletics
777 Glades Rd Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
Division 1 Florida Southeast
Public Very Large National competitor

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Jordan Clark

Jordan Clark was named as Florida Atlantic's head softball coach in June of 2022 and has soared to unprecedented early success in her coaching career.


In 2025, Clark guided the Owls to their second straight American Athletic Conference regular season title as well as a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regionals. With a record of 45-12, Florida Atlantic achieved its most victories and recorded its first win in a Regional game since the 2016 season while ranking as high as No. 18 in national polls. Clark achieved her 100th career win on March 9.


During the 2025 campaign, FAU set its single season program record in runs (367, 28th nationally) and led the AAC in fielding percentage (.984, second nationally), batting average (.333, 19th nationally), hits (508, 22nd nationally), doubles (93, 18th nationally), ERA (2.70, 24th nationally), and strikeouts (322, tied for 25th).


Multiple All-Americans were named with junior pitcher Autumn Courtney earning NFCA Third Team All-American and Bella Foran named Freshman All-American Second Team by DISoftball. Clark and her staff once again received AAC Coaching Staff of the Year.


Courtney was the unanimous AAC Pitcher of the Year and named to the All-Conference First Team, along with redshirt sophomore outfielder Kylie Hammonds and junior catcher Chloe Yeatts. Five Owls: sophomore first baseman Bella Cimino, sophomore shortstop Kiley Channell, freshman Foran, senior pitcher Ainsley Lambert, and junior third baseman Jesiana Mora were named All-Conference Second Team. Mora received AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors while Foran and second baseman Destiny Johns earned spots on the All-Conference freshman team.


Under Clark's guidance, the Owls put forth their best campaign in years during the 2024 season, with a 41-16 record and their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2016. In its inaugural season with the American Athletic Conference, FAU took the league by storm with a 21-6 record in conference play and finished on top as the AAC regular season champions.


The Owls racked up awards, with Clark and her assistants being named the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Kiley Channell was named Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-Rookie Team, while Ainsley Lambert, Katelynn de Leon, Kamryn Jackson, Presley Leebrick, and Trinity Schlotterbeck were named First Team All-Conference. Sophomore Jesiana Mora was named Second Team All-Conference.


Florida Atlantic found itself on top of several AAC categories. The team as a whole finished first in at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, walks, hit-by-pitches, on base percentage, stolen bases and fielding while placing second in batting average. For individual stats, five Owls finished in the top 20 of the league's batting average, two were in top 10 for slugging percentage, three were top five in on base percentage, two were top five in OPS, and two were top five in stolen bases.


Schlotterbeck was named Softball America All-American, NFCA First Team All-Region, and NFCA All-American at the end of May and was named among the top 100 players by Softball America, ranked at No. 67. She also finished the season ranked as the nation's No. 2 two-way player for Softball America in the last ranking of the season. She became the first Owl under Clark's watch to go pro after signing with the Texas Monarch in the Women's Professional Fastpitch League, the ninth in program history.


Also on the pitching staff was Ainsley Lambert, who led the conference in saves (8), hits allowed (63), and runs allowed (31).


The Owls succeeded in the classroom as well with 18 players being named NFCA Scholar-Athletes.


In her first year at the helm of Florida Atlantic, Clark led the Owls to 35-20 record. The 35 victories mark the Owls’ highest win total since the 2017 season. Under Clark’s guidance, FAU won 15 Conference USA games and two games in the CUSA Tournament. The 2023 Owls enjoyed playing in Paradise, as they racked up a 21-9 record at home.


Clark coached Gabby Sacco to Conference USA Pitcher of the Year honors as well as NFCA All-South Region recognition. In doing so, Sacco became Florida Atlantic’s first C-USA major award winner since 2016 and its first All-Region honoree since 2019. Clark also coached catcher Olivia Peterson to Second Team All-C-USA honors. FAU led Conference USA in earned run average with a team mark of 2.10. FAU rattled off a nine-game winning streak, which ties the program’s longest streak since the 2017 season.


Clark came to FAU after a successful four-year stint as an assistant coach at Ohio State.


“I am incredibly humbled and honored to be named head coach at FAU,” Clark said. “To follow in the footsteps of a legend like Joan Joyce is a task that I do not take lightly. The legacy that Coach Joyce left on this program and on the sport of softball is immeasurable. I am excited to get to Boca Raton and to continue to build the program into a contender in both our conference and on a national stage. I would like to thank Brian White, Andy Seeley and Mary Giardina for this opportunity. I am pumped to get to work. Go Owls!”


During Clark’s tenure on the coaching staff, the Buckeyes were 104-63 and advanced to two NCAA Softball Regionals. For the past three seasons, Clark was largely responsible for the Ohio State offense, which finished No. 4 in the Big Ten in batting average and top five in both home runs and slugging percentage last season.


During her first year with the Buckeyes, Clark primarily worked with the infield, outfield and slappers. The Buckeyes turned 29 double plays and had a .967 fielding percentage, both improvements from the previous season. She helped lefty slapper Bri Betschel earn NFCA third team All-Midwest Region and second team All-Big Ten honors after increasing her batting average by more than 100 points. With Clark’s tutelage, Niki Carver was a first team All-Big Ten selection and hit .415 in 22 conference games with a league-best .581 on-base percentage in 2022.


Prior to her time at Ohio State, Clark was a volunteer assistant at Arkansas for three seasons, where the Razorbacks took part in two NCAA Regionals (2017, 2018) as well as an NCAA Super Regional in 2018. Clark was a member of an NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year with Arkansas in 2018.


Clark played collegiate softball at Miami (Ohio) and finished her playing career with top-five program rankings in at-bats, runs, hits and walks. She was a two-year team captain, two-time All-Mid-American Conference performer and the 2012 recipient of the MAC’s Nan Harvey Sportsmanship Award. Clark helped Miami to a pair of MAC Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths both in 2009 and 2012.


Prior to her time at Arkansas, Clark spent two years as an instructor with Diamond Athletics, where she provided one-on-one lessons and organized skills clinics. She also has high school and travel ball coaching experience.

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Nicole Newman

Nicole Newman joined the FAU softball program as an assistant coach in July of 2022 and focuses on the pitchers.


During the 2025 season, Newman was a member of the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season after Florida Atlantic won back-to-back American Athletic Conference regular season titles. Newman coached an All-American for the second straight season, with Autumn Courtney earning third-team honors from the NFCA. Courtney, in her first season as an Owl, was the unanimous AAC Pitcher of the Year after going 24-4, the 11th most wins in the nation, tossing 172 strikeouts, 30th nationally, and holding a 2.03 ERA, 32nd in the nation. Her 3.97 hits allowed per seven innings was the fourth lowest in Division I. Courtney received several additional postseason honors including First Team All-Region and was ranked No. 47 in D1Softball's Top 100 players and No. 79 by Softball America.


Also under Newman's watch was Lambert in her senior season as she led the nation in saves with 11, Jaden Martinez who tossed the third perfect game in program history and first since 2002. Additionally, Gabby Sacco threw her second career no-hitter.


As a pitching staff, the Owls recorded an ERA of 2.70, lowest in the AAC and 24th in the nation while tossing 322 strikeouts, which ties for 25th nationally, and allowing 270 hits, 87 less than the closest in the conference. They also led the AAC in the lowest opponent batting average allowed at .201.


In 2024, Newman was part of the American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year as Florida Atlantic won the regular season championship on their way to 41 wins, most since 2016.


Newman coached the pitching staff to a 2.87 ERA and allowed the fewest walks in the AAC at 186. The Owls boasted the pitcher with the third lowest ERA in the conference in Ainsley Lambert (2.41) and seventh lowest in Trinity Schlotterbeck (2.67). Lambert led the conference in saves (8) while Schlotterbeck was second in wins (16). Under Newman's guidance, Schlotterbeck was named Softball America All-American and NFCA All-American at the end of May and was named among the top 100 players by Softball America, ranked at No. 67.


During her first year in Boca Raton, Newman was a part of an Owl staff that led Florida Atlantic to a 35-20 record, which marks the most wins for FAU since the 2017 season. In her first season, Newman had an immediate impact on the Owls’ pitching staff, as coached Gabby Sacco to Conference USA Pitcher of the Year honors. In doing so, Sacco became the Owls’ first major conference award winner since the 2016 season. Sacco additionally was an NFCA All-South Region honoree, the first for the program since 2019, and a First Team All-C-USA recipient.


Newman guided the Florida Atlantic pitching staff to a 2.10 ERA, which ranked 19th in the nation and led Conference USA. All five of Florida Atlantic’s pitchers had under a 4.0 ERA, and four out of the five had a sub-3.0 ERA. The team's ERA is the Owls’ lowest in a season since 2016.


Newman came to the Owls after one year on the Creighton staff and two years on the Minnesota staff, which followed a decorated pitching career at Drake.


“Nicole had an amazing career in the circle and still holds many records to this day,” Clark said. “But there is no doubt that Nicole’s impact for the next generation of pitchers is what I’m the most excited about. She brings a calming presence and an extensive knowledge of how she plans to develop pitchers at an elite level. Nicole comes highly recommended from some of the best pitching minds in the game. I am thankful she chose to join our staff.”


Before switching over to the coaching ranks, Newman was a 2019 NFCA First Team All-America honoree for Drake, the first NFCA First-Team All-American for the Bulldogs in program history. A dominant force in the circle, Newman recorded some eye-popping statistics. In her senior season, Newman set the NCAA Division I record with five perfect games, which still stands today, and led the nation in strikeouts (423), while ranking third in the nation in ERA (1.07). For her career, Newman pitched to a 93-33 record with a 1.72 ERA and 1,223 strikeouts in 787.2 innings pitched. She still holds career records at Drake for both wins and strikeouts.


“I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, and I am excited to be a part of Jordan Clark’s staff,” Newman said. “I love the vision she has for this program, and I know she will do an excellent job leading. Coach Joan Joyce was one of the greatest pitchers and pitching minds in the game. I am honored, and I am looking forward to building on past traditions and success as we follow in the footsteps of one of the legends in our sport. I love that I am going to be surrounded by so many amazing people and ambitious young women. I cannot wait to keep building something special with this program in Paradise!”


During her time as a graduate manager at Minnesota, Newman was part of a staff that led the Golden Gophers to a 31-13 mark in 2021. The Golden Gophers ranked 26th in the nation with a 2.06 team ERA in the 2021 season.

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