Indiana/Purdue Indianapolis

IUPUI Athletics
1000 Waterway Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46202

Division 1 Indiana Midwest

Public Large National competitor

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Coaches

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Elisabeth Beirne

Elisabeth Beirne was named Head Coach of the softball program prior to the 2017 season. Beirne has led the Jaguars to three Horizon League Tournament appearances.

In her seventh season, Beirne and the Jaguars made their return to the Horizon League Tournament with a 12-10 record in conference play. IUPUI entered the tournament as the no. 4 seed but was knocked out in the opening day with losses to Green Bay and Youngstown State.

In her second season, Beirne led the Jaguars to a No. 5 seed in the Horizon League Tournament with an 11-10 record in conference play. The Jagaurs earned a win in the first round of the tournament with a 1-0 win against Northern Kentucky before falling in their next two games. Beirne's squad became the first IUPUI team to beat an SEC team as the Jaguars beat Missouri 9-8 in nine innings on Mar. 2.

In her first season at the helm of the IUPUI program, Beirne led IUPUI to a No. 6 seed in the Horzion League Tournament. The Jaguars won their first two games in the tournament before finishing in third place after two losses.

Under Beirne's watch the Jags have earned nineteen All-Horizon League awards including two All-League First Team honors with Jaida Speth (2023) and McKenzie Loge (2019). Eleven different athletes have earned Second-Team honors: Megan Overton (2018), Mandy Dallas (2018, 2019), Delilah Wright (2018), Delaney Thompson (2019), Jordan Barnes (2021), Morgan Gilbert (2021), Rachael Gregory (2022), Madison Bryant (2023), Jordan Jenkins (2023), Kayla Freiberg (2023) and Kendal Calvert (2023).

Over the past seven seasons, five Jags have been named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team: Lexi Lucas (2019), Jaida Speth (2019), Morgan Gilbert (2021), Kendal Calvert (2022) and Kennedy Cowan (2023).

Beirne comes to IUPUI from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she served as the assistant coach for one season. While there, Beirne helped lead the Flames to a 39-22, going 20-4 in Horizon League play. A pitching specialist, Beirne tutored Elaine Heflin to the 2017 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year award as well as two First-Team All-Conference pitching selections (Heflin and Karissa Frazier). Her staff led the Horizon League with a 1.16 ERA against conference opponents, helping the Flames to both regular season and conference tournament championships while advancing to the NCAA Regionals.

Prior to her time at UIC, Beirne coached a pair of seasons at fellow Horizon League affiliate Wright State, where she was an assistant coach and pitching coordinator. Her leadership saw numerous program records set, including a single season win total by a pitcher (21), a single season overall and conference record (37-23, 18-6), and a top-25 national ERA (2.21).

Her lengthiest stay as assistant coach came from 2008-14, when she worked at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia. While there, Beirne's accomplishments included helping a student-athlete set the program record for single season strikeouts, shutouts and consecutive scoreless innings, while also setting the program record for wins, strikeouts and shutouts. The 2014 season saw her staff produce one perfect game and two no-hitters, with two perfect games coming in 2013 (one in the NCAA Regionals). Five times she helped coach the Souther Conference Pitcher of the Year, as well as five Second-Team NFCA All-Region pitchers.

Beirne got her first opportunity in a full-time role as a pitching coach at Tennessee State in the Fall of 2007. Prior to that, she fulfilled two graduate assistantships at Liberty University and Belhaven College.

As a student-athlete, Beirne pitched at NAIA program Olivet Nazarene in Illinois, leading her team to a 2003 NAIA World Series third-place finish. In four seasons, she compiled a 74-26 record with 32 shutouts and was a 2003 First-Team NCCAA All-American and All-Tournament selection. That season, she went 29-7 with a 1.61 ERA.

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Mandy Sansbury

Mandy Sansbury joined the IUPUI softball staff prior to the 2024 season, bringing impressive credentials to the Jaguars’ program. Sansbury brings 12 years of Division II head coach experience.

Before coming to IUPUI, Sansbury coached at Division II Mount Olive for nine seasons as the head coach. In the 2021 season, the Trojans earned their first trip to the conference championship final under Sansbury. She also coached the program's second-ever All-American in Kylie Emanuele. During her eight years at UMO, Sansbury recorded a 247-169 overall record.

Sansbury spent the previous eight years coaching at the Division II level, the last three years serving as head softball coach at Glenville State (W. Va.). During her tenure at Glenville State, her team set single-season records for winning percentage and home runs. Glenville State softball student-athletes compiled 12 all-conference selections during Sansbury's three years.

Her teams at Glenville State also excelled in the classroom, compiling a team grade point average above 3.00 each year. The softball team had the highest team GPA in the Glenville State athletics department in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 academic years. Sansbury spent the previous five years as an assistant softball coach at the University of West Georgia.

In addition to coaching at the Division II level, she played collegiate softball at NCAA Division II members Ashland (Ohio) and West Virginia Wesleyan. She was an all-region and all-conference catcher at Ashland and an all-conference selection at West Virginia Virginia Wesleyan, where she earned her undergraduate degree. A physical education major, Sansbury was also a three-time NFCA Scholar-Athlete.

She earned her master's in physical education at West Georgia and her post-master's certification in sport psychology at California University of Pennsylvania.