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Quinnipiac University

Quinnipiac University Athletics
 275 Mt. Carmel Ave. Hamden, CT 06518
Division 1 Connecticut Northeast
Private Medium National competitor
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Hillary Smith

Hillary Smith enters her fourth season as the softball head coach in 2022 after being hired as the program's eighth head coach in August 2018.


Smith and the Bobcats posted a record of 8-28 overall in 2021 and saw two Bobcats earn All-MAAC honors at the conclusion of the season.


Smith's second season was impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted all NCAA sports in March 2020.


During her first campaign as head coach, Smith saw two of her first-years named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team; Alexis Otero was a standout at first base and Lauren King led the Bobcats in the circle. King recorded a 2.52 ERA, which was good for fourth-best in the MAAC.


"I'm very excited to welcome Hillary Smith to the Quinnipiac family," Amodio said. "Hillary really impressed us throughout the interview process and she has certainly earned her first opportunity as a head coach. Her teams thrived while she was at FIU and she will be a great fit for us at Quinnipiac."


Smith comes to Quinnipiac from Florida International University where she was the assistant softball coach for the past two-plus seasons. She joined the Panthers with one month remaining in the 2016 season before she spent each of the next two seasons with FIU.


"I am very honored and humbled to become the next Head Softball Coach of Quinnipiac University," Smith said. "I want to thank Greg Amodio and other members of the administration for the opportunity to become a part of such a great institution and athletic program.


"It has been a dream of mine to become a Division I softball head coach at a program I believe I can help get to the next level. The administration and I share the same visions and goals to help create a championship culture. I am confident I will be able to build a great program on and off the field, and start a new era for Quinnipiac Softball."


Florida International won a combined 76 games over the past two seasons, including a program record 46 in 2017, and reached the NCAA Tournament that season. Smith worked extensively with standout pitcher Shannon Saile throughout her first full season in 2017, who was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and finished fifth nationally allowing 3.49 hits per seven innings, 21stwith 240 strikeouts to tie the single-season program record and 31stin ERA.


As a pitching staff that season, the Panthers recorded their second-lowest opponent batting average (.203) and sixth-lowest ERA (1.77) in the 20-year program history.


Prior to joining the staff at Florida International, Smith coached four seasons at her alma mater, the University of Central Florida. She was part of a coaching staff that won back-to-back American Athletic Conference (AAC) Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2014 and 2015 as well as back-to-back regular season championships and the 2015 AAC Tournament Championship.


UCF Pitchers led the nation with a 0.93 ERA in 2015 while AAC Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-American Shelby Turnier led the nation individually with the 0.87 ERA.


Athletically, Smith played softball for UCF from 2007-10 where she sits in the top 10 in program history in several major offensive categories including sacrifice flies (1st), games played (5th), runs scored (8th), doubles (2nd), RBIs (5th) and walks (7th).


She was a two-time C-USA All-Tournament Team selection in 2008 and 2010, participated in two NCAA tournaments and was part of UCF's 2008 C-USA Tournament Championship Team.


Barrow graduated from UCF in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in communications and a minor in digital media.

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Mandie Perez

Mandie Perez enters her first year with Quinnipiac softball as an assistant coach ahead of the 2022 season. Perez comes to Hamden after serving as an assistant coach for the Whittier College Poets. Whittier College is located in Whittier, Calif., is a member of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference which competes as an NCAA Division III institution. While coaching at Whittier, Perez led the Poets to a SCIAC Conference Championship run, recording a 4-1 record in the conference tournament and eventually winning the SCIAC Championships game. The Poets went on to win the first game of the NCAA opening round and later advanced to the NCAA Regionals but lost in the regional championship.


The Whittier, Calif. native played five seasons at the University of Arizona from 2012-2017. She had a decorated career as a Wildcat and earned many accolades as an outfielder. She was named to the First Team All-Pac 12 in 2016 and 2017 and was one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Player of the Year. During her fifth year, she led the Pac-12 with 66 runs scored and recorded a 10-game hitting streak and was named to the All-NFCA West Region First Team . During her senior year, she was named to the NFCA All-West Region Second Team.


During her rookie season, she was recognized with an All-Pac-12 honorable mention and earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team.


Perez's career continued after college as she was drafted by the USSSA Pride in 2017 and later picked up by the California Commotion. She later played a season with Athletes Unlimited and was also an outfielder for the Florida Vibe.


Quinnipiac is excited to welcome Perez to Hamden and get the season going soon.

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