Coaches

Raven Rodriguez

Raven Rodriguez was elevated to head coach on a permanent basis in June of 2021 after serving as the interim head coach in the spring of 2021.


Rodriguez hit the ground running as she led TSU to its 11th consecutive SWAC West title while also navigating the challenges of keeping the team competitive and safe through the COVID-19 environment. The Houston native was also named SWAC Co-Head Coach of the Year in 2021 as four student-athletes earned All-SWAC honors headlined by SWAC Pitcher of the Year Naomi Reyes.


A Houston native, Rodriguez served as the top assistant under former head coach Worley Barker from 2018-20 with a 2019 SWAC Western Division title under her belt and an appearance in the 2019 SWAC Tournament Championship. In 2020, TSU was poised for another strong finish with several impressive non-conference wins before the season was cut short due to COVID-19,


Rodriguez is a four-year letterwinner at UT Tyler and is one of the top performers in program history. She is a former National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American, three-time NFCA All-West Region member, four-time American Southwest All-Conference performer, the 2013 ASC East Freshman of the Year, CoSIDA Academic All-American and ASC All-Academic Team member.


In 2016, Rodriguez joined a very select group of student-athletes as she helped lead UT Tyler to the NCAA Division III Softball National Championship. In 2015, UT Tyler advanced to the finals of the NCAA National Championship while earning trips to the 2013 and 2014 NCAA Tournaments. A former infielder, Rodriguez rewrote the UT Tyler record book as she currently ranks as the top performer in assists, games, played, at-bats and games started. She also ranks top five in runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, hit-by-pitch, RBI, sac flies, total bases, sac hits, stolen bases and double plays turned.