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University of Illinois

University of Illinois Div of I/C Athletics
 Bielfeldt Ath Admin Bldg - 1700 S. Fourth St Champaign, IL 61820
Division 1 Illinois Midwest
Public Very Large National competitor
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Tyra Perry

Tyra Perry was hired as the University of Illinois’ second-ever head coach in June, 2015. Entering her 20th season as a NCAA Division I softball head coach and sixth at the helm of the Illini, Perry has totaled over 500 career victories as the head coach at Illinois, Ball State, Western Kentucky and Birmingham Southern.


Perry has made an immediate impact in her time at the helm of Illini softball, leading the program to its first back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances since 2010 after advancing to postseason play in 2016 and 2017 and has guided the Illini to 36 wins or more for three-straight seasons for the first time in program history. She guided the Illini to another NCAA Regional in 2019 after a 33-25 season and already had three top-25 wins in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the season.


In just three seasons at the lead of the Illinois softball program, Perry earned her 100th win as an Illini with a 20-2 beat down of Maryland on April 8 and is 156-97 (.617) during her time in the Orange and Blue.


In Perry's third campaign in Champaign, the 2018 Illini posted a 37-18 overall record and a sixth-place finish with a 13-8 mark in the Big Ten Conference, with the 37 total victories ranking as the fourth-most wins in the conference. The Illini also tallied one of their best home seasons in program history with a 15-2 record at Eichelberger Field in 2018, including posting the second-highest win percentage and most victories in program history.


Perry led the 2017 squad to a 39-20 record, tying for the fourth-most wins in program history and a top-four finish in the Big Ten Conference with a 14-8 mark, while also advancing to the conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2004. The Illini ended the 2017 season with their third-highest RPI ranking in program history at No. 27 and made an appearance or received votes in both the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 polls 10 out of the 16 weeks throughout the season, including the final nine weeks of the 2017 campaign. The Illini finished the season with appearances in both the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 polls, finishing at No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and in the receiving four votes section of the USA Today/NFCA poll.


In her first season in Champaign-Urbana, Perry took the Illini back to NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2010 and fifth overall in program history. UI wrapped Perry’s first year with the fifth-most wins in program history with a 36-23 overall record and registered a seventh place finish in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-11 record in the standings. The Illini’s 36 wins was the most wins the team has notched since posting 45 victories during the 2010 campaign, while the 36-23 mark is also the best start ever by any first year Illinois softball or baseball head coach.


Under Perry’s guidance, the Illini have notched 12 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) honors as Nicole Evans (First-Team), Allie Bauch (Second-Team) and Breanna Wonderly (Third-Team) were recognized in 2016 and Stephanie Abello joined Evans and Wonderly as first-team honorees in 2017, while Alyssa Gunther and Annie Fleming also garnered second-team accolades in 2017. Last season, the Illini had a quartet of student-athletes earn NFCA with Carly Thomas, Kiana Sherlund and Abello all collecting First-Team accolades and Bella Loya receiving Second-Team honors.


The Perry era in Champaign-Urbana started with a bang as UI registered a 5-1 win over then-No. 10 Florida State in the team’s season-opening tournament in Miami, Fla., with the victory over the Seminoles marking the first win over a ranked opponent since the Illini defeated No. 4 Michigan on April 25, 2014 at Eichelberger Field. It was also just the seventh win against a top-10 foe and just the fourth win against a top-10 team not named Michigan.


During her two seasons at Ball State, Perry directed the Cardinals to 67 wins with a combined nine All-MAC selections and 13 Academic All-MAC honorees. This year’s team went 34-25 and won the Mid-American Conference West Division before claiming the 2015 MAC Tournament Championship, earning the Cardinals an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Ball State defeated 16th-seeded Notre Dame in postseason action to record its first-ever NCAA Regional victory.


Perry was named 2014 MAC Coach of the Year during her first season at Ball State after guiding the program to a 33-19 mark and overall conference title during the regular season. The Cardinals had a program-record five first-team All-MAC selections, led by Player of the Year Jennifer Gilbert, who also earned All-America honors.


Prior to Ball State, Perry spent six seasons as head coach at Western Kentucky, guiding the Lady Toppers to 196 victories to become the winningest coach in program history. In 2013, WKU earned its first-ever NCAA Regional appearance, advancing to the championship game of the Tuscaloosa Regional. Western Kentucky finished the year ranked No. 26 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the highest final ranking in program history.


Perry also guided the Lady Toppers to several other firsts during the 2013 campaign. The program posted its first 40-plus-win season (43-18) and earned its first Sun Belt Conference regular season title with a 20-3 league record.


The two-time Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2009 and 2013), Perry helped Emily Rousseau earn the program's first SBC Pitcher of the Year honor in 2013. In her six seasons with the Lady Toppers, Perry helped her players garner 14 All-SBC honors and eight SBC All-Tournament Team selections.


In the classroom, Perry’s Western Kentucky student-athletes earned five CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, 22 recognitions on the Sun Belt Commissioner's List and 34 Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll awards.


Perry guided Birmingham-Southern to 146 victories in seven years as head coach (six seasons of competition), despite the Panthers being a provisional NCAA Division I member during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. In 2006, she led Birmingham-Southern to its first winning season in program history with a 28-21 record.


Her Panthers squads posted at least 25 wins in each of her final five seasons with the program. In addition, 15 Birmingham-Southern student-athletes received postseason honors from the Big South Conference during Perry’s tenure.


In 2006, Perry added the title of Assistant Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator to her duties and served as the school’s compliance director. Perry also was the head coach for a Southeastern All-Star team that played the United States Olympic squad prior to the 2004 games in Athens.


A 1997 and 1998 graduate of Louisiana State University, Perry earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1997 and added a master's degree in sports administration in 1998. After two seasons at Nicholls State, Perry followed her head coach to LSU as the second signee in the first signing class of the newly created Tiger softball program. After sitting out in 1996, she became a two-year letterwinner for the Tigers (1997-98), helping the program post a combined 102-28 record over her career, including a 58-14 mark in Southeastern Conference play. She also helped the Tigers pick up a pair of SEC West Division titles and make the program's first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament appearance where it finished second.


In her first season at LSU, Perry led the Tigers with a .345 batting average, 11 home runs, 40 runs scored, .416 on-base percentage and .612 slugging percentage. Those numbers helped her earn recognition on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region Second Team, as well as First-Team All-Louisiana honors and a slot on the SEC’s All-Tournament Team. Perry led the team with five homers in 1998 while posting a .324 average with 29 runs scored and 38 RBI. Off the field, she was twice named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.


Prior to entering the coaching profession, Perry served a two-year internship in the compliance department at LSU.


Perry was inducted into the Zachary High School Hall of Fame in her hometown of Zachary, Louisiana, in 2007.

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Laura Trout

Laura Trout enters her sixth year with the Illinois softball program after joining the Fighting Illini as an assistant coach on July 23, 2015. She serves as the hitting coach and works primarily with the infielders.


A former SEC shortstop, Trout comes to Champaign-Urbana from George Washington University, where she spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach. In charge of hitting and infield defense, she helped the Colonials to rank in the top 10 in the nation in double plays turned while showing marked improvement in batting average and home runs in her first season on staff.


Prior to arrival in D.C., Trout served as a volunteer assistant for the University of South Carolina for two seasons, helping the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years in 2013.


Trout began her college career at Spartanburg Methodist College, where she was a Junior College All-American, participated in two Junior College World Series, and was the Region X Most Valuable Player in 2009. Trout then transferred to the University of Georgia, where she helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2010 Women’s College World Series and a final rank of No. 3 in the nation while receiving the award of Best Defensive Player. The Bulldogs’ starting shortstop, Trout had a breakout season as a senior, hitting .348 to help the Dawgs return to the Super Regionals.


The Summerville, South Carolina, native guided Georgia back to the Super Regionals once again in 2012 as a student assistant coach, while completing her bachelor’s degree in journalism.


In 2012, Trout served as the head coach of the Southern Force 18U Gold travel organization, where she led her team to a seventh-place finish at Premier Nationals. During her season at the held, she coached seven student athletes that would go on to play Division I softball, four of whom competed in the 2015 Women's College World Series. Additionally, she mentored a pair of Georgia Gatorade Players of the Year, including the National Player of the Year, as well as a Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year.


Trout graduated Magna Cum Laude from Spartanburg Methodist College with an associates degree in 2009. She then completed her bachelor's degree in journalism in 2012 at the University of Georgia, where she was twice named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

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Lance McMahon

Lance McMahon enters his fifth year with the Illinois softball program after joining the Fighting Illini as an assistant coach in July of 2016. He serves as the pitching and catching coach for the Illini.


In the summer of 2019, McMahon joined the Chicago Bandits professional softball organization and served as the pitching coach for the team affiliated with National Pro Fastpitch Softball (NPF). Chicago had one of the best seasons in program history winning the NPF regular season title, posting a 38-7 record while stringing together a pair of 14 consecutive wins on two different occasions. McMahon, along with Head Coach Lauren Lappin and fellow assistant Amber Flores, earned the 2019 Coaching Staff of the Year awarded by the NPF.


In his first season with the Illini, McMahon helped guide former Illini Breanna Wonderly to NFCA All-Region First-Team and All-Big Ten First-Team accolades, while as a whole, the Illini staff registered a 2.97 team ERA in 2017.


McMahon joined the Illini following a three-year stint with the LSU softball program, where he worked under the tutelage of head coach Beth Torina. While in Baton Rouge, McMahon assisted in almost every aspect of the program, including camps, analyzing video, assisting with practice and throwing batting practice daily and was also responsible for logistics during travel.


As a Tiger, McMahon was involved in back-to-back NCAA Regional Softball Championships and two trips to the Women's College World Series. One of the many highlights during his tenure at LSU came in 2015, when the Tigers opened the year with 25-consecutive victories and spent three weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, before ending the season with a 52-14 record and a third-place finish at the Women's College World Series. LSU's coaching staff was named the Division I South Region Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.


Prior to joining the Tigers in January of 2014, McMahon served as the pitching coach for the Wichita Mustangs Softball Organization, where he managed the pitching staff throughout the summer competition and developed workouts to maximize performance.


McMahon graduated with a degree in sport management from Missouri in December 2013, where he served as a student manager and batting practice pitcher for three years. While at Mizzou, he was a part of one Big 12 championship squad, three-straight NCAA Regional Softball Championships and one trip to WCWS.


Along with his collegiate experience, McMahon also spent time as a volunteer assistant coach for the Knox County high school softball team from 2010 to 2014.


McMahon earned a masters degree in kinesiology from LSU in May of 2016.

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