UMBC

Bio

	Lauren Nicholson
	Position: Assistant Coach Alma Mater: UMBC '06

Former UMBC pitching standout Lauren Nicholson begins her third season as the Retrievers’ pitching coach.

“It is very exciting to have Lauren on our staff,” head coach Joe French said. “I have watched Lauren grow from a role model student-athlete to a professional mentor. It is great to have this former star still involved with UMBC softball as we continue our quest for an America East championship.”

During Nicholson’s first two years as pitching coach, the UMBC pitching staff has compiled an ERA of 2.87 and has held opponents to a .235 batting average.

Nicholson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in American studies in 2006 as UMBC’s all-time leader in wins (57), innings pitched (620.2), games started (94), complete games (68) and appearances (116) after setting the single-season wins record at 19 as a senior. She also ranked second all-time in career strikeouts (387). She earned Second-Team All-Northeast Conference recognition and NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second-Team recognition in 2003, and she was the 2006 recipient of UMBC’s Matt Skalsky Outstanding Female Scholar-Athlete award, as well.

In 2007, Nicholson served as a graduate assistant pitching coach at Temple, where she earned her master’s degree in sport and recreation administration in May 2008.

“Having Lauren on the staff has elevated our pitching to the highest level since I arrived in the fall of 2001,” French said.

Nicholson spent the summer of 2007 pitching for the Therwil Flyers in Basel, Switzerland, leading her team to the Swiss Championship and a third-place finish at the European Winners Cup in Athens, Greece. She currently also works as an academic advisor in UMBC’s Academic Center for Student-Athletes.

Nicholson is a 2009 graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy.