Head coach Joanna Hardin is in her second season as head coach of the Cowgirls and fourth overall at McNeese. Hardin posted a 36-20 overall record in her first season as a Division I head coach. She led McNeese to a second place finish in the Southland Conference with a 21-5 record, the second most SLC wins in McNeese history.
A key element in the sustained success of the McNeese Cowgirl softball program that won back-to-back Southland Conference championships, Hardin was named head coach in 2014 after spending the 2013 season as a Cowgirl assistant coach.
Hardin, a native of Fullerton, Calif., has spearheaded the Cowgirl pitching staff the last three seasons, all of which led the Southland in numerous team and individual pitching statistical categories as well as ranking high among the NCAA leaders.
In 2015 Hardin coached the programs first NFCA All-American in Erika Piancastelli. Piancastelli was also named an NFCA Top 10 Freshman of the Year Finalist as well as being named the league’s player, hitter and freshman of the year, honors no other player has won in the same season.
The Cowgirls continued to rewrite the record books, breaking the single game stolen bases record and the slugging percent and on base percent records in 2015. The Cowgirls ranked in the Top 50 in the nation in ERA, stolen bases and triples per game. Four of her players ranked in the Top 50 in the nation in 11 different statistical categories.
Her pitching staff included two of the top four pitcher in the SLC that produced the lowest ERA and ranked 44th in the nation.
In 2014, the Cowgirls broke or tied a total of 23 school or conference records.
Hardin joined the McNeese staff in 2013 and guided the pitchers to a Top 10 national ranking and No. 1 spot in the Southland in team ERA with a 1.79 mark. That squad also led the league in opponent batting average (.220), saves (6), hits allowed (294), runs allowed (122), earned runs allowed (91), walks allowed (53) and extra-base hits allowed (63).
Individually, Hardin helped develop the league’s top pitcher in Megan Bond, who topped the conference in ERA (1.27), opponent batting average (.200), and saves (3) in 2013. The success continued in 2014 as the Cowgirls won a school record 41 games en route to their second straight league title.
Jamie Allred, the 2014 SLC Pitcher of the Year, set a new school record with 27 victories as well as throwing 10 shutouts in the season. Her exceptional play helped boast the Cowgirls to a league No. 1 ranking in 12 team categories including ERA (1.86), strikeouts (324) and hits allowed (293), just to name a few.
In addition to the team success on offense, Alanna DiVittorio broke a combined nine school and conference records during the season including season records in runs scored, walks and stolen bases as well as career records in runs scored and walks.
DiVittorio, the league’s player and hitter of the year, also became just the second McNeese softball player to earn Capital One Academic All-America honors when she was voted onto the second team.
”We have tremendous young women in our program,” said Hardin. “The goals and expectations will remain the same as they have been – to be champions on and off the field.”
Hardin began her coaching career as the head coach at Whittier Christian High School, in La Habra, Calif., from 2005-07 and helped guide the Heralds to an Olympic League Championship Title in 2006.
From 2007-09, Hardin served as assistant coach at Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.) where she oversaw the pitching staff, conducted camps and clinics, and organized daily practices. In her two years at Liberty, the team finished the 2008 and 2009 season as the Big South Conference Tournament Runners-up. Under her tutelage, Tiffani Smith (2011 graduate), was selected to the All-Big South Conference First Team as a sophomore year, the first Flame to receive such honor since 2001.
After earning her Master’s Degree from Liberty University, Hardin started and coached a successful 12U/14U travel team, The Virginia Titans, in 2009. In 2010, while coaching the Titans, she served as head coach at Jefferson Forest High School where she led the Lady Cavaliers to the 2012 Seminole District Tournament Championship, a Virginia High School League Region III runner-up finish, and advancing the Lady Cavs to the VHSL State quarterfinals.
In 2010, while coaching club and high school softball, Hardin opened and managed an indoor softball training facility in Virginia called “The Compound” where she worked primarily as a pitching and hitting instructor.
