Current position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Title | Head Coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conference | Big 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biographical details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Tustin, California | February 6, 1985||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2004–2007 | Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2009–2014 | USSSA Pride | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | Arizona (vol. asst.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015–2017 | Arizona (asst.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018–2021 | Arizona (associate) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022–Present | Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overall | 78–48 (.619) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Caitlin Faith Lowe-Nagy (born February 6, 1985) is the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats softball team. Lowe is a former collegiate four-time first team All-American and medal winning Olympian. She played college softball for Arizona and led her team in back-to-back Women's College World Series championships in 2006 and 2007. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Lowe played with National Pro Fastpitch's USSSA Pride for six seasons, winning three titles and being named 2012 Player of the Year, before officially retiring in 2015.
She is one of select players in NCAA Division I history to have accumulated over 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases while batting .400 in her career. Recently, she was only one of 3 named by both the fan vote and experts to the Greatest College Softball Team All-Time, in the outfield. [1]
At Foothill High School in North Tustin, California, Caitlin was selected as an All-American four years in a row, and helped lead her team to state and national championships in 2000. In addition, she led the school to league championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2001, she received the All-League and Foothill High School MVP Awards and in 2003, she received the Orange County "Player of the Year" Award. [2]
For her freshman season at the University of Arizona, Lowe earned First Team All-American status and was named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year and was a top-10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. [3] [4] [5] She jumped into top-10 rankings in Wildcat history for her run and stolen base totals and posted career highs in doubles and base on balls; Lowe also led the conference in stolen bases.
The sophomore continued her success by earning all-season honors from both the NFCA and the Pac-10, including being named conference Player of the Year. [6] [7] [8] Her career best season batting average still ranks second all-time and her hits total top-10 at Arizona (both topped the conference year), leading to a finalist spot for the Honda and USA Softball National Collegiate Player of The Year. [9] She also set career highs in home runs, triples and slugging percentage.
On February 26, she hit a career high four hits against the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters in a 7–0 win. [10] The next month on March 27, Lowe would drive in four RBIs for another career high over Louisiana–Lafayette. [11]
Lowe was named 2006 First Team All-American and Pac-10 for a third consecutive year. [12] [13] [14] She posted another top-10 school record for her 33 stolen bases and was caught just twice that year while also achieving a high in RBIs and again leading the conference for stolen bases.
From February 25 through March 18, Lowe achieved a 15 consecutive game hit streak. She batted .510 (26/51) and had 12 RBIs, a home run, four triples and two doubles to accompany a slugging percentage of over .750%, eventually ended by Cat Osterman on March 19. [15] Starting in a doubleheader sweep of the Oregon Ducks on May 12, Lowe stole two bags in the games to begin a consecutive stolen bases streak that would reach into her senior season. [16]
The Wildcats made it into the Women's College World Series as the No. 2 seed and eventually trumped the Northwestern Wildcats in the finals, outscoring them a combined 13–0 over the two-game series; Lowe scored four of those runs. Lowe went 2/4 in the June 6 finale and was named to the All-Tournament Team scoring a then new series record 8 runs. [17]
For a final season Lowe was named All-American, all-conference and newly bestowed with the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award. [18] [19] [20] She also stole a career high, school season second best and Pac-10 leading 49 bags, being caught just once. Her resumed streak of consecutive stolen bases concluded on May 19 when the one time she was thrown out was by Chelsea Bramlett of Mississippi State Bulldogs. [21] To that point, Lowe had amassed 47 consecutive stolen bases and 54 overall for the NCAA ninth best streak all-time. [22]
Lowe and the Wildcats returned to defend their title at the 2007 WCWS. After riding the arm of tournament MVP Taryne Mowatt and escaping elimination through four games (three straight), Lowe won another National Championship defeating the Tennessee Lady Vols 5–0 on June 6. Lowe ended her career with a perfect day at the plate going 4/4 off USA Softball Collegiate Player of The Year Monica Abbott. [23] She was named All-Tournament hitting .345 with two RBIs and three doubles.
Lowe is the Wildcat's career leader in stolen bases, second in batting average and top-10 in hits, triples and runs. [24] She ranks top-10 for all the same marks in the since renamed Pac-12, minus the triples. [25] At Arizona, she was known for her welcoming and volunteering nature and helped other student athletes become acclimated to college through Arizona’s Peer Athletic Leaders (PAL). Her senior year, Caitlin was awarded the inaugural Lowe's Senior CLASS Softball Award, which acknowledges personal qualities that define a complete student athlete, such as excellence in the classroom, character and community, as well as success in athletic competition. [26] Lowe is one of only six Wildcat players to be named an NFCA All-American in each of her four years with the program and joined Leah Braatz (1994, 95, 97, 98) as the only player in Arizona history to be awarded first-team All-America all four years. [27]
Caitlin began her national career in 2004 as a member of the USA Schutt Elite Team at the Canada and Champions Cups, where she scored a team-high 16 runs. In 2005, Caitlin joined the United States National Team and helped the team earn silver medals in the Japan and World Cups. She was one of the youngest members of the 2006 World Championship team. Caitlin also helped the team win the World Cup in 2006 and 2007, where she posted a team high 6 hits with three runs scored. She earned a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American games, and that season tied for the most hits, a team high with two triples and scored 21 runs, the second best on the team. That year, Caitlin's impressive base running and speed also earned her a perfect 9 stolen bases in 9 attempts.
Caitlin Lowe has been a member of the U.S. Women's National Softball Team since 2005. USA Softball Head Coach Mike Candrea says, "She's all out all the time and plays the game like a giant." [28]
Leading up the 2008 Olympics, Lowe hit .455 on the Bound 4 Beijing Tour and was tied leading the team in triples, second in stolen bases and had a perfect fielding percentage. At the Games, Lowe began her tournament with a 3/4 effort in a run-rule of Venezuela, including hitting the first-ever inside-the-park home run in Games history. [29] On August 20, Lowe and Team USA went extra innings in the semifinals vs. Japan and she hit the RBI single to take the lead before scoring on Crystl Bustos' winning three-run homer. [30] She had two hits in the gold medal game but made the last out in the 3–1 loss. [31] Lowe was tied in at-bats for the tournament and hit .357 overall.
Lowe played her first two seasons in limited action but was later named All-NPF from 2012 to 2014, including nabbing the Player of The Year and Diamond Spikes Awards in 2012. [32] [33] [34] In 2012, she also led the league in batting average with a career best and set a personal best with four hits on August 25 vs. the Akron Racers. [35] She had a hit in the championship finale, though her team was bested by the Chicago Bandits. [36] The Pride also made it to the Cowles Cup Championship every other year of her career, winning titles in 2010, 2013–2014, Lowe playing in all except 2009–2010. [37] [38] [39] On August 8, 2013, Lowe set another career high with 3 RBIs in a victory over the NY NJ Comets. [40] She played her last season setting a career high in doubles. She also had a career best 22 consecutive game hit streak from July 13–August 16: .408 (31/76) with 7 RBIs and 7 doubles, slugging .500%. [41]
Lowe announced her retirement as a player after the 2014 season. Subsequently, the Pride announced the Lowe would be inducted into the USSSA Hall of Fame, and that her jersey number 26 would be retired. [42]
On June 7, 2021, Lowe was named the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats softball program, following the retirement of former head coach Mike Candrea. Lowe spent the last nine seasons under Candrea following a professional career with the USSSA Pride. Lowe served as the program's director of operations in 2013 and then the volunteer assistant coach in 2014, before joining the coaching staff full time in 2015. She served as the team's associate head coach from 2018 to 2021. [43] [44]
The following lists Lowe-Nagy's record as a head coach at the NCAA level.
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arizona Wildcats (Pacific-12 Conference)(2022–2024) | |||||||||
2022 | Arizona | 39–22 | 8–16 | T–7th | Women's College World Series | ||||
2023 | Arizona | 29–25 | 6–18 | 8th | |||||
2024 | Arizona | 37–18–1 | 13-11 | 5th | NCAA Super Regionals | ||||
Arizona: | 105–65–1 (.617) | 27–45 (.375) | |||||||
Arizona Wildcats (Big 12 Conference)(2024–present) | |||||||||
2025 | Arizona | ||||||||
Arizona: | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
Total: | 103–63–1 (.620) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion |
She graduated from the University of Arizona in the fall of 2007 with a degree in psychology and a minor in communications. Lowe comes from an athletic family. She is the daughter of Dave and Dawn Lowe and has a brother Tanner and three sisters Whitney, Paige, and McKenna Lowe. Paige and McKenna are part of the Oregon State University softball team.
Four-time Wildcat All-American Caitlin Lowe returned and joined Arizona's coaching staff as the team's volunteer assistant coach in 2013 after serving as the program's director of operations in 2012. Lowe will be working with the slappers, the outfielders and base running. [27] Lowe retired officially from softball in 2015. [45]
In 2015, Lowe married Paul Nagy who is the assistant soccer coach at the University of Arizona. [46] Lowe and Nagy have two children together, Harper and Beckham. [47]
YEAR | G | AB | R | H | BA | RBI | HR | 3B | 2B | TB | SLG | BB | SO | SB | SBA |
2004 | 61 | 190 | 76 | 83 | .437 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 106 | .558% | 29 | 20 | 47 | 50 |
2005 | 57 | 196 | 57 | 100 | .510 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 125 | .637% | 20 | 20 | 27 | 30 |
2006 | 56 | 186 | 52 | 79 | .424 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 101 | .543% | 17 | 21 | 33 | 35 |
2007 | 64 | 215 | 57 | 89 | .414 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 103 | .479% | 15 | 25 | 49 | 50 |
TOTALS | 238 | 787 | 242 | 351 | .446 | 101 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 435 | .552% | 81 | 86 | 156 | 165 |
YEAR | AB | R | H | BA | RBI | HR | 3B | 2B | TB | SLG | BB | SO | SB | SBA |
2008 | 239 | 91 | 106 | .443 | 47 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 151 | .632% | 16 | 19 | 17 | 19 |
YEAR | AB | R | H | BA | RBI | HR | 3B | 2B | TB | SLG | BB | SO | SB |
2009 | 46 | 6 | 10 | .217 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217% | 2 | 10 | 3 |
2010 | 38 | 9 | 14 | .368 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | .447% | 1 | 5 | 1 |
2011 | 105 | 17 | 31 | .295 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | .324% | 5 | 13 | 6 |
2012 | 130 | 36 | 59 | .454 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 67 | .515% | 12 | 14 | 14 |
2013 | 180 | 40 | 60 | .333 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 65 | .361% | 13 | 25 | 17 |
2014 | 155 | 31 | 55 | .355 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 63 | .406% | 6 | 16 | 6 |
TOTALS | 654 | 139 | 229 | .350 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 256 | .391% | 39 | 83 | 47 |
Year | Team | Championship/Medal |
---|---|---|
2001–2003 | Foothills High School | National Champion |
2000 | All-CIF | Second Team |
2001 | Foothill High School Softball Team | MVP |
2001 | All-League | MVP |
2002 | ASA U-18 Gordon's Panthers | Gold Runner-Up |
2001–2003 | League Championship | Champion |
2003 | Orange County | Player of the Year |
2003 | All-League | First Team |
2003 | All-County | First Team |
2003 | All-State | First Team |
2003 | All-CIF | First Team |
2003 | All-American | First Team |
2003 | USA Softball | Player of the Week |
2003 | All Pac | First Team |
2003 | Pacific Region | First Team |
2003 | Pac 10 | Newcomer of the Year |
2003 | USA Softball | Top 10 Finalist for Player of the Year |
2004 | USA Schutt Elite Team | Canada Cup |
2004 | USA Schutt Elite Team | Champions Cup |
2004 | USA Softball | Top 3 Finalist for Player of the Year |
2004 | All-PAC 10 | First Team |
2004 | All Pacific Regions | Honors |
2004 | All-American | First Team |
2004 | World Cup | Silver Medalist |
2005 | Japan Cup | Silver Medalist |
2005 | All-PAC 10 | First Team |
2005 | All Pacific Regions | Honors |
2005 | USA Softball | Top 10 Finalist for Player of the Year |
2005 | All-American | First Team |
2005 | All-Women's College World Series Team Selection | |
2006 | NCAA National Championship | Champion |
2007 | All-American | First Team |
2007 | All-PAC 10 | First Team |
2007 | PAC-10 Conference | Player of the Year |
2007 | Lowe's | Senior CLASS Award |
2007 | NCAA National Championship | Champion |
2007 | Canada Cup | Champion |
2007 | World Cup | Champion |
2007 | Pan-American Games | Champion |
2008 | Olympics | Silver Medalist |
Jennie Lynn Finch Daigle is an American former softball player. She played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 1999 to 2002, where she won the 2001 Women's College World Series and was named collegiate All-American. Later she led the United States women's national softball team to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also pitched for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch from 2005 to 2010.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. As a softball outfielder, Mendoza was a collegiate four-time First Team All-American and two-time Olympic medalist. Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 at Stanford and was a member of the United States women's national softball team from 2004 to 2010. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch and was named 2011 Player of the Year and currently ranks in the top 10 for career batting average and slugging percentage.
Alicia Kay Hollowell-Dunn is an American, former collegiate four-time All-American, retired professional softball pitcher and assistant coach. She played college softball at Arizona Wildcats softball from 2003 to 2006, collecting 144 career wins and 1,768 strikeouts, both top-10 NCAA career records. She currently holds the Arizona Wildcats records for career strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched, in addition to the Pac-12 Conference wins and strikeout ratio records. Hollowell won the 2006 Women's College World Series.
Natasha Renee Watley is an American, former collegiate four-time first-team All-American, two-time medal winning Olympian, retired seven-time pro-All-Star softball player. Watley played college softball at UCLA, and helped the Bruins win a national championship. She represented the United States women's national softball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal.
Taryne Lee Mowatt is an American, former collegiate All-American, right-handed hitting, retired pro softball pitcher. Mowatt is the current pitching coach for Mississippi State. She played college softball at Arizona and helped them win the 2006 and 2007 Women's College World Series. From 2008 to 2013, Mowatt played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch, selected in the 2008 NPF draft by the Washington Glory. She ranks in several pitching categories for the Wildcats and holds the Women's College World Series records for strikeouts and wins.
Kelly Sue Kretschman is an American former nine-time professional All-Star softball outfielder and current head coach for the USSSA Pride of the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Kretschman played college softball at Alabama where she is the career leader in doubles and total bases. As a member of the United States women's national softball team, she won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also played in the National Pro Fastpitch with four teams including her longest tenure with the USSSA Pride; where she is the all-time career leader in RBIs, hits, doubles and base on balls. She also owns numerous records for the Tide and is one of select NCAA Division I players to bat .400 with 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases for her career.
Christa Lee Williams-Yates is an American, former collegiate three-time All-American, two-time Gold Medal winning Olympian, retired three-time pro All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher originally from Houston, Texas. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team. Four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she won her second gold medal. Williams-Yates began her college career with the UCLA Bruins in 1997 before transferring to play softball with the Texas Longhorns (1998–99). Joining in its inaugural year, she played three years in the National Pro Fastpitch with the Texas Thunder (2004–06) and still ranks top-10 in career wins, strikeouts, ERA among other records. In 2018, Williams-Yates was named to the USA National Softball Hall of Fame. Currently, Williams-Yates teaches high school softball in Kingwood, Texas.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team and was named Most Outstanding Player. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.
Katherine Burkhart is an American, former collegiate All-American, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher and softball coach. She played college softball at Arizona State, and won a national championship with the team in 2008 and was named Most Outstanding Player. Burkhart holds the career records in wins, strikeouts, perfect games, WHIP, innings pitched and strikeout ratio for the school. She also ranks in several career pitching categories and the top-10 for strikeouts and perfect games for both the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA Division I. She has also pitched for the USA Softball team. She also helped remove snakes from a plane that was bound from Hawaii to Phoenix in 2023.
Tammy Kay Williams is an American, former collegiate four-time All-American, four-time professional All-Star softball player and coach. She played her natural position at shortstop from 2006 to 2009 at Northwestern, as well as the Team USA and Chicago Bandits softball team. She owns Northwestern' softball team all-time career records in batting average, home runs, hits and total bases. She helped lead the Wildcats to a national runner up finish in the 2006 Women's College World Series. Williams was drafted tenth overall by the Chicago Bandits in the 2009 NPF Draft, winning two Cowles Cup championships in 2011 and 2015. She later worked as a sports broadcaster for the Big Ten and an assistant softball coach at Northern Illinois.
The Arizona Wildcats softball team represents the University of Arizona in NCAA Division I Softball. Having claimed eight national championships, the team is one of the most successful in the history of the sport. It plays its home games at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium in Tucson, AZ. The team was formerly coached by Mike Candrea, who began his UA coaching career in 1986 and announced his retirement on June 8, 2021. He retired as the all time winningest coach in Collegiate softball history with 1,674 wins, more Collegiate national titles with 8 and the fourth most wins of any coach in any NCAA sport.
Kaitlin Elizabeth Cochran is an American, former collegiate four-time first team All-American, retired softball player. She attended Rosary High School and Arizona State University from 2006 to 2009, where she won the 2008 Women's College World Series title. Also with United States women's national softball team, she won four World Cup of Softball crowns. She holds various records for the Sun Devils in the Pac-12 Conference. She was drafted first overall in the National Pro Fastpitch but elected not to play. She is also one of nine NCAA Division I players to bat .400 with 200 RBIs, 50 home runs and an .800 slugging percentage for a career.
Amber Jackson is an African-American, former collegiate All-American and retired professional softball player and former college softball head coach. She played for three years with the Bethune–Cookman Wildcats, from 2003 to 2005, before transferring to the Maryland Terrapins for the 2007 season. She is the season and career leader in numerous offense categories for both institutions, and is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference career leader in hits, triples and runs in three seasons.
Sierra Joy Romero is a Mexican American professional softball player. She formerly was a volunteer assistant softball coach for the Oregon Ducks softball team. She played college softball for Michigan from 2013 to 2016, where she set numerous records and was a four-time All-American. She holds the Big Ten Conference career Triple Crown, along with the total bases and slugging percentage records, simultaneously leading all of the NCAA Division I in runs scored and grand slams. She was the inaugural winner of both the espnW Softball Player of the Year in 2015 and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year in 2016, when she also took home the Honda Sports Award Softball Player of the Year and USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year awards. She is one of nine NCAA players to hit .400 with 200 RBIs, 50 home runs and an .800 slugging percentage for her career and was named the #5 Greatest College Softball Player.
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Chelsea Kathleen Goodacre is an American professional softball catcher. Goodacre played college softball for the Arizona Wildcats from 2012 to 2015. She currently plays for the independent USSSA Pride and played for United States women's national softball team. She won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2017. She was undrafted but later went on to play in the National Pro Fastpitch and be named an All-Star and win two championships with the Pride.
Jolene Nicole Henderson is an American, former collegiate All-American, professional All-Star, right-handed hitting softball pitcher and first baseman and softball Assistant Coach, originally from Elk Grove, California. She was a starting pitcher for the California Golden Bears from 2010–13 where she is the career leader in wins and was a 4-time All-Pac-12 player. She is the reigning National Pro Fastpitch Pitcher of The Year after being drafted #3 overall in 2013 and currently ranks top-10 in career wins, ERA, WHIP and fielding percentage and is on the roster for the independent softball team the USSSA Pride. She also played on the United States women's national softball team in 2014.
Kristie Lynn Fox is an American, former collegiate All-American softball shortstop and current head coach for UNLV Rebels softball team. She attended Mt. Carmel High School and later played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 2004 to 2007. Fox led the Wildcats to back-to-back Women's College World Series championships in 2006 and 2007.
Sydney Joy Romero is a Mexican American professional softball player and current assistant coach for Oregon. She previously played college softball for the Oklahoma Sooners, where she set numerous program records and led the Sooners to four consecutive Women's College World Series appearances from 2016 to 2019, and won the national championship as a Freshman in 2016 and Sophomore in 2017. She played professionally for the USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch. She represented Mexico at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Brittany Marya Cervantes is an American softball catcher and coach of Mexican descent, and is currently the director of softball operations for Kentucky. She represented Mexico at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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