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Ehren Earleywine enters his fourth season as head coach of the Georgia Tech softball program. Prior to attaining the head coaching position, Earleywine was the top assistant coach for two seasons.
Over the duration of his first three seasons, Earleywine has averaged close to 49 wins a season and became the fifth-fastest coach to 100 wins, doing so in just 133 games. He currently has an overall winning percentage of .722 (143-55), which would place him 11th amongst active Div. I head coaches.
Since his arrival in 2002, Tech has been in five consecutive NCAA Tournaments and tallied three NCAA Regional Tournament runner-up finishes, including two straight.
Amidst the victories, Earleywine has also led the Yellow Jackets to the ACC regular season and tournament championships during the 2005 season, and two ACC Title game appearances in the last three seasons. He was named ACC Coach of the Year during that conference winning season.
The 2006 campaign featured the top offensive season for any program in ACC history. The Rambling Wreck broke league single season records in home runs (75), RBI (385), doubles (99), runs scored (428), slugging percentage (.495) and total bases (903).
Nationally, Tech led the country for the second straight season with 138 stolen bases and turned the most double plays of anyone in the NCAA with a school record 40. Tech was third in nation total bases, fourth in runs per game (6.11), fifth in home runs and tallied the sixth-best walk total (249) in NCAA history.
The Jackets attained their highest seed in NCAA Tournament history, gaining a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. Tech fell to No. 4 Alabama in the championship game, 7-2. The Crimson Tide went on to the College World Series after sweeping No. 12 Stanford in the Super Regional.
Tech defeated five Top 25 teams over the course of the season-No. 10 Georgia (6-4), No. 18 Missouri (11-6), No. 19 Baylor (8-0), No. 20 North Carolina (1-0) and No. 25 Virginia Tech (3-2). For their efforts, the Jackets finished No. 19 in the NFCA RPI rankings, their second straight Top 20 finish.
Earleywine tutored one of the finest hitting seasons in ACC history with freshman Whitney Haller. Haller set conference records in home runs (24), RBI (72), total bases (171), slugging percentage (.799) and saves (6). Haller was named Easton All-America second team, NFCA Southeast All-Region first team, All-ACC first team and ACC Freshman of the Year.
Also earning Easton All-America honors under Earleywine's guidance was senior Amy Hosier. Hosier posted career-best numbers in batting average (.370), doubles (19), home runs (9), RBI (48) and broke Tech records in walks (52) and on base percentage (.513). She was also named to the NFCA Southeast Region first team and first team All-ACC.
Sophomore Savannah Brown finished eighth in the ACC with a career-high 11 home runs and ninth with a career-high 47 runs batted in en route to making the NFCA Southeast All-Region second team.
After not hitting a single home run during her first season at Tech, junior Caitlin Lever smashed 10 in '06 and hit a career-best .352. She drove in 39 runs for the Jackets and was named to the All-ACC second team.
Tech finished the '05 season atop the ACC in batting (.288), on base percentage (.371), runs scored (309), RBI (268), ERA (1.49), fielding percentage (.971) and stolen bases (159) and ranked 11th in the nation in win-loss percentage, 16th in ERA and 20th in fielding percentage.
The Jackets tallied a program-best .785 winning percentage (51-14) and led the nation with 159 stolen bases in '05.
Under Earleywine's direction, Tech has broken every offensive record in school history and set eight ACC records.
Earleywine also led the Yellow Jackets to their highest ever final ranking in '05, No. 17. In the simulated RPI rankings by the NFCA, the Jackets finished No. 14, ahead of national powers Washington, Nebraska, Fresno State, Iowa and Florida State.
Earleywine continued to play a tough schedule in his second season as head coach, going 4-4 against the final Top 25. The Jackets out-hit 2005 national champion Michigan, 6-4, in a tough 4-1 loss, and defeated No. 9 Georgia, 4-3, No. 16 Northwestern, 3-0, and No. 18 Bethune-Cookman, 4-0 and 2-1.
In his first season as head coach in '04, Earleywine led the Yellow Jackets to 47 wins and Tech ended the season fourth in the nation in ERA (0.97) and 23rd in winning percentage (.712).
The Rambling Wreck also played one of the toughest schedules in the country, facing eight of the final 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Regionals, and three that advanced to the College World Series; Florida State, Michigan and Washington.
Earleywine led Tech to five wins over opponents that ended the season nationally ranked, the most ever by a Jacket squad. The Rambling Wreck defeated No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette (4-1), No. 11 Georgia (3-2), No. 13 Alabama (1-0), No. 14 Nebraska (1-0) and No. 25 Fresno State (9-1).
Another first for the Jackets was a victory over a Top 10 opponent, which Tech accomplished twice in '04, defeating then-No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-1, on Feb. 8, and downing the 10th-ranked Bulldogs, 3-2, on May 21.
Former Tech standout Jessica Sallinger garnered NFCA All-America honors in two consecutive seasons (2004, '05) and earned All-Southeast Region first team honors for the third time in her career under Earleywine's watch in '05.
In '05, Earleywine guided second baseman Aileen Morales to all-region first team honors and ACC Co-Freshman of the Year honors.
Along with earning national recognition, the Jackets were acknowledged inside the ACC with a program-best five players on the '05 all-conference team; Sallinger (1st), Morales (2nd), Lever (1st), Christine Sheridan (1st) and Hosier (1st).
While serving as the top assistant coach in 2002 and `03, Tech hitters broke 16 school records and two conference records. The Yellow Jackets finished fourth in the nation in '02 in fielding percentage and have led the ACC in that department in three of the five seasons (2002, '03, '05).
A standout in men's major fastpitch softball, Earleywine was a four-time member of Team USA (1998, '99, 2002, '03), including being named captain for his final two seasons with the national team.
In 2002, Team USA captured its first-ever Gold Medal in the Pan Am Qualifier, where he hit .429. At the 2003 Pan Am Games, hosted by the Dominican Republic, Earleywine helped lead Team USA to a Silver Medal.
A six-time ASA All-American, Earleywine was an All-World selection in 1999 by the International Softball Congress.
Prior to Tech, Earleywine was an assistant baseball coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2000. He guided the Islander offense to a team batting average of .322 in their inaugural baseball season.
Before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Earleywine was head coach at Westminster College from 1997-99. He led the Blue Jays to an overall record of 65-44 during his stint and a conference title in his final season.
Earleywine also served as an assistant coach at Westminster from 1994-97, under the guidance of former Major League Baseball outfielder, Phil Bradley.
As a collegiate baseball player, Earleywine played one season at Southwest Missouri State before transferring to Westminster College for the remainder of his collegiate career. During his three seasons for the Blue Jays, he broke seven school records and became a two-time all-conference honoree.
Earleywine earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Westminster College in 1994.
A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Ehren and his wife Lisa, reside in Atlanta with their two-year old son Connor. The two are expecting their second child sometime in September.
