The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 2/2 Softball’s Taylor joins Great Britain Women’s Softball coaching staff
03.27.2024 | Softball
First-year Longhorn assistant coach Pattie Ruth Taylor adds national team duties to résumé.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Longhorn softball assistant coach Pattie Ruth Taylor has joined the Great Britain Women's Softball coaching staff, the British Softball Federation and Great Britain Women's Fastpitch Olympic head coach Tara Henry announced on Tuesday.
"Great Britain softball has a bright future ahead and I am beyond excited to work with this team and pitching staff as we start the journey to the LA 2028 Olympic Games," Taylor said. "This program has made amazing strides, and I can't wait to see what all this team will accomplish. I want to thank Tara Henry and (Great Britain Women's Fastpitch Olympic head of performance) Gary Anderson for this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to working alongside them!"
"We are excited for Coach Taylor and her new position as pitching coach for the Great Britain softball team," said Texas softball head coach Mike White. "Since her arrival on the Forty Acres, her passion and joy of coaching softball has been evident in the way she works with our pitching staff and team overall. She is truly one of the rising stars of collegiate coaching and we wish her all the best for her international debut as a coach."
Taylor is currently in her first season as an assistant coach on the Longhorn coaching staff and will remain in that role in addition to her coaching duties with Great Britain Softball.
"It's an exciting time for Great Britain Softball and we are thrilled to welcome Pattie Ruth Taylor to our coaching staff," said Henry. "Pattie is a bright, young pitching mind and the kind of person we wanted as a coach and mentor to complete our staff."
Through Texas' first 31 games of the 2024 season, Taylor has helped the five-member Longhorn pitching staff to a collective 1.26 earned run average (ERA), which is the fourth-lowest ERA in the nation and outright lowest among Big 12 Conference softball programs. She helped Mac Morgan open the 2024 season with a five-inning no-hitter against San Diego and has assisted in Citlaly Gutierrez and Teagan Kavan, who is currently tied for the most victories by a pitcher in the conference, combining to earn three Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors.
Taylor arrived on the Forty Acres following a two-season stint at Lehigh University, where she helped the program to its 15th Patriot League tournament championship. Prior to Lehigh, Taylor served as a volunteer coach at the University of Connecticut that followed a four-year playing career at Middle Tennessee State University.
"Olympic head coach Tara Henry has been tasked to put together a world class coaching network that supports Great Britain's ambitions to qualify for the LA2028 Olympic Games," Anderson said. "To recruit someone of the standing of Pattie illustrates the direction of travel of the program. In the short period of time I have been speaking with Pattie, she has shown she is funny aligned with our strategy and I cannot wait to work with her through this very busy summer."
On Monday, March 25, The British Softball Federation and USA Softball announced a two-game exhibition series to be played at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., on June 29 and 30th. The two organizations last faced off during the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Group A playoffs in Balbriggan, Ireland last summer.
The Great Britain national team will also play the Oklahoma City Spark, a professional softball team from the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) league on June 27 and 28th.
UP NEXT
Taylor and her Longhorn pitching staff will return to action on Thursday, March 28, when Texas begins a three-game series against No. 8/10 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
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