Head Coach Elisabeth Beirne
Elisabeth Beirne was named Head Coach of the softball program prior to the 2017 season. Beirne has led the Jaguars to three Horizon League Tournament appearances
In her seventh season, Beirne and the Jaguars made their return to the Horizon League Tournament with a 12-10 record in conference play. IUPUI entered the tournament as the no. 4 seed but was knocked out in the opening day with losses to Green Bay and Youngstown State.
In her second season, Beirne led the Jaguars to a No. 5 seed in the Horizon League Tournament with an 11-10 record in conference play. The Jagaurs earned a win in the first round of the tournament with a 1-0 win against Northern Kentucky before falling in their next two games. Beirne's squad became the first IUPUI team to beat an SEC team as the Jaguars beat Missouri 9-8 in nine innings on Mar. 2.
In her first season at the helm of the IUPUI program, Beirne led IUPUI to a No. 6 seed in the Horzion League Tournament. The Jaguars won their first two games in the tournament before finishing in third place after two losses.
Under Beirne's watch the Jags have earned nineteen All-Horizon League awards including two All-League First Team honors with Jaida Speth (2023) and McKenzie Loge (2019). Eleven different athletes have earned Second-Team honors: Megan Overton (2018), Mandy Dallas (2018, 2019), Delilah Wright (2018), Delaney Thompson (2019), Jordan Barnes (2021), Morgan Gilbert (2021), Rachael Gregory (2022), Madison Bryant (2023), Jordan Jenkins (2023), Kayla Freiberg (2023) and Kendal Calvert (2023).
Over the past seven seasons, five Jags have been named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team: Lexi Lucas (2019), Jaida Speth (2019), Morgan Gilbert (2021), Kendal Calvert (2022) and Kennedy Cowan (2023).
Beirne comes to IUPUI from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she served as the assistant coach for one season. While there, Beirne helped lead the Flames to a 39-22, going 20-4 in Horizon League play. A pitching specialist, Beirne tutored Elaine Heflin to the 2017 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year award as well as two First-Team All-Conference pitching selections (Heflin and Karissa Frazier). Her staff led the Horizon League with a 1.16 ERA against conference opponents, helping the Flames to both regular season and conference tournament championships while advancing to the NCAA Regionals.
Prior to her time at UIC, Beirne coached a pair of seasons at fellow Horizon League affiliate Wright State, where she was an assistant coach and pitching coordinator. Her leadership saw numerous program records set, including a single season win total by a pitcher (21), a single season overall and conference record (37-23, 18-6), and a top-25 national ERA (2.21).
Her lengthiest stay as assistant coach came from 2008-14, when she worked at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia. While there, Beirne's accomplishments included helping a student-athlete set the program record for single season strikeouts, shutouts and consecutive scoreless innings, while also setting the program record for wins, strikeouts and shutouts. The 2014 season saw her staff produce one perfect game and two no-hitters, with two perfect games coming in 2013 (one in the NCAA Regionals). Five times she helped coach the Souther Conference Pitcher of the Year, as well as five Second-Team NFCA All-Region pitchers.
Beirne got her first opportunity in a full-time role as a pitching coach at Tennessee State in the Fall of 2007. Prior to that, she fulfilled two graduate assistantships at Liberty University and Belhaven College.
As a student-athlete, Beirne pitched at NAIA program Olivet Nazarene in Illinois, leading her team to a 2003 NAIA World Series third-place finish. In four seasons, she compiled a 74-26 record with 32 shutouts and was a 2003 First-Team NCCAA All-American and All-Tournament selection. That season, she went 29-7 with a 1.61 ERA.