Lindenwood University Women's Softball

Erin Brown is entering her fifth season as the head coach of the Lindenwood softball team in 2026.  During the 2025 season, Lindenwood finished with a record of 24-25 and a 14-12 mark inside conference play, making another appearance in the OVC Tournament. The Black and Gold ranked third in the OVC in ERA at 3.31 during the year. At the conclusion of the year, the Lions had four players earn All-Conference honors. Avery Wapp, Tori Hatton, and Nicole Henson garnered Second Team honors, while Ryleigh Owens landed on the All-Newcomer team. Brown led the Lions to an OVC Tournament appearance after guiding Lindenwood to a 25-25 record. Lindenwood had an impressive home record in 2024 going 12-5 at Lou Brock Sports Complex. Irelynn West earned First Team All-conference honors while Amanda Weyh earned Second Team. Under Brown, the Lions swept cross-town rivals Saint Louis in two games during a home-and-home series. The Lions went 13-14 in OVC play. Brown also coached five CSC Academic All-District players. In 2023, the Lions went 16-32, including an 8-15 mark against OVC competition. Lindenwood finished with a winning record at home (12-10) and swept eventual conference champion Eastern Illinois late in the year at Lou Brock Sports Complex. Irelynn West and Dallis Darnell earned all-conference honors with West being a second-team selection and Darnell being named to the all-newcomer team.  Under Brown's guidance, the Lindenwood softball team capped a historic 2022 season in the NCAA Midwest Regional and a 35-13 overall record. The Lions' trip to the regional tournament marked the first in program history, as the team claimed the No. 4 seed. Lindenwood earned a notable win over No. 2 UIndy in late April, the highest-ranked victory in program history.   Junior ace Amanda Weyh led the Lions all spring, hoarding a plethora of individual postseason accolades, including CoSIDA Academic Team Member of the Year and NFCA All-America Third Team. Prior to Lindenwood, Brown was the head coach at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., where she accumulated a 348-302 record in 13 seasons at the helm of the program. Over her final seven seasons with the Bulldogs, Brown amassed 233 wins and a .643 winning percentage. Brown led TSU to five NCAA Regional Appearances, and coached three All-Americans, 12 first-team All-Conference selections, 10 second-team All-Conference honorees, and four conference major award winners in 13 campaigns. The Bulldogs made the GLVC Tournament in every season under Brown. Brown rejoined her alma mater of Truman State as head coach after previously serving as the head coach and Sports Information Director at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. She took over the program in 2004 and improved the team from two wins in its previous two seasons combined into 17 throughout the next two years. She had four players named All-Conference by the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, including the school’s first first-team All-SLIAC pick in three seasons. Prior to Westminster, Brown served as a graduate intern at the Missouri State High School Activities Association in the summer of 2004 after completing her master’s degree at the University of Central Missouri. She assisted long-time Jennies coach Rhesa Sumrell for two seasons in Warrensburg as CMSU went 69-40 during that period. In 1999, Brown transferred to Truman State from Culver-Stockton College and was a letter winner on three NCAA regional finalist squads. Brown was used mostly as a utility player and had a career high .313 batting average in 1999 and was second on the team in 2000 with 14 stolen bases in 48 games played. Brown played high school softball at South Shelby High School in Shelbina, Mo., and is married to her husband, Brian, and has two children, Teryn and Brooks. COACHING RECORD Overall Record Conference Record Home Record Road Record Neutral Record 2025 Lindenwood 24-25 (.490) 14-12 (.538) 13-12 (.520) 8-9 (.471) 3-4 (.429) 2024 Lindenwood 25-25 (.500) 13-14 (.481) 12-5 (.705) 9-16 (.360) 4-4 (.500) 2023 Lindenwood 16-32 (.333) 8-15 (.348) 12-10 (.545) 2-14 (.125) 2-8 (.200) 2022 Lindenwood 35-13 (.729) 21-7 (.750) 15-5 (.750) 10-3 (.769) 10-5 (.667) Career (Lindenwood) 100-95 (.513) 56-48 (.538) 52-32 (.619) 29-42 (.408) 19-21 (.475) 2019 Truman State 32-19 (.627) 14-12 (.538) 14-5 (.737) 5-9 (.357) 13-5 (.722) 2018 Truman State 26-20 (.565) 15-13 (.536) 13-5 (.722) 11-11 (.500) 2-4 (.333) 2017 Truman State 40-23 (.635) 18-10 (.643) 14-4 (.778) 10-6 (.625) 16-13 (.552) 2016 Truman State 30-20 (.600) 20-10 (.667) 10-4 (.714) 13-11 (.542) 7-5 (.583) 2015 Truman State 33-16 (.673) 21-7 (.750) 14-2 (.875) 10-6 (.625) 9-8 (.529) 2014 Truman State 43-13 (.768) 30-6 (.833) 18-2 (.900) 13-7 (.650) 12-4 (.750) 2013 Truman State 29-18 (.617) 16-12 (.571) 9-5 (.643) 12-8 (.600) 8-5 (.615) 2012 Truman State 23-28 (.451) 6-14 (.300) 9-7 (.563) 9-14 (.391) 5-7 (.417) 2011 Truman State 20-28 (.417) 4-18 (.182) 5-9 (.357) 6-10 (.375) 9-9 (.500) 2010 Truman State 22-33 (.400) 9-11 (.450) 6-8 (.429) 6-10 (.375) 10-15 (.400) 2009 Truman State 11-34 (.244) 3-17 (.150) 3-9 (.250) 2-15 (.118) 6-10 (.375) 2008 Truman State 22-21 (.512) 8-10 (.444) 5-9 (.357) 6-6 (.500) 11-6 (.647) 2007 Truman State 17-29 (.370) 6-10 (.375) 2-8 (.200) 6-8 (.429) 9-13 (.409) Career (Truman State) 348-302 (.535) 170-150 (.531) 122-77 (.613) 109-121 (.474) 117-104 (.530) 2006 Westminster (Mo.) 11-19 (.367) 3-7 (.300) 7-14 (.333) 4-5 (.444) 2005 Westminster (Mo.) 6-14 (.300) 1-9 (.100) 4-5 (.444) 2-7 (.222) 0-2 (.000) Career (Westminster (Mo.) 17-33 (.340) 4-16 (.200) 11-19 (.367) 6-12 (.333) 0-2 (.000) CAREER 465-430 (.520) 230-214 (.518) 185-128 (.591) 144-175 (.451) 136-127 (.517)

Anthony Ruggiero begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Lindenwood softball program in 2026  Ruggiero comes to Lindenwood after spending the last two on the staff at the University of Louisiana Monroe. The 2025 season marked his first as a softball analyst as he was a graduate assistant in 2024. The Warhawks compiled a 35-22 record, including a 14-10 mark inside the Sun Belt a year ago. Prior to his time in Monroe, La. Ruggiero spent the previous four seasons with Syracuse University as a student manager for the Softball program. A native of Upstate New York, he graduated from Syracuse in 2023 with two bachelor’s: one in Broadcast and Digital Journalism and the other in Sport Management. Ruggiero graduated in 2024 from ULM with a master’s in exercise science  

Chris Iliopoulos enters his second season as an assistant coach on the Lindenwood softball staff in 2026. During the 2025 season, Lindenwood finished with a record of 24-25 and a 14-12 mark inside conference play, making another appearance in the OVC Tournament. The Black and Gold ranked third in the OVC in ERA at 3.31 during the year. At the conclusion of the year, the Lions had four players earn All-Conference honors. Avery Wapp, Tori Hatton, and Nicole Henson garnered Second Team honors, while Ryleigh Owens landed on the All-Newcomer team. Iliopoulos comes to St. Charles after serving as the head softball coach at Wisconsin-Stout for the past three seasons. In that time he posted a 45-70 record but had his best season in the spring of 2024 when the Blue Devils went 22-20, an 11 game improvement from the year before. An offensive coach, Iliopoulos created offensive workouts to help athletes with bat speed and arm strength. He also handled the pitch calling, offensive and defensive strategies and game management. Over his three seasons as head coach, Iliopoulos had three all-conference selections. In 2022, he coached the conference's stolen base leader, home run leader and the Scholar Athlete of the Year. Prior to his time as head coach, he was an assistant at Wisconsin Stout for four seasons. Over that time he worked primarily with the hitters and infielders. In 2018, his team batted .316 for the season with 21 home runs and 63 doubles. A graduate from Truman State in 2017, Iliopoulos played collegiate baseball from 2014-2017 at Truman. During his time, his team made the Division II College World Series in 2015 and won an NCAA Regional. He was also a Second-Team All Conference selection in 2017. Iliopoulos also played at Spoon River College from 2012-2014. He earned in Bachelor's Degree from Truman State in 2017 in Business Administration and his Master's Degree at Belhaven University in Sports Administration in 2021.