Friedman Named Assistant Softball Coach

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State head softball coach Laura Berg announced Tuesday that Emily Friedman will join the program as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2017 season.

"I'm extremely honored to join the Oregon State family," Friedman said. "I'm excited to return to the Pac-12 Conference, which has the richest tradition of academic and athletic excellence in our sport."

Friedman joins Beaver Nation after spending the last two years at Columbia University as an assistant coach, working with infield, outfield and hitting.

"I'm really excited about having Emily on staff," Berg said. "Emily has had some great life experiences that she'll be able to share with our student-athletes. I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do."

"I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a knowledgeable and passionate coaching staff, mentor an exceptional group of athletes, and be a part of an amazing University," Friedman continued. "Oregon State softball has unlimited potential."

Friedman began her coaching career at the University of Vermont as an assistant coach from 2007-08, before moving to Fordham University from 2008-11. During her time at Fordham, the program had three of the most successful seasons in program history. The Rams broke every offensive record, appeared in the program's first NCAA Regional, the first Atlantic-10 Championship, the inaugural first team All-American, back-to-back Atlantic-10 Player of the Year selections, multiple All-Conference and All-Region selections and Mid-Atlantic Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.

Friedman played at Wisconsin from 2002-04, where she earned Freshman of the Year in 2003 and All-Big Ten Honors in 2004. Friedman transferred to California after her sophomore year and helped the No. 1 ranked Golden Bears advance to the Women's College World Series in 2005 after earning the Pac-10 title.

She also excelled in the classroom, earning first team academic honors from the Big Ten in 2004 and Pac-10 in 2006. She was given the Golden Bear Award at Cal for the highest cumulative GPA on the team in 2006, and garnered both Third Team Academic All-American and First Team Academic All-Region the same year.

After her collegiate career, Friedman spent five seasons playing professional softball, competing for the Philadelphia Force from 2006-09 and the Chicago Bandits in 2010. Friedman was selected to the National Pro Fastpitch All-Star team in 2008 and 2010 as both an infielder and outfielder.

In addition to competing on the softball field, Friedman also competed in CrossFit and was ranked as one of the top female athletes worldwide from 2012-14. In 2013 she placed 25th overall in the Reebok CrossFit Games, among some of the most talented athletes in the world.

For more information on the Oregon State softball team, follow the team's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverSoftball, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateSoftball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverSoftball.

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