June 27, 2003
Ehren Earleywine, who served as an assistant coach during the Georgia Tech softball program’s two most successful seasons ever, has been named the Yellow Jackets’ interim head coach, Director of Athletics Dave Braine announced Friday.
Earleywine replaces Kate Madden, who resigned to pursue other interests after five years as head coach.
Tech’s top assistant the last two years, Earleywine worked with the Jackets’ hitters and infielders and coached first base as Tech made its first two NCAA Tournament appearances and captured the school’s first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 2002. The Jackets won 90 games the last two years, including a school-record 52 wins in 2002, when the team came within one game of reaching the Women’s College World Series.
With Earleywine as hitting coach, Tech enjoyed one of its most productive offensive seasons in 2002. After batting just .213 as a team prior to his arrival, the Jackets’ team average rose to .263 in his first year. Individually, shortstop Tara Knudsen tied the ACC season record with 16 home runs while leading the squad with a .374 average, and catcher Lindsay Wood set a conference mark with 27 doubles. Knudsen, a third-team all-America in 2002, again led the ACC in home runs this spring with 13.
Earleywine has previous head coaching experience, serving three seasons (1997-99) as the head baseball coach at Westminster College, an NCAA Division III program and his alma mater, where he compiled a 65-44 record. He also served as an assistant baseball coach for three years at Westminster (1994-96) and one year at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1999-00).
A standout in major men’s fastpitch softball, Earleywine was a member of the Team USA men’s fastpitch team in 1988-99 and 2002-03. Last fall, he was a member of the U.S. gold medal team at the 2002 Pan Am Qualifier, where he batted .429 in nine games. He is a six-time all-America and was an All-World selection in 1999 by the International Softball Congress.
Earleywine graduated from Westminster in 1994 with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration. He was a two-time all-conference baseball player at Westminster.
A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Earleywine, 32, and his wife Lisa have an infant son, Connor.
Madden compiled a record of 161-143 in five seasons and was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2002. She also spent one season (1998) as the program’s first full-time assistant coach before she was elevated to head coach.
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