UPDATE 07/08/19: Yale softball officially announced Ricciardone’s hiring in a press release today.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Laura Ricciardone will join the Yale coaching staff as the program’s top assistant coach.
Ricciardone spent the last three seasons as part of the coaching staff at South Florida, including the previous two years as a full-time assistant coach for the Bulls.
In a post published on her social media pages, Ricciardone said, in part, “Thrilled to be headed back home to New England and getting to work with the incredible staff and student athletes at Yale. To my Bulls family, the last three years have been wonderful. You are family, forever! I’m forever thankful to have been given the opportunity to join the USF Softball family. People are what matter. I’m leaving one incredible family in Tampa for another in New Haven. I am lucky to have the people and opportunities in my life that I do.”
While on staff at USF, Ricciardone served as the team’s second assistant, but filled a variety of roles, including while other members of the team’s staff participated in activities related to Team USA. She previously spent a season as an assistant coach at Boston University, helping lead the Terriers to a berth in the NCAA tournament.
As a player, Ricciardone was a four-time all-Ivy League honoree and twice earned an all-Region award during her time at Harvard. She led the Crimson to a pair of conference titles and NCAA regional berths, and ended her career with a 1.96 ERA and 320 strikeouts in more than 500 innings of work in the circle.
The Yale Bulldogs finished the 2019 season with a 16-27 overall record and a 10-11 mark in Ivy League play. The squad finished the year with a .281 team batting average and a 3.76 cumulative ERA from the program’s pitching staff.
