Idaho State has hired Cristal Brown as the program’s new head coach, the school announced on Monday.
Brown takes over at the helm of the Bengals after spending the last eight years at Division III Whitworth in Spokane, Washington.
As the head coach at Whitworth, Brown amassed a 221-124 overall record, with a trio of conference regular-season titles in 2015-17. She led the Pirates to a pair of NCAA regional appearances in 2016 and 2017, and her team earned top-3 finishes in the conference standings in 2018 (3rd) and 2019 (2nd).
During her introductory press conference on Monday afternoon, Brown said, “I believe there [are]great coaches at all levels of sports… being a good coach is not about at what level you’re doing it, it’s about whether or not you’re doing it right. So I feel honored that that was seen in me, despite not having that Division I experience. That being said, I am so confident that I can do a great job here with the people who are already here.”
Prior to her tenure at Whitworth, Brown spent four years as a head coach at the high school level in California. Her coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant coach at the high school and NAIA levels.
Idaho State finished the 2019 season with a 20-27 overall record, including a 10-7 mark in Big Sky Conference play. The Bengals posted a team batting average of .245, while the squad’s pitching staff collected a cumulative ERA of 4.27 on the year.
