Troy University Softball

The Newell File Personal Information Birthday April 22 Hometown Noble, Ill. Education Williams Baptist, 2002 (Bachelor's) William Woods University, 2004 (Master's) Wife April Children Gabriella, Juliana, Adalynn, Jillian, Jacqueline, Josiephine Coaching History 2023-pres. Troy - Head Coach 2015-22 Auburn-Montgomery - Head Coach 2007-14 Williams Baptist - Head Coach 2002-06 Fredericktown (Mo.) HS - Head Coach Eric Newell prepares for his fourth season as the Troy softball coach, reaching win No. 100 in 2025 after three straight 30-plus win seasons. A third straight 30-plus win season gave him win No. 100 at Troy with a win over South Alabama in the regular season finale. He coached the Trojans to their first-ever series win over Louisiana with two walk-off victories. Newell also defeated South Alabama, Texas State, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina in SBC series to end 33-24, 12-12 SBC. His Trojans shattered the program record for sac flies (21) and slugging percentage (.506) with five players hammering eight or more homers. Under Newell, Taylor McKinney cemented herself one of the greats, earning All-Sun Belt First Team, NFCA All-Region Gulf Second Team and placing fourth in career batting average (.342), second in slugging percentage (.628), fourth in on-base percentage (.441), second in RBIs (157), third in homers (40), fifth in runs (150), tied for 10th in triples (9) and tied for second in walks (100). He also coached Alyssa Faircloth (SBC leader in hits allowed per seve

Hightower starts her Trojan coaching career after being hired on June 24, 2025, by head coach Eric Newell. A two-time NCAA Women’s College World Series participant at Florida and current professional softball player with the Florida Vibe, Elizabeth Hightower, is hired as the new pitching coach for Troy softball, head coach Eric Newell announced Tuesday afternoon. Over the last two years, Hightower doubled her professional playing career as the pitching development coordinator at Florida Atlantic, where she collaborated with head pitching coach Nicole Newman on bullpen planning, weekend game preparation and pitch calling strategies. With her help in recruiting, FAU helped secure the No. 1-ranked transfer class in 2023. The Owls combined for an 86-28, 44-10 AAC record in her two seasons, earning a bid to the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Gainesville Regional. FAU also won the regular season title in 2024 in its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference. At FAU, she worked with the pitchers, which included Ainsley Lambert, who led the AAC in saves (8), hits allowed (63) and runs allowed (31) in 2024. Hightower also worked with Trinity Schlotterbeck. Shlotterbeck earned All-AAC First Team, NFCA DI All-Region First Team, Softball America All-American and NFCA DI All-American with a team-high 10 homers at the plate and a 16-7 record through 144 innings pitched on the mound. She also coached All-American, AAC Pitcher of the Year, All-AAC First Team and the No. 79-r

Kristy Lawrence begins her 13th season as a member of the Troy softball staff as the program’s director of operations. Born in Sydney, Australia, Lawrence pl...

Fresh off her first season with Troy softball, Mackenzie Puckett prepares for her second season in 2025-26. In her first season, Puckett boosted the Trojans ...

Nate Tompkins enters his third season with Troy and second as assistant coach in 2026. In his first season as assistant coach, Tompkins helped the Trojans to a 33-24, 12-12 SBC record with series victories over UMass, Alabama A&M, Coastal Carolina, West Georgia, Louisiana, Texas State, Georgia State and South Alabama to punch a No. 8 seed – the 2-1 series win over Louisiana was the first in program history. Tompkins also helped Troy hit for back-to-back 60-plus homer seasons en route to breaking the sac fly (21) and slugging percentage (.506) program records. He also boosted three All-Sun Belt members in Taylor McKinney on the first team and Alyssa Faircloth and McKinnon Howard on the second team. Tompkins was promoted to assistant coach in the fall of 2024 after he joined the Troy staff prior to the 2024 as the director of player development and analytics following four years as a private softball instructor at D-Bat Chattanooga for four years. Additionally, he provided development data, technology-driven feedback, and performance metrics to several DI softball programs across the country. During his tenure at D-Bat, more than 80 of the athletes he worked with went on to play collegiate softball. Prior to moving to the private sector, Tompkins was the assistant coach at Brewton-Parker for four seasons (2016-19) and an assistant coach at Tennessee Temple for three seasons (2013-15), where he coached 10 players who earned NCCAA All-America honors.