Gopher Head Softball Coach and Camp Director
Piper Ritter
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Piper Ritter was named the eighth head coach in program history on May 3, 2020 after 13 seasons as the Gophers pitching coach.
The Former Minnesota standout pitcher has developed four of the top hurlers in Minnesota softball history in Briana Hassett, Sara Moulton, Sara Groenewegen and now Amber Fiser. In the shortened 2020 season, Ritter coached Amber Fiser and Autumn Pease each to Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors. She has coached Gophers to 42 Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors in her tenure. She has coached pitchers to five All-American honors, three Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors and has coached seventeen no-hitters. Ritter helped take the Gophers to new heights in 2019 with the program's first ever Women's College World Series appearance in the NCAA era. A big reason for the Gophers success came from the circle. Ace Amber Fiser was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, First Team All-American, Honda Award Finalist, Academic All-District, broke school record and tied conference record with six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors and was a two-time NFCA Pitcher of the Week honoree. Fiser finished second for most wins in a single season with 31 and third for strikeouts with 346 in 2019. She pitched every single inning of both the Minneapolis Regional and Super Regional. Ritter was part of her second NFCA Great Lakes Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honor to cap off a successful 2019 season. In 2018, Ritter coached the Gophers to the 14th lowest ERA in the NCAA and second lowest in the Big Ten with a 1.90 mark as a staff. Ritter guided Amber Fiser to a 27-10 season with a 1.69 ERA as Fiser took on the role as the Gophers ace. Welcoming transfer Sydney Smith, who picked up the win in four of her last eight appearances, Ritter helped work Smith in to the Gophers rotation to form a strong starting staff along with Carlie Brandt who appeared in 16 games to go 7-2 with a 1.35 ERA. Read Full Bio Here |
Gopher Associate Head Coach and Lead Camp Coach Carly Wynn
Gopher Assistant Coach and Lead Camp Coach Annie Smith
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Carly Wynn was named the Gopher Softball Associate Head Coach in the summer of 2020.
Wynn spent 2016 through the 2020 shortened season at Arizona State and helped lead them to a 135-57 record with a 2018 Women’s College World Series appearance. She was the team’s lead recruiting coordinator, camp director and was in charge of alumni outreach. On the offensive side, Wynn assisted with all aspects of hitting and was in charge of short game, slappers and baserunning. On the defensive side, she coached an outfield that saw two 2019 All-American honorees in Morgan Howe (First Team) and Kindra Hackbarth (Third Team). Read Full Bio Here Annie Smith was named the Gopher Softball Assistant Coach in the summer of 2022.
Smith brings more than 20 years of coaching knowledge and experience to campus and joins the Golden Gophers from Arkansas where she spent the previous three seasons. She was part of the 2021 Razorbacks staff that earned NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors after securing the program's first SEC regular season title with a 43-11 record, going 19-5 in SEC play. Smith spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons as an assistant coach at Auburn and was part of two, 40-plus win seasons and an NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2018. She also made coaching stops in the SEC at LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri and boasts professional experience as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bandits of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) in 2017. Read Full Bio Here |
Gopher Volunteer Assistant Coach and Lead Camp Coach Bailey Oetting
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Oetting comes to Minnesota after spending the 2022 campaign at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., as its assistant coach helping the Chargers to a 31-20 record.
After graduating from Arizona State in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, Oetting began her coaching career as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with Arizona Christian University in Phoenix. She spent the 2019 season as the head coach at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Ill., before two years as a graduate assistant at Southern Arkansas. Oetting guided the Muleriders to a No. 1 ranking in NCAA Division II during the 2020 season before a 29-10 record and NCAA Central Region Tournament appearance in 2021. Read Full Bio Here |