The all-time winningest pitcher in NCAA Division II history and a veteran assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, Kristin Erb enters her first season as head coach at California (PA) in 2026.
Erb was one of the most prolific pitchers in collegiate softball history while winning a pair of NCAA Division II National Championships at Lock Haven from 2006-09. Following her decorated playing career, she has served as an assistant coach at Austin Peay State (TN), James Madison (VA), Coastal Carolina (SC) and Marist (NY). Erb recently completed her fourth season with the Red Foxes, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship and appeared in the NCAA Regionals.
A native of Reading, Erb was a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) First-Team All-American pitcher with the Bald Eagles. She still holds NCAA Division II all-time records with 168 victories, 1,240.7 innings pitched, 159 complete games and 100 shutouts. Additionally, Erb now ranks second across all NCAA divisions in career victories and career shutouts behind only Monica Abbott of Tennessee. She helped Lock Haven capture four-consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships after the Bald Eagles last won the league title in 1982.
Erb helped Marist register a .610 winning percentage over the last four years, highlighted by a pair of MAAC Championships and multiple appearances in the NCAA Regionals. In 2023, the Red Foxes captured their first MAAC Championship in seven years with a victory over the top seed in the tournament. Marist then faced host Florida State and South Carolina while making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2016. This spring, the Red Foxes set the program record for wins with a 48-9-1 overall record behind a dominating 21-2-1 mark in conference play. Marist won the MAAC Championship after allowing only two runs in three tournament victories before making the program's fourth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Red Foxes earned their first-ever win in the NCAA Regionals before being eliminated by host Texas A&M.
Prior to her time in New York, Erb spent nearly a decade on the coaching staff at Coastal Carolina while members of both the Big South Conference and Sun Belt Conference (starting in 2017). She was reunited with Kelley Green, her college coach at Lock Haven, and helped the Chanticleers win back-to-back regular-season titles in the Big South. In 2014, Coastal Carolina won 40 games for only the second time in two decades behind Kiana Quloas, who repeated as the Big South Pitcher of the Year.
Erb started her coaching career at Austin Peay State in 2011 before spending the next season at James Madison. She helped JMU advance to the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament.
Following her collegiate career, Erb played two seasons professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She debuted with the Philadelphia Force in 2009 before joining the Tennessee Diamonds the following summer.
Erb was a charter member of the Lock Haven Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. She was honored with the Honda Sports Award for Division II Athlete of the Year, which is presented to the top female student-athlete across all sports, in both 2006 and 2009. Erb led NCAA Division II in ERA in four-consecutive seasons and was the national leader in wins three times.
She completed her bachelor's degree from Lock Haven in sports administration with a minor in coaching and business in 2010.
