Riverside—UC Riverside Head Softball Coach Nikki Palmer announced today the hiring of three-time All-American Megan Langenfeld as the team's new pitching coach.
Langenfeld played at UCLA from 2007-10 where she also earned four All-Region honors and four All-Pac-10 selections. As the 2010 Pac-10 Player of the Year, Langenfeld was a finalist for the USA Softball National Player of the Year. That season, she helped propel the UCLA softball team to its 11th NCAA Championship, where she was named the Women's College World Series' Most Outstanding Player after hitting .706 and slugging 1.529, while going 3-0 in the circle with 17 strikeouts in 24.2 innings of work.
"After a long and vigilant search, we landed on what will prove to be the perfect candidate for our growing program," said Palmer. "Megan is a tenacious professional who understands not only the academic rigors of the UC system, but also the blue-collar nature that our team is all about. We are so excited to welcome her into our Highlanders family."
Langenfeld specializes in working with the pitchers and also the hitters, and will jump in immediately as the primary pitching coach for the Highlanders staff.
"I am extremely excited to be a part of the UC Riverside softball family," said Langenfeld. "Coach Palmer and Coach Schweikert both know what it takes to elevate a program from great to elite. They have been around the game at many levels, and I'm thrilled to learn as much as I can from them. I am looking forward to working with driven and intelligent student-athletes, and I'm hoping to help Coach Palmer bring further success to the Highlander softball program."
Langenfeld comes to the Inland Empire having coached the last three seasons at Stanford. Prior to joining the Cardinal, she coached at Arkansas, where she earned her master of education, as well as at her alma mater.
Langenfeld's name can be found at or near the top of nearly every major UCLA single-season and career statistical category In 2010, she set program single-season records in slugging percentage (1.085) and on base percentage (.667), and posted the second-best batting average (.527). She also led the Bruins that year with 20 home runs, 58 runs batted in, 43 walks and 140 total bases; was second with 50 runs scored; and tied for second with 68 hits. In the circle, she was 14-1 with a 1.53 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 114 1/3 innings.
At the conclusion of her UCLA career, Langenfeld ranked in the UCLA career Top 10 in nine categories: First in saves (12); second in on base percentage (.515), walks (121) and hit by pitches (36); third in slugging (.671); fifth in batting average (.385) and runs batted in (170); eighth in home runs (39); and tied for 10th in doubles (42).
In the circle, she went 53-9 with a 1.42 ERA, posting 348 strikeouts in 453.1 innings. Langenfeld added 34 complete games and 13 shutouts, while her five saves in 2008 stands as a single-season, school record.
Langenfeld joins a Highlanders Softball program that is 99-63-1 over the last three years. UC Riverside returns its entire pitching staff from a year ago, led by one of the top pitchers in the Big West Conference in the form of 2017 Second-Team All-Conference selection Tayler Misfeldt. The Tracy, California native boasts a career record of 37-26 and a 2.86 ERA. She is four wins away from breaking the Highlanders' career victories mark.
