Taryne Mowatt-McKinney reportedly out; Caitlin Lowe seeks new pitching coach for UA staff

As expected, changes are coming to Arizona softball coach Caitlin Lowe’s staff this offseason.

No one knew it would happen so fast.

Lowe is hiring a new assistant/pitching coach; the job opening was posted on Arizona’s website on Wednesday.

Which means that Taryne Mowatt-McKinney is out.

Extra Inning Softball reported that Arizona and Mowatt-McKinney have parted ways. Neither Lowe nor UA Athletics responded to questions from the Star seeking confirmation.

With the addition of a third assistant coach to softball staffs on July 1 and Stacey Iveson’s retirement in December, it was known there would be new faces in the program. Paul Nagy, Lowe’s husband and a former UA assistant soccer coach, joined the staff and took over some of Iveson’s duties in the spring when he filled a director-of-operations role.

But it was not known that Mowatt-McKinney would not be coming back.

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While the future might be looking brighter in the circle with top-rated Ryan Maddox coming to UA in the fall — and freshmen Aissa Silva and Sydney Somerndike, along with junior Devyn Netz, returning — 2023 was rough.

The pitching staff finished with a 4.26 ERA and just 248 strikeouts in 330⅓ innings; the Wildcats didn’t make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986.

In Mowatt-McKinney’s first three seasons as pitching coach, she helped UA pitchers post ERAs below 2.00. In 2022, Netz (foot) and Hanah Bowen (hip) were injured but turned it on for a run to the Women’s College World Series. They combined to strike out 33 batters and give up 10 runs in 55 innings of postseason work. Bowen’s postseason ERA was 2.06, while Netz had an ERA of 1.22 during that run.

Mowatt-McKinney is among the top pitchers in UA history. She led the Wildcats to national championship No. 8 in 2007 when she pitched in eight games over seven days. She threw 60 innings (and 1,035 pitches), striking out 76 and earning six wins. Her fingers split open and bled during the season, and it happened again in the WCWS. She pushed through the pain, taped up her fingers for the final game and won it.

Knowing that she had an extra assistant position to fill this summer, a few months ago Lowe would not tip her hand on which way she was leaning — bringing on another Arizona alum or going outside the program like she did with assistant coach Lauren Lappin.

Now, with the pitching assistant coach role open, Lowe has an additional spot to fill.