Caitlin Lowe's staff is filling out as she officially announced the hiring of Christian Conrad as Arizona's pitching coach Friday afternoon.Β
Conrad, who most recently was the pitching coach for three seasons at Loyola Marymount, replaces former UA standout Taryne Mowatt-McKinney, who had held the position since 2018.Β
βWe are very excited to welcome Christian to the Wildcat Family,β Lowe said in a news release. βHe is passionate about the development of his pitching staff and the use of cutting-edge analytics and technology that have become difference-makers in our sport. A true student of the game and energetic recruiter, Christian will make an immediate impact on our programβs quest to win our next national championship.β
At LMU, Conrad directed the pitching staff to sub-3.00 ERAs the past two seasons and coached the WCC's two-time Pitcher of the Year, Jenna Perez. Perez led the league in strikeouts (233), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.82) and strikeouts per seven innings (9.6). She also led the WCC with a 1.10 ERA during league play.
Conrad was also a volunteer for Florida State's Lonni Alameda and an undergraduate assistant at Oregon for Mike White and Melyssa Lombardi.Β
Conrad also spent time with USA Softball's U19 team in 2019 and was a team facilitator for Athletes Unlimited in the fall of 2020.
The Wildcats finished 29-25, 6-18 in Pac-12 play this past season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986. The pitching staff finished with a 4.26 ERA.
Lowe still has an additional coaching spot to fill as the NCAA added another paid position for the 2024 season.
No. 8 seed Arizona fell to No. 1 seed UCLA 4-3 in the Pac-12 Softball Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium. The Wildcats could miss the NCAA postseason for the first time since 1986.
