Assistant Coach
Pitching Coach
Second Season at Villanova
Alma Mater: Mississippi State '22
Grace Fagan enters her second year as the pitching coach on Villanova's staff, joining the Wildcats in September of 2023.Â
Fagan's first campaign with the Wildcats marked the most successful season in program history, winning its first league regular season title and third BIG EAST ring in four years, plus reaching a Regional Final for the first time ever. Fagan and the staff received the BIG EAST Co-Coaching Staff honor in addition to Mideast Region NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year, one of just 11 programs in the running for National Staff of the Year. Fagan's duties included developing Alyssa Seidler into the ace of the pitching staff and helping Caroline Pellicano set multiple program records in the circle, while three hurlers earned BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament Team.
Fagan makes her way to the Main Line after pitching for five seasons at Mississippi State. The left-hander from Swedesboro, N.J., averaged 6.52 strikeouts per seven innings in her graduate season after making 15 appearances in the circle as a senior.
"We are excited to bring Grace back home to the Philadelphia area after five successful seasons in the SEC at Mississippi State," Orchard said. "Her knowledge, energy and passion for pitching will be huge for our staff. She understands today's student-athletes and the daily grind mentally and physically. She brings elite training as well as NCAA postseason experience, and we can't wait for her to get started."Â
Pitching in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference, the left-hander made 78 appearances for the Bulldogs and totaled 195.1 innings pitched while allowing just 95 earned runs in her career. Fagan owned a five-year record of 20-11, striking out 194 and holding opponents to a .220 batting average.
Fagan was named an NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete in 2022 and 2023, a four-time SEC Honor Roll member and represented Mississippi State on the 2021 SEC Community Service Team.
Coming out of Kingsway Regional HS, Fagan was ranked as high as eighth nationally by FloSoftball and was named the 2017 South Jersey Pitcher of the Year.Â
Fagan graduated from MSU in May 2022 with her degree in biological sciences and completed a master's in food science nutrition in 2023.
