MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas head softball coach Jason Anderson has announced his new coaching staff for the 2017 season. Among the coaching additions are Kayla English, Autumn Suydam, and Kimmy Beasley.

Kayla English, joins the Lady Mulerider Softball staff as an assistant coach and will serve as the team's pitching coach.

"I am very excited with the makeup of our staff for the 2017 season," said head coach Jason Anderson.  "Kayla will be a great asset to our pitching staff, she is a proven winner that exceled at a very high level as a player.  She also has experience as a pitching coach in our region and has strong recruiting ties in areas that we do very well in for future players."

Prior to her coming to SAU, English was a Graduate Assistant softball coach at Midwestern State University. During her lone year at Midwestern State, English coached two first-team players, a pair of second-team players, and one third-team player. Midwestern's pitching staff was ranked in the top five in strikeouts and batting average against within the Lone Star Conference. Along with her ability to coach a dominant pitching staff, English also has experience with recruiting successful pitchers to fit the needs of the program.

Before beginning her coaching career, English served as a notorious pitcher for the University of Dayton in which she spent all four years of her collegiate career. As a freshman, English held the lowest ERA on the team with a 2.55 and recorded 134 strikeouts in 140 innings pitched.

During her career, she was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, 4-time All-Atlantic 10, and first-team All-Conference in 2015, while also being a 10-time conference pitcher of the week. English also logged Dayton's first perfect game in 2015, and a no-hitter in 2014. A native of Grapevine, Texas holds the record for most strikeouts in a career at Dayton with 564.

Additionally, in her career English is third in wins with 53, and fourth in opponent batting average at .222. In her final year with the Dayton Flyers, English had her best statistical year as she recorded a 2.14 ERA with 121 strikeouts in 124 innings pitched en route to being named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team.  
 
Autumn Suydam, another prominent player in her prime, comes to SAU as a graduate assistant after spending four years of her collegiate career at GAC-Rival East Central University.

"Autumn knows what it takes to win in our league," remarked Anderson. "She was an all-conference performer and will be helping with both hitting and outfielders." 

Suydam was a starter all four years for the Tigers, and swung a consistent bat with an average over .340 every year.

In her career, Suydam received recognition for not only her performance on the field, but also in the classroom. In her senior season, she was named to the Academic All-America First-Team with a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Additionally, the Academic All-American was named the Great American Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the year in 2016, as well as the Central Regional Scholar-Athlete of the year.

Aside from Suydam's academic accolades, she helped lead her team to it's first-ever GAC Championship in 2015. In that year, Suydam would hit a career-high .423 with 63 hits and 20 RBI's. As a senior, Suydam would go out with a bang as she had yet another phenomenal year at the plate hitting .396 with 61 hits, 24 RBI's, and a .526 slugging percentage.

Suydam came out in the top-two of her team in batting average her last three years as a Tiger, leading the team her senior year. To add to her offensive success, she also was a speedster on the base paths with 84 career stolen bases, ranking 42 nationally as a freshman.

Kimmy Beasley, joins the coaching staff as a student assistant after spending three years at the University of Arkansas and her final season at SAU.

"Kimmy has exceled at every level as a player and will be a great addition," said Anderson. "She knows what it takes to win and will also help in many areas."

During her time with the Razorbacks, Beasley posted a career 3.16 ERA in 301 innings pitched, while also racking up 312 strikeouts including a career-high 171 punch outs in her sophomore season.

As a freshman, she had 99 strikeouts in 130 innings pitched, posting an ERA of 3.60. Her spectacular performance as a freshman would lead her to be named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.  In Beasley's sophomore and best statistical year with the Razorbacks, she would rank 13^th in all of NCAA Division I softball with her strikeout total and her Strikeouts per Seven Innings mark of 9.3. In that same year, Beasley pitched a career-low 2.61 ERA where she received recognition as an ALL-SEC Second-Team Pitcher.

After transferring from U of A, Beasley would continue her successful collegiate career for the Lady Muleriders posting a 1.55 ERA as a senior in 203.1 innings pitched. She picked up the most wins in the circle for the Lady Muleriders with 26, and a team-high 221 strikeouts, 9 shutouts, 3 saves, while holding the opponent batting average to .198.

As a result of the Foreman, Arkansas native's dominance in the circle at SAU, Beasley would accumulate numerous honors such as being named to the D2CCA All-America Third-Team, NFCA DII All-Central Region Second-Team, HERO Sports DII Softball Newcomer of the Year, GAC Newcomer of the Year, and All-GAC First-Team Pitcher.

Additionally, Beasley helped lead the Lady Muleriders to its second GAC Conference Tournament Championship in school history, along with a Central Region Championship and SAU's first appearance in the DII Softball College World Series. At the National Championships, the Lady Muleriders would finish among the final four in the tournament, earning the acclaim of being National Semi-Finalists.