Softball
Josh Taylor
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- taylor@latech.edu
Josh Taylor recently completed his fourth season at LA Tech after taking over the program in the summer of 2021 following a five-year stint at Nevada. During Taylor’s four seasons at the helm in Ruston, he has led the Bulldogs to a 135-91 record and four consecutive 30+ win seasons.
Taylor earned the Conference USA Coach of the Year award in both 2022 and 2024, becoming the first Tech softball coach to earn a league Coach of the Year award multiple times.
In year two, Taylor led LA Tech to a 32-24 overall record with a 13-11 mark in Conference USA play. The Bulldogs went 16-9 at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field. LA Tech swept SEMO in the season-opening series, outscoring the Redhawks 18-1 overall to increase their home winning streak to 15 games which was the nation’s fifth longest home winning streak at the time.
Wins over NCAA Regional Participant and A-SUN Champions Central Arkansas and NC State highlighted non-conference play. The Bulldogs' win over the Wolfpack was the first over a power five opponent since Feb. 24, 2019.
Taylor led LA Tech to an eight-game winning streak from April 14-April 28. During the win streak LA Tech swept UTSA and UTEP and also defeated Grambling in a midweek before earning a thrilling 4-3 series opening win over NCAA Tournament Participant Charlotte.
In the circle, the Bulldogs posted a 2.38 ERA which was the lowest by a Louisiana Tech pitching staff since 1999.
Offensively Kylie Neel and Katelin Cooper both cracked the top-10 in single season RBI with 45 and 42 respectively. In addition to leading the team in RBI, Neel led Tech in batting average (.351), doubles (11), total bases (81) and slugging percentage (.536).
Numerous Bulldogs took home postseason honors as pitcher Allie Floyd was named CUSA Freshman of the Year and Sierra Sacco (first team), Neel (second team) and Mary Martinez (freshman team) all earned CUSA honors.
In addition to conference awards, Neel was named second-team NFCA All-Mideast Region while Floyd was selected to the NFCA All-Mideast Region third team.
It didn’t take long for Josh Taylor to make his mark in Ruston in 2022.
In only his first year as the Louisiana Tech head coach, Taylor was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding the program to the 2022 C-USA regular season title.
It was quite a turnaround.
Taylor, who was named head coach by VP and Director of Athletics Eric Wood on June 7, 2021, took a Tech team that finished 22-30 in 2021 and orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in the collegiate softball world in 2022.
Under Taylor’s guidance, the Bulldogs posted a mark of 39-20, including a 18-6 record in league games to claim only the second regular season conference title in program history. Tech started league play 0-3 but then won 18 of its final 21 C-USA games, including the final 11 of the season to win the crown by one game.
The 39 wins were tied for the seventh most in program history and the 18 league wins were the second most in program history.
Not bad for a program that was picked to finish seventh in the C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, a team that didn’t have a single representative on the 15-player preseason all-conference team.
It took an unforgettable two-out, five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning of the season finale against Southern Miss, but Katelin Cooper’s bases-clearing, walk-off triple gave Tech an 8-7 win on Senior Day Sunday at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field sending the Tech players, coaches and fans into a celebration that won’t soon be forgotten in Ruston.
Taylor’s impact on the Tech program was also seen on the stat sheet. As a team, Tech raised its batting average by 60 points (.233 to .293) and almost doubled its run production from the previous season. In the circle, Tech lowered its team earned run average significantly, finishing with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Outfielder Sierra Sacco was named the Conference USA and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Freshman of the Year while being one of 10 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award. Sacco, who didn’t sign with Tech until after Taylor arrived on campus in July, broke the program’s single season hits record while ranking among the national leaders in hits, batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases and runs scored.
Senior Audrey Pickett and junior Amanda Gonzalez joined Sacco on the C-USA first team while Brooke Diaz, Madie Green and Kylie Neel were all named second team all-conference. Sacco, Gonzalez and Diaz were all named all-Mideast Region.
Taylor came to Ruston after spending the past eight seasons at the University of Nevada, including the last five as the head coach of the Mountain West program.
He led the Wolf Pack to a 27-16 record in 2021, including a program record 16 wins in Mountain West action. Nevada posted a non-conference win over No. 2 ranked Washington, a team that finished with 45 wins and an appearance in the Super Regional vs. No. 1 Oklahoma. Nevada won seven of its eight Mountain West series, including a sweep against second place UNLV.
The Wolf Pack hit .289 as a team with five players batting over .300 while recording a school record 62 stolen bases. During his five years as the head coach, all five of his teams finished in the top 10 in program history in batting average. Defensively, his 2019 team shattered the school record for fielding percentage and fewest errors in a season.
Taylor's 2018 team posted two wins over Louisiana Tech in Puerto Vallarta Classic.
Taylor, who served as an assistant coach at Nevada for three seasons (2013-16) before taking over the helm, led Nevada to three straight NISC postseason appearances (2017-19). He developed 19 all-Mountain West honorees during his head coaching stint – five in 2021 – and another 22 Academic All-Mountain West performers.
Under Taylor's guidance, Nevada softball posted impressive marks in the classroom, sporting a fall team grade points average of 3.71 and a spring GPA of 3.75.
Prior to joining the Wolf Pack, Taylor served as the head coach at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. Taylor, who was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Feather River baseball team in his first stint from 2004-07, led the Golden Eagle softball program to three-consecutive Super Regional appearances from 2010 to 2012. His overall record in his four years at Feather River was 113-59, including a 92-37 mark over his final three seasons.
The 2012 season was highlighted by Taylor's third-consecutive 30-win season and his 10th playoff victory in the regional playoff. In 2011, Feather River reached its second-straight Super Regional in a season that also saw Taylor receive the Gatorade Coach of the Year award.
In 2010, Taylor was named Golden Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles to their first GVC title since 2006. The Taylor-led offense topped the GVC in team batting average, runs, RBI, doubles and triples.
Taylor previously served as associate head coach for the Marysville Gold Sox, a collegiate summer league team, from 2008-11. On top of running all aspects of hitting and fielding instruction, Taylor coached multiple players who went on to earn Division I scholarships and two big leaguers in Cody Anderson and Max Stassi. Prior to joining the Gold Sox, Taylor spent a season as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at San Joaquin College in Stockton, Calif. from 2007-08.
A former Wolf Pack baseball player, Taylor was inducted into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015 as part of the 1994 baseball squad that finished with 41 wins, was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation and earned the program's first NCAA regional appearance.
Taylor and his wife, Michelle, have one daughter, Madyson, who graduated from Nevada.
Taylor earned the Conference USA Coach of the Year award in both 2022 and 2024, becoming the first Tech softball coach to earn a league Coach of the Year award multiple times.
The 2025 season saw Taylor guide LA Tech to a 32-25 overall record and a 15-12 mark in CUSA, leading the Bulldogs to a fourth-place finish in the regular-season standings and a third-place finish at the CUSA Championship.
The Bulldogs recorded two signature nonconference ranked victories during the season, defeating No. 4 Oklahoma State, 6-1, at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge for the program's first win over a top-10 opponent since 2008. Tech followed that performance with a 5-1 victory over No. 17 Auburn at the Rocket City Showcase just a few weeks later.
Under Taylor's leadership, six Bulldogs earned All-CUSA honors for the second consecutive season, tying for the fourth-most all-conference selections in program history. Allie Floyd, Nicole Hammoude and Reagan Marchant were named to the All-CUSA First Team, while Alexis Gilio earned second-team honors. Freshmen Elena Heng and Allie Furr were selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
Marchant etched her name into the program record book by setting LA Tech's single-season home run record with 18 home runs in her first season as a Bulldog.
Taylor also coached one of the nation's premier defensive players as Heng earned a Rawlings Gold Glove Award from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as the country's top defensive left fielder. Heng became the first player in LA Tech's history to receive the honor, just the second true freshman nationally to win a Gold Glove, and one of only seven mid-major players to earn the award since its inception in 2022.
In 2024, Taylor led Tech to a 32-22 season that included a third-place conference finish and wins over league champions in UL-Lafayette (Sun Belt), San Diego State (Mountain West), McNeese (Southland – regular season) and Southeastern Louisiana (Southland – tournament champion). He also recorded victories against P5 programs in Georgia Tech and Illinois. Taylor won his 100th career game at Louisiana Tech on April 27, 2024 with a 7-5 win at New Mexico State, becoming the second-fastest head softball coach in program history to reach the milestone.In year two, Taylor led LA Tech to a 32-24 overall record with a 13-11 mark in Conference USA play. The Bulldogs went 16-9 at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field. LA Tech swept SEMO in the season-opening series, outscoring the Redhawks 18-1 overall to increase their home winning streak to 15 games which was the nation’s fifth longest home winning streak at the time.
Wins over NCAA Regional Participant and A-SUN Champions Central Arkansas and NC State highlighted non-conference play. The Bulldogs' win over the Wolfpack was the first over a power five opponent since Feb. 24, 2019.
Taylor led LA Tech to an eight-game winning streak from April 14-April 28. During the win streak LA Tech swept UTSA and UTEP and also defeated Grambling in a midweek before earning a thrilling 4-3 series opening win over NCAA Tournament Participant Charlotte.
In the circle, the Bulldogs posted a 2.38 ERA which was the lowest by a Louisiana Tech pitching staff since 1999.
Offensively Kylie Neel and Katelin Cooper both cracked the top-10 in single season RBI with 45 and 42 respectively. In addition to leading the team in RBI, Neel led Tech in batting average (.351), doubles (11), total bases (81) and slugging percentage (.536).
Numerous Bulldogs took home postseason honors as pitcher Allie Floyd was named CUSA Freshman of the Year and Sierra Sacco (first team), Neel (second team) and Mary Martinez (freshman team) all earned CUSA honors.
In addition to conference awards, Neel was named second-team NFCA All-Mideast Region while Floyd was selected to the NFCA All-Mideast Region third team.
It didn’t take long for Josh Taylor to make his mark in Ruston in 2022.
In only his first year as the Louisiana Tech head coach, Taylor was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding the program to the 2022 C-USA regular season title.
It was quite a turnaround.
Taylor, who was named head coach by VP and Director of Athletics Eric Wood on June 7, 2021, took a Tech team that finished 22-30 in 2021 and orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in the collegiate softball world in 2022.
Under Taylor’s guidance, the Bulldogs posted a mark of 39-20, including a 18-6 record in league games to claim only the second regular season conference title in program history. Tech started league play 0-3 but then won 18 of its final 21 C-USA games, including the final 11 of the season to win the crown by one game.
The 39 wins were tied for the seventh most in program history and the 18 league wins were the second most in program history.
Not bad for a program that was picked to finish seventh in the C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll, a team that didn’t have a single representative on the 15-player preseason all-conference team.
It took an unforgettable two-out, five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning of the season finale against Southern Miss, but Katelin Cooper’s bases-clearing, walk-off triple gave Tech an 8-7 win on Senior Day Sunday at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field sending the Tech players, coaches and fans into a celebration that won’t soon be forgotten in Ruston.
Taylor’s impact on the Tech program was also seen on the stat sheet. As a team, Tech raised its batting average by 60 points (.233 to .293) and almost doubled its run production from the previous season. In the circle, Tech lowered its team earned run average significantly, finishing with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Outfielder Sierra Sacco was named the Conference USA and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Freshman of the Year while being one of 10 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award. Sacco, who didn’t sign with Tech until after Taylor arrived on campus in July, broke the program’s single season hits record while ranking among the national leaders in hits, batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases and runs scored.
Senior Audrey Pickett and junior Amanda Gonzalez joined Sacco on the C-USA first team while Brooke Diaz, Madie Green and Kylie Neel were all named second team all-conference. Sacco, Gonzalez and Diaz were all named all-Mideast Region.
Taylor came to Ruston after spending the past eight seasons at the University of Nevada, including the last five as the head coach of the Mountain West program.
He led the Wolf Pack to a 27-16 record in 2021, including a program record 16 wins in Mountain West action. Nevada posted a non-conference win over No. 2 ranked Washington, a team that finished with 45 wins and an appearance in the Super Regional vs. No. 1 Oklahoma. Nevada won seven of its eight Mountain West series, including a sweep against second place UNLV.
The Wolf Pack hit .289 as a team with five players batting over .300 while recording a school record 62 stolen bases. During his five years as the head coach, all five of his teams finished in the top 10 in program history in batting average. Defensively, his 2019 team shattered the school record for fielding percentage and fewest errors in a season.
Taylor's 2018 team posted two wins over Louisiana Tech in Puerto Vallarta Classic.
Taylor, who served as an assistant coach at Nevada for three seasons (2013-16) before taking over the helm, led Nevada to three straight NISC postseason appearances (2017-19). He developed 19 all-Mountain West honorees during his head coaching stint – five in 2021 – and another 22 Academic All-Mountain West performers.
Under Taylor's guidance, Nevada softball posted impressive marks in the classroom, sporting a fall team grade points average of 3.71 and a spring GPA of 3.75.
Prior to joining the Wolf Pack, Taylor served as the head coach at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. Taylor, who was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Feather River baseball team in his first stint from 2004-07, led the Golden Eagle softball program to three-consecutive Super Regional appearances from 2010 to 2012. His overall record in his four years at Feather River was 113-59, including a 92-37 mark over his final three seasons.
The 2012 season was highlighted by Taylor's third-consecutive 30-win season and his 10th playoff victory in the regional playoff. In 2011, Feather River reached its second-straight Super Regional in a season that also saw Taylor receive the Gatorade Coach of the Year award.
In 2010, Taylor was named Golden Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles to their first GVC title since 2006. The Taylor-led offense topped the GVC in team batting average, runs, RBI, doubles and triples.
Taylor previously served as associate head coach for the Marysville Gold Sox, a collegiate summer league team, from 2008-11. On top of running all aspects of hitting and fielding instruction, Taylor coached multiple players who went on to earn Division I scholarships and two big leaguers in Cody Anderson and Max Stassi. Prior to joining the Gold Sox, Taylor spent a season as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at San Joaquin College in Stockton, Calif. from 2007-08.
A former Wolf Pack baseball player, Taylor was inducted into the Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015 as part of the 1994 baseball squad that finished with 41 wins, was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation and earned the program's first NCAA regional appearance.
Taylor and his wife, Michelle, have one daughter, Madyson, who graduated from Nevada.
|
Wednesday, May 27
Wednesday, May 06
Thursday, April 30
Thursday, April 30
