Hempstead, NY - Looking into its incredible past, the Hofstra softball program found its next leader as Adrienne Clark has been named head coach, it was announced today by Hofstra University Vice President and Director of Athletics Rick Cole Jr. 

Clark, a member of three NCAA Tournament teams during her playing career under legendary head coach Bill Edwards at Hofstra, helped the team to an at-large NCAA Tournament berth in 2003 and nearly led the Pride to the Women's College World Series in 2004. 

"I would like to thank Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz, Rick Cole Jr., and the entire Hofstra athletic department for this tremendous opportunity to serve as the head softball coach," stated Clark. "It's rare to have an opportunity to return to a place that shaped your personal and professional life. I'm honored and humbled to return home and build upon the foundation previously established by Coach Edwards. I'm grateful to Coach Bill Edwards and Coach Larissa Anderson for their leadership and belief in me as a player and person. Hofstra softball has a long-standing reputation of excellence on and off the field. I look forward to getting to know our student-athletes and growing the championship culture while enhancing the student-athlete experience. Lastly, I would like to thank Coach Boo De Oliveira, Purdue University, and our student-athletes for the last three years. The relationships built and memories created are something I will cherish forever. I am fired up to get to work. #RoarWithPride"

"We are incredibly excited and thrilled to welcome home Adrienne Clark as our next head softball coach," commented Cole. "Adrienne hearkens back to a very special era in Hofstra softball history and her outstanding success as both a coach over the past two decades and as a student-athlete here at Hofstra make her the perfect choice to lead our program."

Clark has extensive coaching experience having coached at five different NCAA Division I institutions during her 16-year coaching career. 

Most recently, Clark was an assistant coach at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, for the last three seasons. She oversaw and directed the team's defensive strategies in addition to assisting with hitting. The Boilermakers finished the 2021 season ranked fourth in the Big 10 in fielding and 34th nationally in that category. 

Prior to that, Clark spent four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut, overseeing pitchers and catchers. During her time with the Huskies, UConn increased its win total from the previous year in three of her four seasons on staff. In 2018, the pitching staff combined for a 3.09 earned run average and 292 strikeouts, both the best for the program since 2010. 

Clark previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Hofstra from 2012 to 2014. During that time, the Pride advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all three seasons, including as Colonial Athletic Association Champions in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 team is most remembered for its remarkable run to the NCAA Super Regionals, winning 42 games and capturing the NCAA Los Angeles Regional along the way. 

Clark got her coaching career started at the University of Delaware, where she spent four seasons (2006 to 2009). She oversaw all pitching development and helped guide three players to All-CAA honors and the staff to the lowest earned run average in the league in 2006. She then made the move to Columbia University in New York, New York, where she spent two seasons. Nine players under her tutelage garnered All-Ivy League accolades and she also served as an associate professor of physical education. 

An exceptional two-way player during her playing career, Clark's name is littered throughout the Hofstra record books as she is seventh in pitching appearances (97), eighth in earned run average (1.77), eighth in innings pitched (407.2), ninth in wins (39), and ninth in strikeouts (260). Clark also totaled 71 hits during her stellar career, including a 2004 campaign in which she ranked second on the team with a .305 batting average. 

The 2003 Hofstra softball team captured a pair of wins in the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time that the Pride had ever picked up two wins in NCAA Tournament play. The extraordinary 2004 season would see Hofstra win four games in NCAA Tournament play and fall one win shy of advancing to the WCWS. The Pride won games against #12 Auburn and #7 Stanford at the NCAA Regional, with the win over Stanford marking the second-highest ranked opponent the program had ever defeated to that point. 

Clark also trained with the United States Bobsled & Skeleton Federation for three years (2011-14) as she attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games as a skeleton athlete. 

Clark earned her Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in marketing, from Hofstra in 2005. She received her Master of Science in sports management from Columbia in 2012.