Erin Coffel

Personal: Coffel is currently serving as a graduate assistant softball coach at the University of Florida. During her high school career, she was a two-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year and earned First-Team All-State honors as a sophomore and junior. She majored in kinesiology at the University of Kentucky. In her free time, Coffel enjoys spending time with her friends and family, as well as her golden retriever named Jack. She also likes trying new recipes and making dinner. In addition to her athletic talents, she knows how to juggle.

Coffel credits Kentucky assistant coach Kristine Himes as someone who has made a significant impact on her life. She considers MLB star Freddie Freeman one of her idols, admiring the way he approaches both life and baseball. As a child, she was active in several sports, including swimming, soccer, basketball, and triathlons. One of her proudest accomplishments was finding out she had been named a three-time All-America selection—an experience that left her feeling starstruck.

Coffel chose to wear jersey number 21 during her softball career at Kentucky because it was also the number she wore while playing basketball.

2024 Championship Season: Coffel finished in eighth place after compiling 1,446 leaderboard points, including 1,010 win points. She tied for fifth in the league with 316 stat points and was a three-time Game MVP honoree. Coffel was also a member of the AU Pro Softball All-Defensive Team. She started in all 15 games, tallying seven hits in 36 at-bats, including five extra-base hits. She tied for the league lead with three home runs and also drove in nine runs. She led the league by being hit by a pitch seven times and ranked fourth in the league with a .528 slugging percentage. She also held a share of fourth place in the league with nine runs batted in and finished fifth among the league’s hitters with a .916 OPS. Coffel finished Week One with MVP 2 honors and 168 leaderboard points after going 1-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored against Team Alexander. She received MVP 3 accolades in Week Three after slugging a two-run home run against Team Kilfoyl. Coffel collected a season-high 210 leaderboard points in an MVP 1 performance on August 24 against Team Ocasio, where she posted two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs. She started the season by accumulating 100 or more leaderboard points in five of her first six games.

2024 AUX Season: Coffel earned a share of 18th place in the final league standings after accumulating 950 leaderboard points in her professional debut. She tied for seventh in the league with 480 inning win points and recorded 100 or more leaderboard points in a game five times. Coffel earned a starting assignment in all 12 games and notched six hits, including two doubles and a home run. She scored two runs and drew three walks. Coffel ranked second in the league after being hit by a pitch five times and received the MVP 2 commendation after belting her first professional home run against Team Warren on June 10, earning a season-high 190 leaderboard points. She also posted a double in her season debut against Team Wiggins on June 10. Coffel was one of 15 players selected in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball College Draft.

International Experience: Coffel was named to the Team USA roster for the 2024 Japan All-Star Series. She also competed in the 2023 Japan All-Star Series, batting .333 (4-for-12) with two runs scored. Coffel led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games, where she had a batting average of .417 with a home run and four runs batted in. She also scored six runs en route to being named to the All-PanAm Team. Furthermore, Coffel guided Team USA to a gold medal at the 2021 Junior Women’s World Championship after hitting .435 with two runs and six runs batted in. She also won a gold medal at the 2021 Junior Women’s Pan American Games, with a remarkable .563 batting average (9-for-16) including two home runs and seven runs batted in.

At Kentucky: Coffel was a four-year letter winner at Kentucky, where she earned a starting assignment in 221 of 224 games for the Wildcats from 2021-24. She finished her career with a .377 batting average and a school-record .785 slugging percentage. Coffel closed her college career as Kentucky’s all-time leader in home runs (68), runs batted in (212), and walks (155), including 24 intentional walks. She ranks second on Kentucky's career ledger with 478 total bases and stands seventh on the Wildcats’ all-time list with 230 career hits, including 41 doubles and two triples. Coffel also holds the Kentucky record by reaching base safely in 63 consecutive games. She is one of two players in program history with multiple seasons of 15 home runs and 50 runs batted in. 

Coffel was a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, including First-Team honors in each of her final three seasons. She was also a two-time NFCA Second-Team All-America pick and a member of the 2024 SEC All-Defensive Team. Coffel earned Second-Team NFCA All-Southeast Region distinction after batting .319 with 13 home runs and 33 runs batted in over 55 games. She also drew a team-high 47 walks while being hit by a pitch 15 times. Coffel became Kentucky’s career home run leader against UNCW on March 3, 2024, and set the program's career RBI standard against Marshall on March 20, 2024, with a three-run home run. 

She led NCAA Division I in walks, walks per game, and on-base percentage as a junior. Coffel was a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist who belted 19 home runs with a team-high 60 runs scored while garnering a .440 batting average. She also registered a team-high 10 doubles while ranking second on the squad with 55 hits. Coffel was the Wildcats’ leading hitter as a sophomore with a .423 batting average. She also paced the team with 20 home runs and 68 runs batted in, ranking second on the squad with 69 hits, including 11 doubles and a triple. She scored at least one run in 18 of the Wildcats’ final 26 games during the 2022 campaign. Coffel set the Kentucky freshman record by slugging 16 home runs in 2021. She started all 59 games during her rookie campaign and fashioned a .337 batting average with 60 hits, including eight doubles and a triple. Coffel drove in 56 runs while scoring 47 times.