Record-setting Erb pitches team-first style with Vulcans
PennWest California
It didn’t take long for Kristin Erb to make her pitch to the PennWest California University softball team.
The first-year coach has been making great pitches for a long time.
Erb is the all-time winningest pitcher in NCAA Division II history and had been a veteran assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level before impressing Vulcans athletic director Dr. Karen Hjerpe in the interview process to succeed an interim coach and former coach Rick Bertagnolli, who retired before the 2025 season.
Erb was one of the most prolific pitchers in collegiate softball history while winning two NCAA Division II national championships at Lock Haven from 2006-09. After her playing career, Erb served as an assistant coach at Austin Peay, James Madison, Coastal Carolina and Marist.
“I think from the time that she stepped foot on our campus for an interview, she had the excitement and the engagement we were looking for from someone to come in and take over the program,” Hjerpe said. “She hasn’t stopped since she’s been hired. I think she makes the atmosphere fun for the players while demanding a lot from them. We’re excited to see where she’s going to take the program, not only this year but in the future.
“I think we hit the jackpot with her because she has that experience at the Division II level. She has a national championship. She has those personal accolades. She knows what it takes to get there. And our overall goal is to get back to that to play that realm of softball and to be back on the national scene – something our program has been able to do. We fully believe that she’s the person who can take us there.”
A native of Reading, Erb was a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association first team All-America pitcher with the Bald Eagles. She still holds the Division II all-time records with 168 victories, 1,240.7 innings pitched, 159 complete games and 100 shutouts. Additionally, Erb ranks second across all NCAA divisions in career victories and shutouts behind only Monica Abbott of Tennessee. She helped Lock Haven win four-consecutive PSAC championships after Bald Eagles last won the league title in 1982.
The Vulcans were 8-16 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC heading into a doubleheader against Clarion on Sunday at Lilley Field.
“I feel like we’re not quite where I want them to be right now,” Erb said. “We, at times, get a good start from the pitchers and then our bats don’t wake up, or we have a miscue defensively or things like that. Other times we get a (below average) start from the pitchers and then we’re battling back. We haven’t put all three pieces of the game together yet. Getting into the tournament is our goal.
“Since the fall our goal was to get all our girls on the same page defensively. We spent a lot of time defensively, we would practice on Saturdays before football games, and we got so many compliments from (throughout campus).”
Erb helped Marist register a .610 winning percentage over the last four years, highlighted by a pair of MAAC championships and multiple appearances in the NCAA Regionals. In 2023, the Red Foxes won their first MAAC title in seven years.
Prior to her time in New York, Erb spent nearly a decade on the coaching staff at Coastal Carolina as members of both the Big South and Sun Belt conferences. She was reunited with Kelley Green, her college coach at Lock Haven, and helped the Chanticleers win consecutive regular-season titles in the Big South.
Following her collegiate career, Erb played two seasons professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She debuted with the Philadelphia Force in 2009 before joining the Tennessee Diamonds the following summer.
Erb was a member of the inaugural Lock Haven Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. She was honored with the Honda Sports Award for Division II Athlete of the Year, which is presented to the top female student-athlete across all sports, in both 2006 and 2009. Erb led NCAA Division II in ERA for four-consecutive seasons and was the national leader in wins three times.
She completed her bachelor’s degree from Lock Haven in sports administration with a minor in coaching and business in 2010.
Erb is intent on keeping the focus on the team and Vulcans’ players.
“I thought nothing of any records or any accolades for myself,” she said. “I mean, I’m a huge team player. I always gave credit to my team, and I still would give credit to my team now because, you can have a good pitcher, but if you don’t have a good defense and you can’t score runs, it makes it tough. It’s tough to win. It takes hard work.”