Sigrest named assistant softball coach

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball Head Coach Amanda Lehotak announced that Sarah Sigrest has been named an assistant coach with the program on Thursday, Aug. 20.Sigrest (Cy-grest) will work primarily with the pitchers and the defense, while assisting with the coordination of Penn State softball camps and recruiting.“I am honored and excited that Sarah is joining the Penn State softball family as our pitching coach,” said Lehotak. “She is a perfect fit for the standard of excellence that we demand every day. Her ability to teach and bring the best out of her student-athletes is why she will help propel us to the next level.”“I would like to thank Amanda Lehotak for this incredible opportunity to be a part of the Penn State family,” Sigrest said. “To be in the Big Ten and work for Penn State is a dream come true for me and I am excited to get to work right away and show Happy Valley what I am all about!”Serving as the assistant coach at Utah State for two seasons, Sigrest helped the Aggies pitching staff to 37 wins as well as coaching standout pitcher Noelle Johnson to two 16-win seasons. Under Sigrest’s tutelage, Johnson struck out 214 batters in the 2014 campaign, which set the single-season strikeout record for the Aggies. Johnson added 131 strikeouts in the 2015 campaign to rank third all-time in Utah State laurels heading into her senior season.Prior to her time at Utah State, Sigrest served as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas Tech where she worked with both pitchers and catchers as well as scouting opponents, planning team camps and coordinating community service efforts.Sigrest was a four-year starter in the circle for Jacksonville University, where she was named the Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year in 2011, recording a 27-7 overall record and leading the Dolphins to their first-ever NCAA Division I Regional appearance. The right-handed hurler finished her career at Jacksonville holding six school records including: wins (68), games started (96), innings pitched (634.0), strikeouts (548), opponent batting average against (.222) and fewest walks per seven innings (1.45). Sigrest pitched 46.2 scoreless innings in the 2011 campaign, finishing the year with the eighth-best earned run average in the nation (1.10) and becoming the only Dolphin pitcher to strikeout more than 200 batters in a single season.A native of Daphne, Alabama, Sigrest graduated from Daphne High School, where she still holds the Alabama High School Athletic Association shutout record with 33. Sigrest graduated from Jacksonville University with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2012 before earning her master’s degree in sport education from Utah State in 2015.