Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Stephanie Hughes

She is in her second year as head coach for the Islanders softball program after being part of the UTSA coaching staff the past eight years.

Hughes, a native of Angleton, Texas, comes to Texas A&M - Corpus Christi after spending the 2011 season as the interim head coach for UTSA. Prior to that, she spent seven seasons as an assistant for the Roadrunners.

During Hughes' time as an assistant with the Roadrunners, she helped UTSA to three Southland Conference regular season championships, including two tournament titles and two NCAA regional appearances. In January 2011, Hughes was named the interim head coach for UTSA and led the team to a 28-27 record, improving the Roadrunners' win total by five games from the year before.

Hughes began her coaching career in 2001 at Texas State as an assistant coach after competing four years for the Bobcats. During her one-year tenure, she helped the 2002 squad to a 37-22 record, including a 23-4 finish in the Southland to seal the team's second straight regular season conference title.

Prior to joining the Roadrunners' staff, Hughes served as an assistant for Navarro College and guided the team to two conference titles. As an assistant she helped with all aspects of day-to-day operations, including teaching academic classes, recruiting, coordinating travel plans and overseeing the student-athletes' academic progress.

As a four-year letter winner on the Bobcat squad, Hughes was a two-time Southland Tournament Champion, in 1998 and 2001, also garnering a regular season Southland Conference title as a senior. She earned a first team All-Southland Conference nod in 2001, leading her team to the NCAA Regional Finals that year. Hughes received her bachelor's degree in kinesiology in December 2001 from Texas State.


Pitching Coach: Sarah Pauly

Sarah Pauly, former Islanders All-American and six-year NPF veteran returns to her alma mater to serve as the pitching coach.

As an Islander, Pauly became one of the top pitchers in the collegiate game, leading the team to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Pauly was named Big South Pitcher of the Year and Big South Tournament Most Valuable Player, while earning All-Conference First-Team honors.

In her senior year, she finished with a 37-7 record and a 0.56 ERA. Her win total was the third-highest in the nation while her ERA was good for fourth in the NCAA. She was also second in strikeout ratio with 12.08 per seven innings and was third in strikeouts with 497 during the year while leading the team to the NCAA Regional in Austin.

The Phoenix native finished her collegiate career with a 112-46 record and is third in NCAA history with a strikeout ratio of 11.6 per seven innings. She is also ninth in career strikeouts with 1,370 in just three seasons, as the team was a provisional Division I member her freshman year.

Following her collegiate career, Pauly joined the National Pro Fastpitch Stratford Brakettes in 2006 and earned NPF Pitcher of the Year and NPF Most Valuable Pitcher honors. Following a runner-up finish in the league with the Brakettes, Pauly pitched for the 2007 NPF Champions, the Washington Glory. She earned All NPF Pitcher honors with a 13-6 record, while striking out 122 batters with a 1.35 ERA, to lead the team to the NPF championship title. In 2007 she trained with the USA National Team.

In 2008, Pauly helped lead the Glory back to the NPF finals, while leading the league in ERA and striking out 112 batters. In 2010 she joined the NPF Tour that traveled to over 15 college campuses to compete. This year marked Pauly’s third season with the USSSA Florida Pride (formerly known as the Washington Glory) and in August she helped the squad to a runner-up finish.

Pauly began her coaching career in 2006 at Spartanburg Methodist College in Spartanburg, S.C., as a pitching coach. In her two years, she helped guide the team to a fifth-place finish in the 2008 JUCO National Tournament.

In 2009, Pauly joined the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., where she spent two seasons as a pitching coach and led the Cougars to a second-place finish in conference play.

Pauly has held numerous pitching clinics and private lessons all over the U.S. She will be returning from Japan in December where she was a member of the Honda softball team. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2005 and is working toward a master’s in counseling.