(Story Courtesy of University of Dallas Sports Information Department)

IRVING, Texas -- The University of Dallas Athletic Department has announced its next Head Softball Coach for the Crusaders program.

The University of Dallas has announced Eric Oakley as the next head softball coach. He is the 9th person to lead the charge after his time as an assistant coach in 2023 on the Columbia staff.

Oakley spent nine years at Kent State. Oakley started as an assistant for the Golden Flashes. He worked one season as an assistant before being named the interim head coach for a season. Oakley was named the head coach in June 2016.

Oakley guided the Golden Flashes to 201 victories which included a regular season Mid-American Conference title in 2016 and the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth. Oakley was recognized as the 2016 MAC Coach of the Year. He was also on staff as assistant coach in 2015, helping the Flashes capture the Mid-American Conference regular season title as part of a 41-win campaign. 

Oakley led Kent State to top-four finishes in conference in five of his seasons and helped Holly Speers become the first Kent State softball student-athlete to earn First-Team All-America honors. His student-athletes shined in the classroom as well, highlighted by Maria Cegledy earning Academic All-America honors in 2019 and 2020. 

The 2019 campaign started off with a milestone victory for Oakley as he became the fastest coach in Kent State history to record 100 wins with a 7-1 season-opening win over LIU Brooklyn. Pitcher Andrea Scali became the first player in the MAC since KSU's Kylie Reynolds in 2007 to take home the league's Pitcher and Freshman of the Year awards, and sophomore Brenna Brownfield won the MAC Player of the Year award and became the first underclassman to win it since 2012. It was the first time in MAC history a single team won the Player, Pitcher and Freshman of the Year awards and the first time three different players won the Player of the Year Award in three straight seasons, all in Oakley's tenure.

Oakley’s second season at Kent State was one of the most successful in program history as the Golden Flashes won the MAC Tournament and made their first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance since 2008. The Flashes became only the second team in MAC Tournament history to win three games in one day to win the MAC Tournament Championship. The Golden Flashes took down Oregon State from the Pac-12, 2-1, and eliminated the Beavers from the NCAA Tournament.

During his first season as interim Head Coach, Oakley was named the 2016 MAC Coach of the Year. He guided the Flashes to back-to-back MAC regular season titles for the second time in past decade while recording 78 total wins, making it the winningest two-year span in program history. The Flashes also posted a 37-22 record making it the fourth most in program history.

Prior to Kent State, Oakley was the head coach at North Dakota.  He took over In the program’s last year of transitioning to NCAA Division I and compiled a 34-98 record in three years. He had a total of 16 student-athletes earn all-conference honors, including 9 in the program’s first two years as a member of the Big Sky Conference.

A 2001 graduate of Eastern Michigan, Oakley is married to his wife, Casey.