Then-Penn State University Vice President for Athletics Sandy Barbour named Clarisa Crowell as the eighth head coach of the Nittany Lion softball program on August 3, 2020. Crowell enters her fifth season at the helm of the Blue & White in the 2025 campaign.
Crowell’s most recent season in Happy Valley was one of the most successful on record at PSU, as the Nittany Lions rolled to a 35-20 overall record and 12-11 mark in Big Ten play while making the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 at the 2024 Bryan-College Station Regional. The Blue & White recorded the third-most overall victories in school history and the fourth-most B1G wins in a single year, finishing at or above .500 in conference play for the third-straight season. PSU booked three consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since rattling off five straight from 1999 to 2003, while recording three straight B1G campaigns at or above .500 for the first time in school history.
PSU’s return to the NCAA Tournament saw the Blue & White record a 1-2 record in Texas A&M’s regional, dropping an opening-round decision to Texas State before defeating UAlbany in the first elimination game of the bracket. Penn State’s 9-3 win over the Great Danes featured multiple home runs, including a go-ahead grand slam from senior Liana Jones to ensure the NCAA Tournament victory. The Nittany Lions recorded their first NCAA Tournament win since 2011 in the process. Under Crowell’s direction, PSU's 60th varsity team brought the all-time Nittany Lion record in the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament to 13-22, winning at least one game in a national postseason tournament for just the eighth time in program history.
Crowell also directed one of the most decorated seasons in Nittany Lion history, with multiple student-athletes picking up All-Big Ten and NFCA All-Region recognition highlighted by the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Bridget Nemeth. A native of Glendora, California, Nemeth cemented herself as one of the most successful first-year athletes in Nittany Lion softball history under Crowell’s tutelage, becoming the first Freshman All-American in school history according to both D1Softball and Softball America. The right-handed pitcher delivered the first individual award from the B1G league office in program history, becoming the first individual award winner at Penn State since Nan Sichler earned the Atlantic 10 Most Valuable Player and Pitcher awards in 1988. Additionally, Nemeth’s breakout season was duly recognized on the Penn State campus in 2024, with the freshman earning Penn State’s Female Athlete of the Year award, the second softball student-athlete to land that honor in three seasons.
A trio of Nittany Lion athletes earned NFCA All-Great Lakes Region accolades in the postseason, with Nemeth garnering a First Team nod while Maddie Gordon appeared on the Second Team and Gaby Garcia rounded out the Third Team. Nemeth additionally landed unanimous First Team All-B1G accolades and All-Freshman honors while Garcia, Gordon and Kaitlyn Morrison secured spots on the league’s Second Team. Penn State’s decorated student-athletes led the way in one of the most productive two-way campaigns in school history, with the Nittany Lion offense hitting the most doubles and home runs in a single season while accumulating the most total bases in a year in program history. PSU pitching accounted for the third-most overall victories in the circle in a single season in program history, with four student-athletes contributing to that impressive statistic.
In the classroom, Crowell’s squad posted yet another year with a 1,000 NCAA Academic Progress Rate, signifying the program’s success at developing student-athletes on and off the field. Thirteen different Nittany Lions picked up Academic All-Big Ten distinction, while five more Penn Staters garnered B1G Distinguished Scholar status in the 2024 postseason. Senior Amanda Mack rounded out the postseason Big Ten accolades, picking up the Big Ten Sportsmanship award in recognition of her outstanding leadership on and off the field. Finally, a quintet of Nittany Lions landed College Sports Communicators Academic All-District laurels for the second year in a row, with Garcia, Gordon, Jones, Morrison and Emily Maddock landing that distinction.
In 2023, Crowell led the Blue & White to their second consecutive 30-win season, the first instance of back-to-back 30-win campaigns at PSU since the 2005 and 2006 teams accomplished that feat. Penn State published a 31-16 overall record at season’s end and mustered an 11-11 record in Big Ten Conference play, ensuring that the Nittany Lions would finish at or above .500 in the league in consecutive seasons, also for the first time since 2005-06.
Under Crowell’s direction, the Nittany Lions saw continued success on the Big Ten's biggest stage in 2023, winning a conference tournament game in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 squads did so. PSU also recorded consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in five seasons, reaching back-to-back Big Ten Tournaments for the first time since the Nittany Lions appeared in five straight from 2013 to 2017.
As the program’s pitching coach, Crowell directed the most effective pitching staff in the Big Ten Conference that season. The Nittany Lions finished as the conference’s leader in overall earned run average, rounding out the year with a 2.18 mark. The Blue & White also recorded the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the league and 15th-best nationally, striking out 3.59 batters for every walk surrendered. Crowell’s pitching direction also culminated in multiple program records being shattered by fifth-year left-hander Bailey Parshall, who set PSU records in career strikeouts (783) and shutouts (21).
In the classroom, PSU published a perfect Academic Progress Rate of 1,000 and saw 18 Nittany Lion student-athletes land Academic All-Big Ten honors. Penn State also mustered 12 Easton/NFCA Scholar Athletes, seven Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors and five College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District accolades, reflecting Crowell’s commitment to comprehensive excellence on and off the field.
In recognition of her exemplary record in the classroom and on the diamond, senior first baseman Lexie Black secured two of the highest honors bestowed by the Big Ten Conference in 2023. Black, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, landed the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship in preparation for her continuing education in veterinary medicine at the University of Nebraska. Additionally, Black garnered the Big Ten Medal of Honor, bestowed upon one male and female graduating student-athlete from each B1G member institution.
Penn State finished the 2022 campaign with a 25-win improvement from the previous season, marking the largest single-season turnaround for a team in NCAA Division I. The Nittany Lions also reached the 30-win mark and finished above .500 in Big Ten Conference play for the first time since 2016. Penn State completed the campaign with 32 wins, which at the time marked the most wins for PSU in a season since 2008. As a result of the program’s meteoric rise to prominence, Crowell was honored as the 2022 ECAC Coach of the Year.
On the defensive side, the Blue and White registered 12 shutouts on the year, the most by any Nittany Lion squad since the 2008 team accomplished that feat. At the dish, the Nittany Lions' 75 doubles ranked tied for second in program history, while their 43 home runs and 207 RBI ranked third in program history.
Parshall led the way on an individual basis, earning NFCA All-America Third Team honors to go along with NFCA First-Team All-Region and First-Team All-Big Ten accolades. Parshall was selected as the Female Penn State Athlete of the Year for the 2021-22 academic year as a result. Parshall became just the fifth NFCA All-American in program history and the first Penn State pitcher to earn All-American recognition since Ashley Esparza did so in 2005. Parshall was dominant in the circle in 2022, posting a 22-9 individual record with a 1.68 ERA and nine shutouts in 212.1 innings pitched.
In addition to Parshall’s nationally acclaimed statistical season, junior catcher Cassie Lindmark collected NFCA All-Region Third Team and All-Big Ten Second Team laurels. Lindmark provided and immediate offensive pop for the Nittany Lion lineup, hitting .400 in the leadoff spot in addition to building a striking .508 on-base percentage. She became just the sixth Nittany Lion to hit .400 in a season and ranked tied for sixth on the program's single-season batting average leaderboard.
The Nittany Lions maintained consistent success in the classroom, tying a then-program record by placing 16 student-athletes on the Academic All-Big Ten team for the second consecutive year. Six student-athletes were designated as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. Fourteen student-athletes made the Dean’s list during spring semester and the squad compiled a 3.45 GPA, posting the highest cumulative GPA for the program in at least a decade. Under Crowell’s leadership, Claire Swedberg was selected as the 2022 Big Ten Postgraduate Award winner, a recipient of the Fulbright grant and was also selected to be the Grand Marshal for the Penn State Health and Human Development Department.
In her first season at the helm in Happy Valley in 2021, Crowell led the Nittany Lions to a win over No. 23 Minnesota, the program’s first victory over a ranked opponent since 2017. Penn State also had wins over four other Big Ten programs in a COVID-maligned conference-only calendar during the 2021 spring semester, including three-straight wins and a series victory over Rutgers. The consecutive victories against the Scarlet Knights marked the first time Penn State won three consecutive Big Ten contests since 2017.
Crowell also mentored Parshall in her ongoing success in the circle, as the then-junior pitcher recorded two double-digit strikeout games and moved into sixth all-time in the Penn State record books with 396 career strikeouts and third all-time with seven career saves. In the classroom, a program-record 16 student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in Crowell’s first season of leadership, immediately setting the tone for multiple seasons of academic excellence that followed.
Prior to her arrival at Penn State, Crowell spent eight years as head coach at Miami (Ohio). Crowell and the RedHawks made a MAC Tournament appearance every season in which a tournament was held, winning the league tournament title and making an NCAA Regional appearance in 2016.
Crowell coached 12 student-athletes to first team All-MAC honors, 10 to second-team honors, nine All-MAC Freshman Team recipients and six National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honorees. RedHawk student-athletes also excelled in the classroom with 40 Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athletes and 32 Academic All-MAC honorees during Crowell’s tenure in Oxford.
In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Crowell’s RedHawks were selected as the MAC preseason favorites. Junior pitcher Courtney Vierstra ranked fifth nationally and first in the conference in strikeouts with 140 over 18 appearances. Crowell’s tutelage of Vierstra saw the junior star finish fifth nationally in strikeouts per seven innings with 12.5 at the season’s suspension mark.
In the spring of 2019, Crowell led Miami to a 35-16 overall record and a 16-4 ledger in conference play, as the RedHawks captured their first MAC regular-season title in program history. Miami posted 10-straight wins against MAC opponents, the longest win streak in conference play in the history of the RedHawk program. The team also ranked first in the MAC for pitching and team defense with an overall ERA of 2.55 coupled with a .972 fielding percentage. Crowell was named the 2019 MAC Coach of the Year while seven student-athletes earned All-MAC selections and two more were named NFCA All-Region honorees. Vierstra headlined the list of All-Region recipients after boasting the third-best strikeouts-per-seven innings ratio in the country (10.3).
Crowell’s 2017 team excelled offensively, ranking second all-time in Miami history for runs scored (265), runs per game (5.00), RBI (235), doubles (74) and home runs (47). Crowell led Michaela Schlattman to NFCA All-Region recognition, marking the third-straight season a RedHawk player garnered regional accolades. The RedHawks went 29-24 in 2017, highlighted by a dominant 16-2 record at home.
In 2016, Crowell led Miami to a 35-23 overall record and 15-7 record in MAC competition, finishing just half a game short of the MAC regular-season title. The RedHawks made up for that with a perfect 4-0 record in the MAC Tournament to earn the program’s fourth conference tournament crown and a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. Miami went on to beat No. 23 Notre Dame, 3-2, in the opening game of the Ann Arbor Regional.
The 2016 RedHawks broke six offensive school records, including runs (302), runs per game (5.21), RBI (274), doubles (83), home runs (56) and walks (200). Miami also held a .977 fielding percentage, a school record, and the seventh-best fielding percentage in the nation. Crowell coached senior outfielder Taylor Shuey to become the first softball player in school history to be named MAC Player of the Year after breaking Miami’s career RBI record with 114. Senior pitcher Amber Logemann was also named the MAC Tournament MVP after going 4-0 individually with a domineering 0.65 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched.
Prior to Miami, Crowell spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State where she primarily worked with the pitchers and catchers. In 2010, both of her pitchers earned spots on the All-Big 12 and NFCA All-Midwest Region teams. In 2011, Crowell coached catcher Courtney Totte to an All-Big 12 first-team appearance and recognition as a Third Team All-American. Crowell helped lead the Cowgirls back to national prominence, as Oklahoma State returned to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 1998 in the 2011 campaign. The coaching staff also hauled in NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year accolades at season’s end.
Crowell’s previous stop at Syracuse as an assistant coach in 2006 saw the Orange land four players as NFCA All-Region designees and five players secure All-Conference honors. All-American and Big East Player of the Year Alexis Switenko led the way, while Tonye McCorkle, the Big East Co-Rookie of the Year, published a dominant season of her own. Crowell began her collegiate coaching career at Ohio University, where she served as an assistant for two years.
Crowell was a decorated student-athlete at Virginia Tech as a four-year letterwinner and a three-time All-Conference performer for the Hokies. In 2013, Crowell was inducted into the Virginia Tech All-Sports Hall of Fame.
Crowell graduated from Virginia Tech in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. She earned a Master of Science in recreation and sports sciences from Ohio University in 2005.