Head Coach Clarisa Crowell announced the promotion of Volunteer Assistant Alexis Bower to become the program’s third assistant coach on Thursday, July 6, 2023. She enters her fourth season as a full-time assistant and sixth season at Penn State overall in the 2027 campaign.
In her fifth season with the Penn State softball program and third as a full-time assistant coach in 2026, Bower continued to shape one of the Big Ten's most dependable and unselfish pitching staffs. She helped guide the Nittany Lions to a 33-21 overall record and 11 conference victories in 2026, marking Penn State's fourth 30-win campaign in the last five seasons while extending the longest stretch of double-digit Big Ten win totals in program history. While the Blue & White garnered national attention for their record-setting offense, Bower's pitching staff provided the consistency and depth necessary to sustain success throughout the spring, embracing a true staff mentality that prioritized collective achievement over individual acclaim.
Penn State's five-pitcher rotation combined to post a 4.33 team ERA while limiting opponents to a .268 batting average and just 244 runs across 344.0 innings of work. The Nittany Lions showcased remarkable balance in the circle, with no pitcher throwing more than 77.1 innings or fewer than 55.0 innings during the season. McKenna Young paced the group with a 12-5 record and a team-best 3.80 ERA over 77.1 innings, while Mackenzie Duncan emerged as one of the staff's most effective arms, compiling a 7-1 record and striking out 73 batters in just 55.0 innings of work. Abigail Britton added 59 strikeouts in 68.2 innings, Brevyn Kellepouris contributed 48 punchouts and five victories, and Bridget Nemeth logged 75.2 innings while adding four wins to complete one of the deepest pitching staffs in recent program history. The staff combined for 299 strikeouts, surrendered only 54 home runs all season and played a critical role in helping Penn State secure another successful campaign on the national stage.
Bower’s fourth season in Happy Valley and second year of full-time coaching saw the Nittany Lions book the most powerful offensive campaign at the plate in program history. PSU launched a single-season program record 74 home runs while also shattering school records in runs scored with 341, runs batted in with 306, and total bases with 770. Additionally, the team also managed to muster the best single season batting average in program history with a .329 mark in the statistic, surpassing the previous record of .314 from the 2016 campaign by a significant margin. Penn State also extended its streak of consecutive double-digit winning seasons against Big Ten opponents to four-straight years, the longest such streak in school history, with Bower playing a key role in the program’s sustained success on both sides of the ball thanks to her work as the team’s pitching coach.
Bower helped a coaching staff that saw four student-athletes earn Second Team All-Big Ten distinction in addition to NFCA All-Region laurels, with sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz, fifth-year first baseman Meagan Ricks, senior third baseman Maddie Gordon and senior right fielder Haylie Brunson collecting those accolades. In the classroom, Penn State celebrated another outstanding season in 2025 with a 1,000 NCAA Academic Progress Rate, further cementing the program’s commitment to excellence on and off the field. The Blue & White saw a total of 15 student-athletes book Academic All-Big Ten laurels while six of those individuals went on to secure Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors. Additionally, Gordon landed the highest honor bestowed by the Big Ten Conference for her excellence in athletics, academics and community service, with the Shenandoah, Virginia, native earning the Big Ten Medal of Honor under the Nittany Lion coaching staff’s tutelage. Gordon became the second Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient in Gallagher’s tenure assisting the staff, adding to Lexie Black’s selection in 2023.
Bower’s first season of full-time experience with the Nittany Lions marked one of the most successful seasons in program history, with Penn State cranking out a 35-20 overall record and 12-11 mark in Big Ten play in addition to recording the first NCAA Tournament appearance in Happy Valley since 2011. Working closely with the PSU pitching staff, Bower was crucial in the development of Bridget Nemeth’s B1G Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America campaign. With Bower and Crowell’s guidance, Nemeth garnered Penn State’s Female Athlete of the Year award, the second softball pitcher to land that honor in three seasons with Bower on staff.
Bower contributed to a staff that saw four student-athletes land All-Big Ten accolades in the postseason. PSU additionally saw Nemeth join teammates Maddie Gordon and Gaby Garcia as NFCA All-Great Lakes Region selections, one of the most successful seasons for postseason accolades in Penn State history. The Nittany Lions also managed to land four B1G Athlete of the Week awards, 13 Academic All-Big Ten selections, five B1G Distinguished Scholar honors and five College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections in PSU’s landmark 2024 campaign.
A rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks, Bower remained at home in Happy Valley after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the Nittany Lions’ volunteer assistant coach. Bower played an instrumental role in helping guide PSU to back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 2005-06. Under her tutelage and with the support of Penn State’s staff, Bower has helped coach 11 All-B1G postseason selections, eight NFCA Great Lakes All-Region designees and 2022 Third Team NFCA All-American Bailey Parshall.
Prior to joining the Nittany Lion staff, Bower had more than two years of prior coaching experience with the varsity team for Williamsport Area School District her native Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She was responsible for all pitching instruction and also provided instruction in hitting, infield and outfield work. Bower helped the team to a 19-2 record in the 2020-21 season, and a 15-5 record in the 2018-2019 campaign. Bower also has prior experience as an assistant softball camp instructor with children ranging in age from 10 years to high school, including multiple summers spent working for Little League International summer camps.
As a student-athlete at Saint Francis, Bower started in all 49 games her freshman season, 50 games her sophomore season, and 56 games in her junior season. She was named the 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year and became just the second player in SFU softball history to be named to an NFCA All-Region Team. She was also named a First Team All-NEC selection in 2014 and 2015. Bower was a member two NEC championship teams in her junior and senior seasons despite being unable to play both years due to ACL injuries. Bower was designated a three-year team captain from her sophomore season through her redshirt-senior campaign.
Bower earned her Master’s of Occupational Therapy in 2018 from Saint Francis University, the same university which issued her bachelor’s degree in 2017.