Head Coach Clarisa Crowell announced the promotion of Volunteer Assistant Alexis Gallagher to become the program’s third assistant coach on Thursday, July 6, 2023. She enters her second season as a full-time assistant and fourth season at Penn State overall in the 2025 campaign.
Gallagher’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, Gallagher was crucial in the development of Bridget Nemeth’s B1G Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-America campaign. With Gallagher 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 Gallagher on staff.
Gallagher 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, Gallagher remained at home in Happy Valley after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the Nittany Lions’ volunteer assistant coach. Gallagher 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, Gallagher 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, Gallagher 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. Gallagher helped the team to a 19-2 record in the 2020-21 season, and a 15-5 record in the 2018-2019 campaign. Gallagher 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, Gallagher 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. Gallagher was a member two NEC championship teams in her junior and senior seasons despite being unable to play both years due to ACL injuries. Gallagher was designated a three-year team captain from her sophomore season through her redshirt-senior campaign.
Gallagher earned her Master’s of Occupational Therapy in 2018 from Saint Francis University, the same university which issued her bachelor’s degree in 2017.