Penn State softball head coach Clarisa Crowell announced the completion of the 2025-26 Nittany Lion coaching staff on Thursday, September 4, with the Blue & White welcoming former Big Ten student-athlete and decorated assistant coach Lauren Foster to Happy Valley.
Foster arrived in University Park following a one-year stint with the softball program at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she helped steer the Mavericks to 24 victories under the direction of head coach Kara Dill in 2025. Foster was responsible for the defensive philosophy, development and alignment of the Maverick softball program, and continues to share her expertise in the defensive space during her time with the Blue & White. She played a pivotal role in generating the program’s practice plans, helped organize and operate UTA softball camps, and assisted in personnel decisions related to high school recruitment and the transfer portal. With the Maverick defense under her care, Foster helped guide the UTA program to a .964 fielding percentage while leading a unit that turned the second-most double plays (23) and double plays per game (0.47) in the Western Athletic Conference in 2025.
Before her inaugural season as an assistant coach in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, Foster spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, one of the most powerful dynasties in the sport. While serving as a GA under the guidance of eight-time national championship-winning head coach Patty Gasso, Foster was able to help guide the program to a pair of Women’s College World Series crowns in both 2023 and 2024. Foster was responsible for a variety of tasks with the Sooner program, including generating in-game scouting reports and offensive call cards while assisting with the team’s defensive alignment and strategy. While working in Norman, Foster helped orchestrate a defensive unit that ranked inside the top four nationally in both of her seasons with the program, highlighted by the best defense in college softball in 2023 with a .987 finish in fielding percentage.
As a student-athlete at the University of Wisconsin, Foster was a force to be reckoned with in the middle infield and at the plate, helping guide the Badgers to a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances while mustering over 100 collegiate hits. Foster finished her five seasons at UW with back-to-back campaigns hitting above .267, ultimately logging 110 collegiate hits, including 45 extra-base knocks split between 31 doubles, five triples and nine homers. As Wisconsin’s go-to player at the shortstop position, Foster amassed 588 career putouts and 347 assists, racking those numbers up with remarkable defensive efficiency, culminating in a career-long .954 fielding percentage. Noted for her softball IQ and knowledge of the game on both sides of the ball, Foster helped lift the Wisconsin program to new heights from 2018 to 2022, highlighted by a 2-1 win over eventual national runner-up Oklahoma in the Norman Regional that snapped a 41-game winning streak for the Sooners. In the classroom, she was a two-time Big Ten Conference Distinguished Scholar and four-time recipient of the Academic All-Big Ten award.
A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, Foster graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the fall of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Development and Family Studies and Communication Arts, with an additional postgraduate certificate in Sports Communication. Foster continued her academic pursuits at the University of Oklahoma, completing her Master of Education Degree in Adult and Higher Education with an emphasis in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration.