BERKELEY – California softball will have a new face in the dugout this season with the hiring of three-time collegiate Division II All-American pitcher Dr. Megan Brown as the new assistant coach for pitching, head coach Diane Ninemire announced Friday.
 
Brown, who played at Florida Southern College from 2003-07, will work with the Golden Bears' young pitching staff, including returner Alexandra Perez, a dual threat as a hitter and pitcher who went undefeated in the circle at 6-0 last season with a 2.02 ERA. Brown brings nearly a decade of coaching experience at all levels to the program including time as an international coach.
 
"I am very excited and pleased with the hiring of Dr. Megan Brown as the new Cal softball pitching coach," said head coach Diane Ninemire. "Megan brings a wealth of experience as both a player and coach at the collegiate, professional, and international level.  She represents and embraces the high level of integrity and values we seek in our program and is highly respected as one of the brightest pitching coaches in the country. I look forward to Megan joining our coaching staff."
 
"I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with such a tremendous program," said Brown, a Carrollton, Georgia, native. "I would like to thank Coach Ninemire and the Cal Athletics Department for this opportunity. I am excited beyond words for the opportunity to help grow and continue to develop the pitching staff here at Cal. I look forward to working with the entire staff and all of our young ladies as we strive together to achieve our goals."
 
Before devoting her time to coaching, Brown completed an impressive career as a professional coach and player abroad. She has spent time in a number countries, including Canada, San Marino, Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
 
Brown has also coached overseas, spending four years in London as the pitching coach for the Great Britain Women's National Team.
 
Stateside, Brown has a variety of coaching experience at the Division I level, most recently with Boston College, working for four seasons with the Eagles as the first assistant. In her time in the ACC, Brown coached one All-American, seven All-Region honorees and 14 All-ACC selections. She's also worked with four All-ACC Players of the Week and three All-ACC Pitchers of the Week.
 
Brown was part of the UConn staff for the 2013-14 season and was a student manager and volunteer assistant coach at Auburn from 2009-11. She earned her PhD in kinesiology at Auburn in 2013, while also working as a private instructor. She also coached at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke from 2011-13.
 
"I look forward to the opportunity to utilize and continue to improve my knowledge of human performance, kinesiology and sport pedagogy with our student athletes here at Cal," Brown added.
 
A devout student of the game, Brown is a published author and has been a panelist and speaker at the Softball Excellence Pitching Summit for multiple years.
 
She earned both her bachelor's (2007) and master's (2009) degrees at Florida Southern in physical education and education, respectively.
 
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.