Erin Dixson completed her second season as an assistant coach on the Seahawks' softball staff in 2023 following a breakout 2022 campaign which saw the UNCW program capture the schools' first Colonial Athletic Association Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Dixson-led pitching staff once again ranked near the top of the CAA in team ERA with a 2.71 mark, just the 13th time Seahawk hurlers have produced a team ERA lower than 3.00. Right-handers Janel Gamache (1.93) and Kara Hammock (1.98) boasted two of the three lowest ERAs in the league, with Gamache's performance in the circle playing a role in capturing CAA Player of the Year Honors. Both aces also garnered All-Conference First-Team accolades.
The 2023 Seahawks combined for 14 complete games and four shutouts while striking out 262 batters, the sixth most in school history.
In Dixson's first season in the Port City, UNCW boasted one of the best pitching staffs in the nation, finishing with a 1.85 staff ERA and a school-record 308 strikeouts. The strong circle performance was attributed to a pair of freshmen in Emily Winstead and Hammock. The duo finished with the top two lowest ERAs in the CAA and became UNCW's first CAA Pitcher of the Year (Winstead) and Rookie of the Year (Hammock) recipients.
UNCW pitched 23 complete games and authored 10 shutouts. The Seahawks set a school record with seven saves, with Amberlyn Pearce matching the individual benchmark of three. UNCW defeated perennial CAA powerhouse James Madison, a Women's College World Series participant in 2021, in a series for the first time since 2006.
Winstead set the freshman single-season strikeout record and came within six of the overall single-season record with 184 strikeouts. The Bunn, N.C., native was also named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Freshman in her first season under Dixson's guidance.
Dixson joined the Seahawks' staff after two seasons as pitching coach at Georgia State. The Panthers posted a 7-16 record during the COVID-19 shortened campaign in 2020 before finishing last year at 16-30.
Under Dixson's tutelage, the Panthers' pitching staff lowered its earned run average from 5.37 in 2019 to 4.40 last year. Sophie Mooney ranked seventh in the Sun Belt Conference with 82 strikeouts, while Emily Buck was the conference leader by conceding just 56 hits in 56.0 innings.
Prior to her time at Georgia State, Dixson spent the 2019 season as the pitching coach at Lamar. The Cardinals posted a 23-34 record, including a 14-13 mark in the Southland Conference.
Aaliyah Ruiz paced the Lamar pitching staff with a 2.30 earned run average in 24 appearances as the Cardinals ranked seventh in the Southland Conference with a 2.99 team ERA.
Dixson, who earned her master's degree in Kinesiology from LSU, served as a graduate manager for two seasons with the Tigers, who reached the NCAA® Women's College World Series in 2017.
A 2015 graduate of Eckerd with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, Dixson appeared in 52 games for the Tritons from 2014-15 and ranks fourth in program history with a 2.78 earned run average. She also stands ninth on the career list with 113 strikeouts, while her 24 wins in the circle are good for sixth in school history.
The Amherst, N.Y., native also excelled at the plate, hitting .308 with 19 home runs and 62 runs batted in. Her .571 slugging percentage ranks third in Eckerd program history.
Dixson earned Second-Team NFCA All-South Region distinction as a first baseman during her senior season and was a Second-Team All-Sunshine State Conference pick after hitting 11 home runs with 36 runs batted in.
