Kirin Kumar Named NC State Softball Assistant Coach

RALEIGH, N.C. – Kirin Kumar, a former Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) standout, has joined the NC State softball coaching staff as an assistant coach, announced by head coach Shawn Rychcik Tuesday.

In her role with the Wolfpack, she will serve as the hitting coach and also be in charge of the team's defense.

"I'm excited to have Kirin join our staff," said Rychcik. "She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience at this level to our program. She's been successful at all of the schools she's worked at and we're looking forward to her working with our players.

"Kirin knows the ACC well, having played and coached in this league. We think she will have a seamless transition and fit well with our program."

Kumar comes to NC State following a two-year stint and seventh overall season as an assistant coach at Tulsa. She previously served as an assistant at TU from 2006-10. She helped lead the Golden Hurricane to their first American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament title in 2016, defeating a pair of ranked opponents to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Under her guidance, three Tulsa players were named to the 2016 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Central Region Team, four to the American Athletic All-Conference First Team, one player on the second team and two on the all-rookie team. The Golden Hurricane posted the second-best batting average in the conference with a .289 clip and had the fewest strikeouts (192) this past season.

In 2015, Kumar helped Tulsa finish the year atop the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored and home runs in addition to several others. With her assistance, Julie Kernen set the single-season record for runs batted in (RBI) with 59 and a total of six players hit .300 or better during the year.

Prior to rejoining the Tulsa softball program, she was an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech for a season, guiding the squad to a 13-3 record in its last 16 contests. From 2012-13, Kumar was the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Western Kentucky.

She helped the Hilltoppers earn their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2013, highlighted by winning the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title. With her leadership, WKU tallied the No. 1 defense in the conference improving the team fielding percentage from .940 to .985.

Kumar began her coaching career at Tulsa in 2005 and remained with the Golden Hurricane until 2010 before accepting a position at UNC-Chapel Hill. She led Tulsa to its first NCAA Regional in 2006 and to the program's first NCAA at-large bid in 2008.

Under her instruction, Lauren Lindsay became Tulsa's first All-American in 2010, compiling a batting average of .377 with 18 home runs, the most in a single season for the program.

The Santa Ana, Calif., native played collegiately at Georgia Tech and was a four-year letterwinner with the Yellow Jackets. Kumar saw action in 251 games, which was the second most in program history when she graduated. She compiled a batting average of .322 during her senior season and was selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 2005.

She was a part of Georgia Tech's first two ACC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament all four years.

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Kirin Kumar Named NC State Softball Assistant Coach

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