Beth Torina

Elizabeth Dieter Torina (born October 15, 1978) is an American college softball Head Coach and a former collegiate right-handed pitcher, originally from Orlando, Florida. Torina is currently the head coach of the LSU Tigers softball team in the Southeastern Conference.[1] Prior to 2011, Torina coached as Beth McClendon. She played from 1997-00 for the Florida Gators.[2]

Beth Torina
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamLSU
ConferenceSEC
Record360–155 (.699)
Biographical details
Born (1978-10-15) October 15, 1978
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Playing career
1997–2000Florida
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2002Stetson (asst.)
2003–2007Houston (asst.)
2008–2011FIU
2011–2012USSSA Pride
2012–presentLSU
Head coaching record
Overall489–264 (.649)
Tournaments39–26 (.600) (NCAA)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player:
  • SEC regular season (1998)

As assistant coach:

As head coach:

  • 2× Ringor Cup (2011, 2012)
  • SEC West Division (2013)
Awards
2× Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year (2008, 2010)

Early life and education

Born Elizabeth Dieter in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Torina grew up in Orlando, Florida and graduated from Dr. Phillips High School. Originally a walk-on and competing as Beth Dieter, Torina became the number-two pitcher on the Florida Gators softball team at the University of Florida and became the top starting pitcher as a junior in 1999. In her career, Torina made 139 appearances with 105 starts, a 60–39 record, 23 shutouts, and 716.2 innings pitched and is ranked top ten all-time in multiple categories including shutouts, appearances, wins, and starts.[3] As a senior in 2000, Torina had a career-best 1.75 earned run average.[4][5] Torina graduated in 2000 with a B.S. in health sciences and occupational therapy.[5]

Coaching career

Assistant coach (2001–2007)

From 2000 to 2010, Torina was known as Beth McClendon.[6][7][8] Torina began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the Stetson University softball team for two seasons from 2001 to 2002, during which she helped Stetson win a shared regular season Atlantic Sun Conference title in 2001.[6]

She then moved on to Houston from 2003 to 2007 as pitching coach.[6] McClendon helped Houston make its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2004, an at-large bid after the team finished fifth in the Conference USA regular season standings and runners-up in the C-USA tournament.[9] Houston finished the tournament 1–2 in the Baylor regional, beating Texas A&M–Corpus Christi and losing to Seton Hall and Illinois.[10][11]

In Torina's final season at Houston in 2007, Houston won both the C-USA regular season and tournament titles, both firsts in program history.[12][13] Upsetting no. 23 Louisiana–Lafayette and regional host no. 7 Texas A&M before losing twice to Texas A&M, Houston went 2–2 in the College Station regional of the NCAA Tournament.[14][15][16]

FIU (2008–2011)

Torina got her first head coaching job at Florida International University (FIU) on July 12, 2007, hired by athletic director Pete Garcia.[17] Inheriting a 22–35 team, Torina led FIU to a 29–34 record and fourth-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference, for which she won her first Sun Belt Coach of the Year award.[18][19] The following season, FIU finished 31–29, the first winning record in three years.[18]

In 2010, FIU went 38–21 (17–7 Sun Belt) with the program's second-ever NCAA Tournament bid, an at-large bid following second-place finishes in the Sun Belt regular season and tournament.[20][18][7] FIU went 2–2 in the Gainesville regional of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including an upset over regional host and eventual Women's College World Series participant Florida, which was then ranked no. 4 nationally.[21][18] Torina delivered another winning season in 2011 with a 31–27 record, tied for third in the Sun Belt.[18][8]

LSU (2012–present)

On June 20, 2011, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva named Torina head coach of the LSU Tigers softball team.[22]

In her first year as head coach, she led the Tigers to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Women's College World Series, followed by an SEC West Division title in 2013.[1][23] Under Torina, LSU made repeat appearances in the Women's College World Series, from 2015 to 2017. Torina led the program to its first ever no. 1 national ranking in 2015 and the program's 1,000th all-time victory in 2016.[1] Following the 2015 season, Torina earned a $45,000 raise that increased her annual salary to $225,000 and one-year contract extension through 2018.[24] By the 2018 season, Torina had produced five NFCA All-American players at LSU.[25]

USSSA Pride (2011–2012)

Torina was also manager of the USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch from 2011 to 2012. The Pride won the NPF Championship in 2010, when Torina was an assistant coach on the staff.[1]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
FIU Golden Panthers/Panthers (Sun Belt Conference) (2008–2011)
2008 FIU 29–3412–114th[26]
2009 FIU 31–2913–11[27]4th[28]
2010 FIU 38–2117–72nd[7]NCAA Regionals
2011 FIU 31–2714–10T–3rd[8]
FIU: 129–111 (.538)57–41 (.582)
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2012–Present)
2012 LSU 40–2515–132nd (West)Women's College World Series
2013 LSU 42–1615–81st (West)NCAA Regionals
2014 LSU 38–2413–112nd (West)NCAA Regionals
2015 LSU 52–1415–93rdWomen's College World Series
2016 LSU 52–1813–117thWomen's College World Series
2017 LSU 48–2212–126thWomen's College World Series
2018 LSU 45–1713–115thNCAA Super Regionals
2019 LSU 43–1914–10T-2ndNCAA Super Regional
2020 LSU 21–30–0Season canceled due to COVID-19
LSU: 381–158 (.707)110–85 (.564)
Total:510–267 (.656)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. "Beth Torina". LSU. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  2. "Beth Dieter". Floridagators.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  3. 2017 Career Individual Career Records (Softball) (PDF), University of Florida, retrieved May 26, 2018
  4. http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/WSB/Softball_Women's_Division%20I_2000_235_University%20of%20Florida.pdf
  5. "Beth Dieter". Florida Gators. Archived from the original on April 29, 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  6. "Beth McClendon". University of Houston. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  7. "2010 Panther Softball: FIU at Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship" (PDF). Florida International University. May 12, 2010. pp. 2, 4. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  8. "2011 Panther Softball: FIU at Sun Belt Conference Tournament" (PDF). Florida International University. May 12, 2011. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  9. "Cougar Softball Headed to Waco for NCAA Regional". University of Houston. May 16, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  10. "Fighting Illini knock Cougars out of NCAA Tournament". University of Houston. May 21, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  11. "Cougars fall to Seton Hall in opening game of NCAA Regional". University of Houston. May 20, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  12. "Softball Dismisses East Carolina to Claim Conference USA Regular Season Crown". University of Houston. April 28, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  13. "Softball Dismisses East Carolina to Claim First Conference USA Crown". University of Houston. May 12, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  14. "Softball Outlasts No. 23 ULL". University of Houston. May 18, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  15. "Softball Stuns No. 7 Texas A&M". University of Houston. May 19, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  16. "Softball Falls Twice to No. 7 Texas A&M". University of Houston. May 20, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  17. "Beth McClendon Named FIU Head Softball Coach". FIU. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018. Alt URL
  18. "Beth Torina". FIU. 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  19. "NCAA Statistics, Head Coaches: Beth Torina". NCAA. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  20. "Softball Earns Second Ever NCAA Tournament Bid". FIU. May 17, 2010. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018. Alt URL
  21. "FIU Game-by-Game Results (2010)". FIU. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  22. "LSU Softball Names Beth Torina Head Coach". LSU. June 20, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  23. Farnum, Amy (April 29, 2013). "LSU clinches part of SEC West title". NCAA. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  24. Dellenger, Paul (September 18, 2015). "LSU's Paul Mainieri gets contract extension; Beth Torina receives extension, raise". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, LA. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  25. Gegenheimer, Mike (May 17, 2018). "How Beth Torina continued the winning legacy of LSU softball and took it to another level". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, LA. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  26. "Softball looking for first SBC championship". FIU. May 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018. Alt URL
  27. "FIU Loses 2–1 in Nine Innings at Florida Atlantic". FIU. May 2, 2009. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018. Alt URL
  28. "2009 Sun Belt Season Review" (PDF), 2010 FIU Softball Media Guide, Florida International University, p. 26, 2010
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