Elizabeth Dieter Torina (born October 15, 1978) is an American former collegiate

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

and current

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

at LSU. Prior to 2011, Torina coached as Beth McClendon. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is n ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

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 The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

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. As a senior in 2000, Torina had a career-best 1.75

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

. Torina graduated in 2000 with a B.S. in health sciences and occupational therapy.

Personal life

She is married to former Houston Cougars baseball pitcher Nick Torina. They have three daughters.

Coaching career

Assistant coach (2001–2007)

From 2000 to 2010, Torina was known as Beth McClendon. Torina began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

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. She then moved on to

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

from 2003 to 2007 as pitching coach. McClendon helped Houston make its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, an at-large bid after the team finished fifth in the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

regular season standings and runners-up in the C-USA tournament. Houston finished the tournament 1–2 in the Baylor regional, beating Texas A&M–Corpus Christi and losing to Seton Hall and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. 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. 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 College station or College Station may refer to: Transportation *College station (MetroLink), a St. Louis light rail station in Saint Clair County, Illinois, United States *College station (PNR), a Philippine National Railways station in Los Baño ...

regional of the NCAA Tournament.

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.Alt URL
/ref> Inheriting a 22–35 team, Torina led FIU to a 29–34 record and fourth-place finish in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams partici ...

, for which she won her first Sun Belt Coach of the Year award. The following season, FIU finished 31–29, the first winning record in three years. 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. 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

, which was then ranked no. 4 nationally. Torina delivered another winning season in 2011 with a 31–27 record, tied for third in the Sun Belt.

LSU (2012–present)

On June 20, 2011, LSU athletic director

Joe Alleva Joseph Louis Alleva (born c. 1952) is the former athletics director at Louisiana State University and Duke University. Duke Alleva began as athletic director in 1998. Alleva hired three football coaches in his 11 years: Carl Franks, Ted Roof, a ...

named Torina head coach of the

LSU Tigers softball The LSU Tigers softball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and plays home games in Tiger Park. The team is currently coached by Beth Torin ...

team. 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. Under Torina, LSU made repeat appearances in the Women's College World Series, from 2015 to

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. 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. 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. By the 2018 season, Torina had produced five NFCA All-American players at LSU.

USSSA Pride (2011–2012)

Torina was also manager of the USSSA Pride of

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

from 2011 to 2012. The Pride won the NPF Championship in 2010, when Torina was an assistant coach on the staff.

Head coaching record

References

External links

LSU Lady Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torina, Beth 1978 births Living people Female sports coaches American softball coaches Softball coaches from Florida Florida Gators softball players FIU Panthers softball coaches Houston Cougars softball coaches LSU Tigers softball coaches Stetson Hatters softball coaches Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida Softball players from Illinois Softball players from Florida