Courtesy of Robert Morris Athletics
Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University head softball coach Craig Coleman announced Wednesday the hiring of Erica List as an assistant coach. One of List’s primary duties will be to work with the Colonial pitching staff.
List, one of the top pitchers in RMU history, returns to coaching after a hiatus for what will be her eighth season on staff in 2015.
“We’re thrilled to have Erica back in the fold again,” Coleman said. “Erica is an excellent instructor of pitching and a great communicator with young pitchers. Her knowledge of our program and years of experience will be a big plus for us.”
The RMU pitching staff has flourished under List’s guidance in her prior stints with the program. She assisted on an interim basis in 2013 and helped the Colonial hurlers to one of their finest performances in recent memory. RMU led the league in opponent batting average (.214), strikeouts (322), fewest runs allowed (125) and fewest extra-base hits allowed (59). Nicole Sleith earned her second straight Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year award while Robert Morris’ 2.14 team ERA ranked it among the top 10 percent nationally.
List also had a significant impact on the 2005 squad as she aided two pitchers, Danielle Cohen and Erica Riggle, to All-NEC honors, marking only the second time that more than one Colonial pitcher was honored in a single season. RMU led the league in opponent batting average (.248) and strikeouts (288) while ranking second in ERA (2.99) en route to a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Cohen was selected as NEC Pitcher of the Year after tallying a 10-0 record and a 1.49 ERA in league play.
List, formerly Erica Schwanke, led RMU to the NEC Tournament title in 1998, earning Tournament MVP honors in the process. She posted a 1.35 ERA in her senior season, third in single-season school history, and racked up 280 strikeouts, a single-season school record that still stands. She ranked fourth in Division I in strikeouts per seven innings (9.5) en route to NEC Pitcher of the Year honors in 1998. List also twirled four no-hitters in her junior year—entering the 2014 season, she was a member of an elite group of just 12 pitchers in Division I history to have thrown at least four no-hitters in a single season.
List helped the Colonials to a pair of NEC regular-season titles in her four years, was a two-time all-region honoree and a three-time All-NEC First Team award winner. She is among the top four in nearly every major career pitching category at RMU, including wins (56), ERA (1.93), strikeouts (688), shutouts (26) and complete games (89) and also holds the single-season record for shutouts (10). List was inducted into the RMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.
After her career with RMU, she spent a season playing for the Tampa Bay Firestix of the Women’s Pro Fastpitch League.
A native of Claymont, Del., List earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Robert Morris in 1999.
