Rachel Huggins joined the Gauchos as an assistant coach in July of 2023.
"I am excited to add Rachel Huggins to our staff," said Head Coach Jo Evans. "Rachel is a talented hitting coach, who has been coached and mentored by Chris Malveaux, one of the top hitting coaches in our game right now. She is passionate about hitting, always learning and growing, and is known for her work ethic and her ability to build relationships with her hitters. She is a worker, a curious learner, a grinder, and a team player. I'm excited for Rachel to take our offense to the next level."Â
Huggins joins the Gauchos after serving on the staff at Eastern Illinois during the 2023 season. During her short stint with the Panthers, Huggins helped coach EIU to its first-ever NCAA Regional appearance while the team posted several offensive numbers that rank within the top ten of the program's history.
Prior to Eastern Illinois Huggins was an assistant coach at Bradley for six seasons under former Bradley head coach and now current UC Santa Barbara assistant coach Amy Hayes. While at Bradley she helped develop the Braves into a nationally ranked unit each season and in 2019 set the school offense record for home runs in a single season while ranking 13th in slugging percentage and 22nd in scoring in the country.Â
