Softball
Hillary Smith
- Title:
- Softball Head Coach
- Email:
- hillary.smith@qu.edu
- Phone:
- (203) 582-5316
Hillary Smith finished her eighth season as the softball head coach in 2026, after being hired as the program's eighth head coach in August 2018.
Smith guided Quinnipiac to a historic 2026 campaign, leading the Bobcats to a program-record 16 MAAC regular-season victories and a 24-21 overall record, the program's first winning season since 2012. Quinnipiac also won three consecutive games in the MAAC Tournament, defeating No. 6 Siena, No. 2 Fairfield, and No. 4 Sacred Heart to advance to the semifinals, marking the program's deepest postseason run since 2016. Smith finished the season with 119 career victories.
The Bobcats earned numerous postseason honors, as seniors Sofia Vega and Kennedy DeMott were named All-MAAC First Team selections, and senior Ally Hochstadter earned All-MAAC Second Team honors. All three received the first All-MAAC recognition of their careers. DeMott also garnered NFCA Division I All-East Third Team honors.
In 2025, Smith led Quinnipiac to a 19-27 overall record and 14-11 in MAAC play, securing the program's first winning conference record under her leadership. The Bobcats also qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the first time during Smith's tenure. Sydney Horan and Mary Fogg earned All-MAAC Second Team honors, while Madison Waltke was selected to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Quinnipiac placed a conference-best 17 student-athletes on the MAAC All-Academic Team.
During the 2024 season, Smith guided the Bobcats to a 20-25 overall record and 9-15 in conference play. Natalia Apatiga was named to the All-MAAC Second Team, while 13 Bobcats earned MAAC All-Academic Team recognition.
In 2023, Quinnipiac finished 17-25 overall and 5-14 in MAAC play. Mary Fogg earned All-MAAC First Team honors in addition to being named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team, while 12 Bobcats were recognized on the MAAC All-Academic Team.
Smith's fourth season at the helm came in 2022, when the Bobcats posted a 12-29 overall record and a 5-15 conference mark. Sydney Horan and Brooke Hilliard both earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.
The Bobcats posted a record of 8-28 overall in 2021 and saw two Bobcats earn All-MAAC honors at the conclusion of the season.
Smith's second season was impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted all NCAA sports in March 2020.
During her first campaign as head coach, Smith saw two of her first-years named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team; Alexis Otero was a standout at first base and Lauren King led the Bobcats in the circle. King recorded a 2.52 ERA, which was good for fourth-best in the MAAC.
"I'm very excited to welcome Hillary Smith to the Quinnipiac family," Amodio said. "Hillary really impressed us throughout the interview process and she has certainly earned her first opportunity as a head coach. Her teams thrived while she was at FIU and she will be a great fit for us at Quinnipiac."
Smith comes to Quinnipiac from Florida International University where she was the assistant softball coach for the past two-plus seasons. She joined the Panthers with one month remaining in the 2016 season before she spent each of the next two seasons with FIU.
"I am very honored and humbled to become the next Head Softball Coach of Quinnipiac University," Smith said. "I want to thank Greg Amodio and other members of the administration for the opportunity to become a part of such a great institution and athletic program.
"It has been a dream of mine to become a Division I softball head coach at a program I believe I can help get to the next level. The administration and I share the same visions and goals to help create a championship culture. I am confident I will be able to build a great program on and off the field, and start a new era for Quinnipiac Softball."
Florida International won a combined 76 games over the past two seasons, including a program record 46 in 2017, and reached the NCAA Tournament that season. Smith worked extensively with standout pitcher Shannon Saile throughout her first full season in 2017, who was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and finished fifth nationally allowing 3.49 hits per seven innings, 21stwith 240 strikeouts to tie the single-season program record and 31stin ERA.
As a pitching staff that season, the Panthers recorded their second-lowest opponent batting average (.203) and sixth-lowest ERA (1.77) in the 20-year program history.
Prior to joining the staff at Florida International, Smith coached four seasons at her alma mater, the University of Central Florida. She was part of a coaching staff that won back-to-back American Athletic Conference (AAC) Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2014 and 2015 as well as back-to-back regular season championships and the 2015 AAC Tournament Championship.
UCF Pitchers led the nation with a 0.93 ERA in 2015 while AAC Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-American Shelby Turnier led the nation individually with the 0.87 ERA.
Athletically, Smith played softball for UCF from 2007-10 where she sits in the top 10 in program history in several major offensive categories including sacrifice flies (1st), games played (5th), runs scored (8th), doubles (2nd), RBIs (5th) and walks (7th).
She was a two-time C-USA All-Tournament Team selection in 2008 and 2010, participated in two NCAA tournaments and was part of UCF's 2008 C-USA Tournament Championship Team.
Smith graduated from UCF in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in communications and a minor in digital media.
Smith guided Quinnipiac to a historic 2026 campaign, leading the Bobcats to a program-record 16 MAAC regular-season victories and a 24-21 overall record, the program's first winning season since 2012. Quinnipiac also won three consecutive games in the MAAC Tournament, defeating No. 6 Siena, No. 2 Fairfield, and No. 4 Sacred Heart to advance to the semifinals, marking the program's deepest postseason run since 2016. Smith finished the season with 119 career victories.
The Bobcats earned numerous postseason honors, as seniors Sofia Vega and Kennedy DeMott were named All-MAAC First Team selections, and senior Ally Hochstadter earned All-MAAC Second Team honors. All three received the first All-MAAC recognition of their careers. DeMott also garnered NFCA Division I All-East Third Team honors.
In 2025, Smith led Quinnipiac to a 19-27 overall record and 14-11 in MAAC play, securing the program's first winning conference record under her leadership. The Bobcats also qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the first time during Smith's tenure. Sydney Horan and Mary Fogg earned All-MAAC Second Team honors, while Madison Waltke was selected to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Quinnipiac placed a conference-best 17 student-athletes on the MAAC All-Academic Team.
During the 2024 season, Smith guided the Bobcats to a 20-25 overall record and 9-15 in conference play. Natalia Apatiga was named to the All-MAAC Second Team, while 13 Bobcats earned MAAC All-Academic Team recognition.
In 2023, Quinnipiac finished 17-25 overall and 5-14 in MAAC play. Mary Fogg earned All-MAAC First Team honors in addition to being named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team, while 12 Bobcats were recognized on the MAAC All-Academic Team.
Smith's fourth season at the helm came in 2022, when the Bobcats posted a 12-29 overall record and a 5-15 conference mark. Sydney Horan and Brooke Hilliard both earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.
The Bobcats posted a record of 8-28 overall in 2021 and saw two Bobcats earn All-MAAC honors at the conclusion of the season.
Smith's second season was impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that halted all NCAA sports in March 2020.
During her first campaign as head coach, Smith saw two of her first-years named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team; Alexis Otero was a standout at first base and Lauren King led the Bobcats in the circle. King recorded a 2.52 ERA, which was good for fourth-best in the MAAC.
"I'm very excited to welcome Hillary Smith to the Quinnipiac family," Amodio said. "Hillary really impressed us throughout the interview process and she has certainly earned her first opportunity as a head coach. Her teams thrived while she was at FIU and she will be a great fit for us at Quinnipiac."
Smith comes to Quinnipiac from Florida International University where she was the assistant softball coach for the past two-plus seasons. She joined the Panthers with one month remaining in the 2016 season before she spent each of the next two seasons with FIU.
"I am very honored and humbled to become the next Head Softball Coach of Quinnipiac University," Smith said. "I want to thank Greg Amodio and other members of the administration for the opportunity to become a part of such a great institution and athletic program.
"It has been a dream of mine to become a Division I softball head coach at a program I believe I can help get to the next level. The administration and I share the same visions and goals to help create a championship culture. I am confident I will be able to build a great program on and off the field, and start a new era for Quinnipiac Softball."
Florida International won a combined 76 games over the past two seasons, including a program record 46 in 2017, and reached the NCAA Tournament that season. Smith worked extensively with standout pitcher Shannon Saile throughout her first full season in 2017, who was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and finished fifth nationally allowing 3.49 hits per seven innings, 21stwith 240 strikeouts to tie the single-season program record and 31stin ERA.
As a pitching staff that season, the Panthers recorded their second-lowest opponent batting average (.203) and sixth-lowest ERA (1.77) in the 20-year program history.
Prior to joining the staff at Florida International, Smith coached four seasons at her alma mater, the University of Central Florida. She was part of a coaching staff that won back-to-back American Athletic Conference (AAC) Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2014 and 2015 as well as back-to-back regular season championships and the 2015 AAC Tournament Championship.
UCF Pitchers led the nation with a 0.93 ERA in 2015 while AAC Pitcher of the Year and NFCA All-American Shelby Turnier led the nation individually with the 0.87 ERA.
Athletically, Smith played softball for UCF from 2007-10 where she sits in the top 10 in program history in several major offensive categories including sacrifice flies (1st), games played (5th), runs scored (8th), doubles (2nd), RBIs (5th) and walks (7th).
She was a two-time C-USA All-Tournament Team selection in 2008 and 2010, participated in two NCAA tournaments and was part of UCF's 2008 C-USA Tournament Championship Team.
Smith graduated from UCF in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in communications and a minor in digital media.
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