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2008 Big West Conference Co-Coach of the Year
Brie Galicinao joins the Gauchos for her second season as head coach coming off of a fantastic first year at the helm of the UC Santa Barbara softball program.
In 2008, Galicinao led the Gauchos to a 30-24 mark and a 13-8 Big West record, their best conference mark since 2004 when the squad went 14-7. UCSB finished second in the competitive league behind Long Beach State. For her leadership, Galicinao was named Big West Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the honor with Long Beach's Kim Sowder.
The 2008 Gauchos had arguably one of the best seasons offensively in program history. Santa Barbara set team records for single season batting average (.291), runs (243), hits (425), home runs (38), total bases (625) and RBI (216). The Gauchos also led the Big West in all of those categories, as well as slugging percentage (.428) and on-base percentage (.357). Nationally, UCSB ranked in the top-50 for batting average, triples per game (0.22) and slugging percentage. Not just a power offensively, the Gaucho defense led the conference with its .967 fielding percentage and ranked 57th nationally.
Galicinao also coached Tiffany Wright to Big West Field Player of the Year honors, the first field player of the year in program history. Additionally, Wright, Tisha Duran and Christine Ramos all earned First Team All-Big West accolades while Ericka Hansen, Nicole Churnock, Jessica Ziegler and Tami Weston all earned Honorable Mention nods.
Off the field, three of her players earned Academic All-Big West honors and Ericka Hansen was named to Academic All-District 8 First Team.
Prior to being named head coach in June 2007, Galicinao spent two seasons as an assistant with the UCSB program. Galicinao worked with the bullpen and helped lead the Gauchos to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2007, Jennifer Davis, one of her pitchers, was named the program's first-ever Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year while the Gaucho pitching staff led the conference with the lowest ERA. In addition to her on-field duties, Galicinao worked with all aspects of the program, including recruiting, fundraising, and monitoring players' academics.
Prior to coming to Santa Barbara, Galicinao served as the Director of Athletic Relations at Princeton University and as an assistant coach for the Tigers in 2003, helping guide the team to a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Galicinao also worked as a softball camp and skills instructor for pitching and hitting and was the Assistant Director of Athletic Relations and Marketing at Princeton for over two years.
A four-year starting utility-pitcher at Princeton from 1999-2002, Galicinao finished three seasons hitting over .350 and ended with a career ERA of 1.47. She also led the team to an Ivy League Championship and the NCAA Tournament her senior year. Serving as the Tigers' captain that season, she earned a spot on the NCAA All-Region Tournament Team and NFCA All-Region Team and was honored with the C. Otto Von Kienbusch award as the university's Sportswoman of the Year.
Galicinao made history when she became the first athlete to win both Ivy League Pitcher and Player of the Year in the same year after leading the conference in several hitting categories and posting the 8th-lowest ERA in Division I during her junior year. She was also the first player to win Ivy League Pitcher of the Year twice in a career after winning the award again as a senior. After graduating from Princeton, Galicinao played and led softball clinics in Italy before returning to work in the athletic department.
The Stockton, Calif. native earned her bachelor's degree in history from Princeton and master's degree in Educational Leadership and Organizations from UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. Galicinao, who is also a 2006 graduate of the NCAA's Women Coaches Academy, resides in Santa Barbara.
