Lauren Karn - Softball Coach (2024)

Lauren Karn has led the Oakland University softball program to new heights in her four seasons with the Golden Grizzlies. She was named head coach in July 2017 after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

Karn earned her second-straight #HLSB Coach of the Year honor in 2023 after taking the Golden Grizzlies to a 21-21 overall, 14-7 league record in 2023 with three #HLSB First Team honorees, the second-straight Pitcher of the Year, and a Second Team All-League award. The Saint Joseph's graduate has seen the progression of Sydney Campbell reach record heights with the career wins record while at Oakland. Karn led the team to its second-straight #HLSB Regular Season title in 2023 with two wins against Purdue Fort Wayne in the final series of the season at home. In the conference tournament, the team battled back from two elimination games to force a crucial, winner-take-all game against Northern Kentucky which hadn't been done in the tournament since 2019.

For the 2022 season, Karn led a historic charge as the Golden Grizzlies posted a 26-17 mark on the season, 18-7 in conference play for a Horizon League regular season title en route to a #HLSB Championship in tournament play with a 5-4 win over Robert Morris to punch the team's ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. While reaching 100 career wins to her credit, Karn decidely became Oakland's winningest head coach after the back-to-back wins on a doubleheader day against Youngstown State on April 26. Seven Golden Grizzlies received #HLSB honors in 2022 with Sydney Campbell named Pitcher of the Year along with First Team accolades while Madison Jones, Jessie Munson, and Lauren Griffith joined her on the list. Cammie Brummitt was All-League Second Team while Madi Herrington was named to the Freshman Team list. Karn herself received the Horizon League Coach of the Year award.

In 2021,Karn helped Oakland reach the championship round at the Horizon League Tournament for the second time in the last four seasons. In the 2021 season alone, the Golden Grizzlies broke school records in winning percentage (.619), conference wins (23), home wins (18), batting average (.299), slugging percentage (.450), and fewest strikeouts (154). OU finished the season at 26-16 overall and 23-11 in conference play. The 26 wins tied for the fourth-highest mark in program history and the most since 2015. Five players earned Horizon League postseason honors, as Madison Jones, Cammie Brummitt, Lauren Griffith, and Sydney Campbell were named to the First Team while Jen Krizka was a Second Team selection. The four All-League First Team selections tied for the most in school history, as Oakland's 2003 team was the only other to achieve the feat. Brummitt later became the sixth player in program history to NFCA All-Region honors.

Karn guided the Golden Grizzlies to a 7-11 mark in a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Oakland raced out to a 6-3 start to the season with feature wins over Clemson, Villanova, and UMass. Oakland closed the campaign with a six-game losing streak. Three of the six losses came against Power-5 opponents in Northwestern and Illinois.

In 2019, Karn led OU to an 18-33 overall record and 9-14 mark in Horizon League play. Oakland's offense broke single-season program records in runs (241), hits (423), and doubles (69). The Golden Grizzlies earned a 19-10 victory against Georgetown (3/16/19) at the Buff & Blue Challenge, which broke a school record for most runs in a game. Karn coached OU to a 6-4 win in 15 innings over Youngstown State in the first round of the Horizon League Championship. Lauryn Debono pitched a program-high 13.0 innings in the victory. Multiple players tabbed All-League honors for the second year in a row, as Kelsie Swanson (First Team), Jamie Squires (Second Team), and Lauren Griffith (All-Freshman) were awarded by the conference.

In her first year at the helm, Karn led Oakland to a second-place finish in League play at 13-8. The Golden Grizzlies advanced to the title game in the Horizon League Championship for the second time in school history, where they fell to No. 1 seed UIC. Madison Jones was named Horizon League Freshmen of the Year and earned First Team and All-Freshman Team honors. Haley Zemmer (First Team), Kelsie Swanson (Second Team), and Jessie Munson (All-Freshman) also received conference accolades.

At Pitt, Karn helped guide the Panthers to their first NCAA Tournament bid in program history in 2015, advancing to the regional final after defeating California and Oakland. That same season, Karn and the rest of the Pitt coaching staff was named the 2015 NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the year after leading the Panthers to a school-record 37 wins.

With a specialty in pitching, Karn led pitchers Sarah Dawson and Kayla Harris to Pitt's first two perfect games in program history during her tenure. The Panthers tallied 30-plus wins in back-to-back seasons (2015, `16), and during that time, Karn improved the team's staff earned run average from 4.66 to 3.86.

Karn has 12 years of collegiate coaching experience starting at her alma mater Saint Joseph's, from 2008-09. As the first base coach, she helped lead the Hawks to a second-place finish in the A-10 Conference. Karn also had coaching stints at Marist College (2009-12) and University of Delaware (2012-14), where she was the lead recruiter for both institutions, before landing at Pitt in 2015.

Karn was a four-year starter at Saint Joseph's University from 2005-08, closing out her career with a school-record 534 strikeouts. As a sophom*ore, she went on to break the single-season strikeout record with 186. Karn threw one of just two perfect games in program history in a 9-0 victory over Lafayette on March 19, 2005.

Karn graduated from Saint Joseph's in 2008 with a degree in English.

Year-by-Year Record