RIVERSIDE, Calif.— The UC Riverside Softball Team announced today, Tuesday, September 25, the newest addition to its coaching staff, National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Famer, Cindy Bristow, who will join the Highlanders as their pitching coach. Bristow joins the Highlanders following the team's best season since 2015 and its first ever postseason appearance where the team won the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Regional Championship and finished second in the NISC National Championship.

"Coach Bristow brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and years of experience to our program and will make an immediate impact," said Head Coach Nikki Palmer. "Her intelligence in the realm of pitching is going to take us to another level."

A Riverside native, Bristow will return home bringing 30-plus years of experience in the sport to the rising Highlanders program. She has played, coached and managed at the collegiate and professional level, has led several different Olympic National teams, and has been involved in every aspect of the sport over the past three decades. Bristow's lifelong commitment and success was rewarded when she received the sport's highest honor and was inducted into the NCFA Hall of Fame in 2001.

Bristow began her coaching career as an assistant at Arizona State University and went on to hold head coaching positions at New Mexico State and Wichita State. Most recently, she was the head coach of Florida Wahoos where she led the team to a Women's Professional Softball League Championship and earned the Coach of the Year Award.

The former pitcher, Bristow played her college ball at Cal Poly Pomona and professionally for the Santa Ana Lionettes.

"We will have a huge advantage with Coach Bristow calling the pitches for our team," Palmer added. "She's able to read hitters and pitchers at every level so I am fully confident she will be able to pick apart opposing batters very well."

Away from coaching and playing, Bristow has always found ways to contribute to the sport. She has authored and produced several instructional books and videos, organized hundreds of clinics, and serves as a color analyst for ESPN. She is even credited with selecting the first USA National Team that won a Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics.