Flash Points:

• SFU softball has added Katie McEachern to its staff as a Graduate Assistant Coach.
• McEachern was a four-time First Team All-Ivy League and two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Dartmouth.
• This past summer, McEachern played professionally in Sweden and led the league in multiple offensive categories.

LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team has added Katie McEachern to its coaching staff as a Graduate Assistant.  McEachern joins the program after finishing her playing career at Dartmouth this past spring.
 
McEachern had an outstanding career at Dartmouth, earning Ivy League Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior.  A four-time First Team All-Ivy League selection, McEachern, a shortstop, had a career batting average of .380, with 40 doubles, nine triples, 40 home runs and 129 RBI in her career, as well as 22 stolen bases. 
 
As a senior in 2016, McEachern not only was named Ivy League Player of the Year, but was also selected NFCA Northeast All-Region First Team after posting an average of .442 with 53 hits and 33 RBI.  She led the team in all three categories as well as home runs(12), runs(38), on-base percentage(.547) and slugging percentage(.833). 
 
McEachern was also chosen as Ivy League Player of the Year as a junior as well as NFCA Northeast All-Region Second Team.  She led the team that season with a .447 batting average, 51 hits, 10 homers, 43 runs, a .596 on-base percentage and a .833 slugging percentage.
 
As a freshman, McEachern was a Rookie of the Year selection after a year in which she became the first softball player to hit for the cycle in Ivy League history.
 
"Katie put together a stellar career on the field at Dartmouth," said Head Coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. "Early in the interview process, we saw that she could provide that same impact as a coach."
 
After concluding her collegiate career, McEachern joined the Skövde Saints, a professional team in Sweden, leading the team to an 11-5 record.  McEachern batted .630 with 29 hits in 46 at-bats.  She also had 22 runs, 10 doubles, four triples, two homers, 21 RBI and eight stolen bases.   McEachern won the league's batting average title, with the next-best batter hitting .478.  She led the league in multiple offensive categories, including doubles, on-base percentage (.666) and slugging percentage (1.152) and tied for the league-lead in triples and homers.
 
McEachern helped her team to reach the European Cup, where they traveled to Italy and competed against the top teams from Europe. 
 
While in Sweden, McEachern also made it a goal to help spread the sport of softball in a country where the main sport is soccer.  McEachern and her other American teammates helped to teach the sport to young girls, while encouraging them to join the team's practices. 
 
"Katie is energetic, positive and passionate about teaching the game of softball," said Patrick-Swift. "We are extremely excited to have her on the staff and a part of the SFU softball family."
 
Off the field, McEachern earned the Kenneth Archibald Prize, Dartmouth's highest athletic honor, and qualified for Academic All-Ivy in Spring 2015 and 2016. 
 
She was also a member of Dartmouth's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee executive board and helped Dartmouth's athletics department as an Athletic Coordinator Assistant.