Niagara Purple Eagles softball


The Niagara Purple Eagles softball team represents Niagara University in the NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Purple Eagles are currently led by head coach Larry Puzan. The team plays its home games at Niagara Softball Field located on the university's campus.
WWW purpleeagles.com

History

Since joining the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1990, Niagara has failed to win a conference regular season title but have managed to finish second three times, doing so in 1996, 1997, and 2008. The Purple Eagles have been largely unsuccessful since establishing a team in 1981. Niagara has posted a winning season only seven times in 41 years, six of those with former coach Al Dirschberger. The most recent winning season came in 2009. They have, however, managed to win a conference tournament title, doing so in 1998. In doing so, Niagara earned a berth in the 1998 NCAA Division I softball tournament.
The Purple Eagles, led by stars Joni Sontrop and Kelly Cruttenden, faced off against Arizona in their first career NCAA tournament appearance, losing 14-0 via mercy rule in five innings. Niagara were eliminated in their second and final game of the tournament, losing 5-1 to Hawaii.
Former head coach Al Dirschberger was convicted of raping a 28 year old woman in 2017 and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He was released in 2023 and will be under probation for ten years.

Coaching history

1981–1982Bill Gould17–19
1983–1987Beth Corcoran46–58–2
1988–1989Beth Bullock16–39–2
1990Gerilyn Proto7–21
1991–2012Al Dirschberger345–488
2013Ellie Chan16–30
2014–presentLarry Puzan133–290

Season-by-season results

Season cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic
As of April 10, 2023.