Eric Oakley was named the ninth head coach of the University of Dallas softball program ahead of the 2025-26 season. He joined the Crusaders after serving as an assistant coach on the Columbia University staff during the 2023 season.
Crusaders battled through a challenging season, finishing with a 9-31 overall record and a 5-25 mark in conference play. Despite the tough results, the team continued to show resilience and growth against the strongest competition the SCAC has seen.
Oakley led two Crusaders to SCAC honorable mention. MacKenzie Flocke provided steady production for the Crusaders, starting all 40 games and hitting .278 with 32 hits and 19 RBIs while keeping strikeouts low at 12 for the season. Keely Mathis was a consistent offensive leader, batting .349 with 38 hits, 24 runs scored, and a .405 on-base percentage thanks to her strong contact and plate discipline.Â
Columbia
Eric Oakley joined the Columbia staff as an assistant coach in September 2023. Oakley aided the Lions as they finished the season with a 16-24 overall record and a 9-11 mark in conference play, posting a .400 winning percentage. The team showed competitiveness in league action while working through a challenging non-conference slate.
Kent State
Prior to Columbia, Oakley spent nine years at Kent State University. After one season as an assistant, he was elevated to interim head coach and later named head coach in June 2016. Over his tenure, Oakley guided the Golden Flashes to 201 victories, highlighted by a Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season title in 2016 and a MAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. He was honored as the 2016 MAC Coach of the Year.
Under Oakley’s leadership, Kent State earned top-four conference finishes in five seasons. His program produced standout student-athletes, including Holly Speers, the first First-Team All-American in program history, and Maria Cegledy, a two-time Academic All-American. In 2019, Oakley became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins and led Kent State to a historic sweep of MAC Player, Pitcher, and Freshman of the Year honors in a single season.
Oakley’s teams set milestones on the field, including winning three games in a single day to capture the 2017 MAC Tournament crown, and recording wins over major programs, such as Oregon State in NCAA regional play.
North Dakota
Before Kent State, Oakley served as head coach at the University of North Dakota for three seasons, guiding the program through its final year of transition to NCAA Division I. His teams produced 16 all-conference selections, including nine in the program’s first two seasons as members of the Big Sky Conference.
Personal
A 2001 graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Oakley is married to his wife, Casey.
