Liz Beirne bio
6/16/2010 4:14:00 AM | General
Joining the staff prior to the 2009 season, Elisabeth Beirne works primarily with the pitching staff and is the recruiting and travel coordinator. She joined the staff after a one-year stint at Tennessee State University.
In her first year, Beirne helped mold pitcher Brianna Streetmon into one of the best in the Southern Conference. After starting only two games her freshman year, Streetmon became the Eagles' ace going 17-10 with a 1.95 ERA and striking out 124 batters as a sophomore. She filled her trophy case from just one season, winning about every award she could. Streetmon was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week twice, SoCon Pitcher of the Month, All-SoCon First Team, Pitcher of the Year, All-Tournament, Most Outstanding Player and NFCA All-Region.
The awards continued to come for Beirne's staff in her second season. Streetmon repeated as the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, and was named to the NFCA All-Region team as well as First Team All-Southern Conference, leading the league in wins with a 19-12 record. She posted the second-best ERA among SoCon pitchers with a 1.97 in a league-high 224.0 innings pitched. She struck out 170 batters, ranking fourth in the league. She also earned a SoCon Pitcher of the Week award and was named SoCon Pitcher of the Month in March.
In 2010, the Eagles' staff, consisting of two juniors and a freshman, had the fourth best team ERA in the Southern Conference, posting a 2.74. They were also fourth in strikeouts with 266. Georgia Southern's 30 wins was third among conference schools, while the Eagles were second with six saves.
Last season, Beirne Worked with Allie Miles, helping the freshman to earn SoCon Freshman of the Year honors in the circle. Miles struck out a 170 batters on the season and held opposing batters to a .218 average. The GSU staff as a whole posted a 3.47 ERA with a .248 opponent batting averge.
Beirne began her coaching career as a graduate assistant for two seasons at Liberty University where she was in charge of pitching and academic progress.
In her first year at Liberty, two pitchers recorded 16 wins, marking only the second time the university had two 15-game winners on the same staff. In addition, during the 2006 season, the pitching staff set a school record with 351 strikeouts, surpassing the previous record of 291, and the team ERA improved from 3.08 in 2005 to 2.44.
Beirne, a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 2004. As a standout pitcher at Olivet, she accumulated a 74-26 career record in the circle, including 32 shutouts. In 2003, Beirne helped lead Olivet to a third place finish at the NAIA national tournament and a team record 61 wins, posting a personal record of 29-7 with a 1.61 ERA.
Beirne was selected to the 2003 National Christian Colleges Athletic Association All-American first team. She followed that up with a 21-win campaign in 2004 and again led Olivet to an impressive 51-17 overall record and was an All-Chicago Collegiate Athletic Conference selection, as well as an NCCAA All-Tournament team member.
