One of the most decorated players in Georgia Southern softball history, Megen Conner recently completed her second season as an assistant coach for the Georgia Southern softball program in 2019. Conner served as the pitching coach for the Eagles in 2018-19 and will transition to be the hitting coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season. She also oversees the program's community outreach efforts.
Under her tutelage in 2018, Georgia Southern pitchers recorded a 3.71 staff ERA, down almost eighty points from 2017 (4.50) and featured a pair of 10-game winners in Kierra Camp and Rylee Waldrep. Another member of the staff, Kaylee Ramos, was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week on May 1, becoming the first Eagle pitcher to earn Sun Belt weekly honors since joining the league in 2015.
Prior to joining the Eagles, Conner spent two seasons as the pitching coach for Armstrong State University and was a part of two straight NCAA national semifinalist teams in 2016 and 2017. ASU’s team ERAs in 2016 (1.87) and 2017 (2.16) were the lowest for the program since 2004 and she coached two first-team All-Peach Belt Conference pitchers in Tori Bates (2016) and Jane Trzaska (2017). Trzaska was named the 2017 PBC Pitcher of the Year.
She was also a part of the NFCA’s Division II Southeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year each of her two seasons in Savannah.
Conner joined Armstrong State from East Georgia State College, where she served as head coach of the Bobcats for three seasons. Conner helped lead the Bobcats to the GCAA Tournament all three seasons, with a third-place finish coming in 2015. Her overall record at East Georgia State was 64-51.
As a player, the former Megan Smith was a four-year standout and team captain for the Eagles from 2008-2011, becoming the first Eagle player to earn all-conference accolades all four years of her career. She set the Georgia Southern single-season home run record of 18 as a junior in 2010, a record that still stands, and in the circle she notched a school-record seven saves in her career. In four seasons, Conner hit .286 with 29 home runs and 113 runs batted in, while winning 26 games in the circle. She was also a four-year standout at Effingham County High.
After graduating from Georgia Southern in 2011 with a degree in general studies, Conner joined the staff at East Georgia State College as an assistant coach in 2012 before being elevated to head coach for the 2013 season. She earned her master’s degree in July 2017 from Georgia Southern in coaching education.
Conner and her husband, Clay, have a daughter, Smith.
