Troy University Athletics
Softball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- hightowere@troy.edu
- Phone:
- 3446
Fresh off a successful first year with Troy, Elizabeth Hightower enters her sophomore season as Troy’s pitching coach in 2027.
Hightower coached the mound to bring Troy a 32-22, 10-14 SBC record, earning the No. 9 seed for the Sun Belt Tournament. She oversaw Ella Cunningham and Abby Lovell as the primary pitchers for 2026. Cunningham earned All-Sun Belt Second Team and NFCA All-Gulf Region Second Team honors and was named the No. 10 dual-threat player in the nation by D1 Softball after a 5-inning no-hitter against Furman and 17 strikeouts over Alabama State. Meanwhile, Lovell earned All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention recognition after becoming the first Troy pitcher since Leanna Johnson to record triple-digit strikeouts in a season, finishing with 105. Under Hightower’s guidance, the Trojans recorded two key shutout victories, including a 2-0 win over Omaha, which entered the game ranked as the nation’s No. 1 mid-major team by D1 Softball. Troy also defeated Auburn, 2-0, for the first time since 2012.
Hightower started her Trojan coaching career on June 24, 2025, after being hired by head coach Eric Newell, following a playing career that saw her become a two-time NCAA Women’s College World Series participant at Florida and a professional softball player with the Florida Vibe. She was designated as the primary pitching coach.
Over the last two years, Hightower doubled her professional playing career as the pitching development coordinator at Florida Atlantic, where she collaborated with head pitching coach Nicole Newman on bullpen planning, weekend game preparation and pitch calling strategies. With her help in recruiting, FAU helped secure the No. 1-ranked transfer class in 2023.
The Owls combined for an 86-28, 44-10 AAC record in her two seasons, earning a bid to the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Gainesville Regional. FAU also won the regular season title in 2024 in its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference.
At FAU, she worked with the pitchers, which included Ainsley Lambert, who led the AAC in saves (8), hits allowed (63) and runs allowed (31) in 2024. Hightower also worked with Trinity Schlotterbeck. Shlotterbeck earned All-AAC First Team, NFCA DI All-Region First Team, Softball America All-American and NFCA DI All-American with a team-high 10 homers at the plate and a 16-7 record through 144 innings pitched on the mound. She also coached All-American, AAC Pitcher of the Year, All-AAC First Team and the No. 79-ranked player in Softball America’s Top 100 players, Autumn Courtney, in 2025.
A five-year letterwinner at Florida, Hightower reached the peak twice with a Women’s College World Series appearance in 2019 and 2022. She stands as one of three Gator pitchers in program history to throw a no-hitter in an NCAA Regional Championship. She also earned numerous accolades, such as SEC All-Freshman Team and SEC Freshman of the Week in 2019, All-SEC Second Team, two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week, NFCA All-American Third Team and NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team in 2021 and NFCA All-Southeast Region Third Team – Pitcher and Senior CLASS Award Top 10 Finalist in 2022.
After a 57-29 record through 136 appearances (100 starts) for 31 complete games, 18 shutouts, four saves, 561 innings pitched, 427 strikeouts, a 3.16 ERA and a .208 opposing batting average, Hightower signed with Athletes Unlimited in June 2023. After a one-month stint, she went to the Florida Vibe, where she will dawn the No. 22 jersey this summer before coming to Troy in the fall – she’s played for the Vibe since December 2023.
Outside of her time at FAU, Florida and the Florida Vibe, Hightower works as a private pitching instructor for over 200 athletes (ages 7-16). She earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology (2021) and a certificate in sports management (2023) at Florida before receiving her master's in anthropology / bioarchaeology from FAU.
