KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Head coach, Erin Brown, and the Truman State University softball program named former Lewis student-athlete and graduate assistant, Ali Brems, as their new assistant coach on Tuesday afternoon. Brems joins Brown, graduate assistant coach, Lex Van Nostrand, and a 2018 roster that's looking to make it five-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

"We are thrilled to have Ali joining us this fall," said Brown. "She has experience as a pitcher in college and coaching as part of a college staff. Ali's familiar with the GLVC and has been at another academic university where she recruited similar athletes. She has administrative experience from her work as an assistant at Lewis, which will help her transition well into this role. Ali has established relationships with several select teams in Wisconsin and the Chicago area, which will serve our recruiting network well. We are excited for her to join our family and look forward to coaching with her this year."

As mentioned above, the Kenosha, Wis. native was most recently a part of the coaching staff at Lewis for a 2017 season that saw the Flyers finish one game above .500 at 26-25, which included a Great Lakes Valley Conference mark of 14-16. As a graduate assistant, her responsibilities included instruction of pitchers and outfielders, assistance with recruiting and video analysis for film sessions. Prior to that, Brems spent her collegiate career in Romeoville, Ill. as a student-athlete from 2012-16.

"I'm very excited to be a part of the Truman State University softball program," said Brems. "I am more than grateful for such an opportunity and look forward to working alongside coach Brown who has built an incredible program, which I can attest to having both played and coached against the Bulldogs."

On the diamond, Brems was a dual threat as she did damage in both the box and the circle. The right-handed hurler made 87 career appearances as a pitcher including 59 as a starter and finished with a 3.43 ERA in 420 and two-thirds innings pitched to go with a win-loss record of 35-30. During those four seasons of work, Brems struck out 328 batters, walked just 168 of them and enjoyed sub-three ERA campaigns in both 2012 as a freshman (2.95 ERA in 142.1 IP) and 2014 as a junior (2.91 ERA in 55.1 IP). She was named Second-Team All-GLVC East Division as a pitcher in 2013 after she turned in an ERA of 3.28 in 140.2 innings pitched.

At the plate, Brems finished with a career batting average of .304 (109-for-358), including .342 as a rookie, with a total of 35 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 60 RBI, 18 walks, nine hit-by-pitches, a .405 slugging percentage, an on-base percentage of .352, and only 29 strikeouts in those 358 at-bats. In fact, Brems never finished with more than nine strikeouts in a single season. Following the 2014 campaign, the left-handed hitter was named Second-Team All-GLVC as a utility player.

Brems has also been a volunteer assistant coach for the Kenosha Cyclones since 2011 and has accumulated over 300 hours of time per year in that role. In that time, she has helped to develop fundamentals while specializing in pitching, slapping and defense. Brems has coached three age levels including 12U, 14U and 16U.

Right now, the 2018 roster is made up of 17 players including two freshmen, four sophomores, six juniors, and five seniors. As mentioned above, the Purple and White have punched their ticket to the big dance in the last four seasons and a total of 16 times since becoming a member of the NCAA. This will mark year No. 12 at the helm for Brown who has a record of 290-263 (.524 winning percentage) during her time in Kirksville.

#BewareOfDog