Longtime MSU coach transitioning to another role at university

provided by Missouri State University

Beth Perine

A longtime member of the Missouri State University softball team's coaching staff is transitioning to another role within the school's athletics department.

Currently the team’s associate head coach, Beth Perine is retiring from coaching and becoming academic adviser in the athletics department's Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Academic Achievement Center, effective Aug. 1, according to a news release.

"We are ecstatic to add someone of Beth Perine's caliber to our staff. I have worked with Beth for the last 15 years as together we have supported the Bears softball program academically, and I have seen the lasting impact that she has had on her students, both on and off the field," said Dan Raines, director of the Academic Achievement Center, in the release. "Beth's work with these students is a huge reason for that tradition of success."

Perine joined the MSU softball coaching staff for the 1996 season. In 28 seasons on staff, she's assisted head coach Holly Hesse and the Bears to posting a 743-684-2 record. That includes six Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles and six NCAA Tournament appearances.

Perine has more than 40 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience and an overall career record of 1055-1007-4. The 1,000th win of her coaching career came last year. Prior to joining MSU, Perine served as head coach at Eastern Illinois 1992-95 and assistant coach for nine seasons at Ohio State and Penn State.

"It is a bittersweet moment to say goodbye to a program that runs through my veins," she said in the release. "I have spent my entire adult life doing what I love to do."