Former Wildcat All-American pitcher and 2007 Women’s College World Series Most Valuable Player Taryne Mowatt returned to her alma mater to join the Wildcats’ coaching staff in October of 2017.
In her six seasons back at Arizona, the Wildcats have enjoyed their best consecutive pitching seasons since Mowatt was in the circle. Arizona has posted back-to-back-to-back seasons of sub-2.00 ERAs from 2018-2020, something that had not been accomplished before she arrived since 2006-2008, Mowatt's sophomore-senior seasons.
In her first season back in Tucson, Mowatt led the Wildcat pitching staff to a 1.94 ERA and a .193 opponent batting average in 2018. Under her tutelage, ace Taylor McQuillin led the nation in shutouts (15).
In the 2023 season, Mowatt helped the Arizona pitching staff hold opponents to a .268 batting average and junior ace Devyn Netz to a 16-win season. Under Mowatt’s guidance, Netz nearly doubled her strikeouts from the 2022 season, sitting down 135 batters in 171.1 innings in 2023.
In 2022, Mowatt coached fifth-year senior Hanah Bowen and sophomore Devyn Netz to postseason ERA of 2.04, helping the Wildcat return to the WCWS for the third-consecutive year. The duo struck out 33 players and held opponents to a .218 batting average in the postseason. Overall, Arizona’s pitching staff held a 3.70 ERA and held opponents to a .261 batting average in the 2022 season.
In 2021, Mowatt helped senior ace Alyssa Denham to a 1.95 ERA and seven shutouts. Denham posted sub-2.00 ERAs in all three seasons in Tucson and was named an NFCA All-American, NFCA All-West Region, and All-Pac-12 pitcher under the guidance of Mowatt.
Prior to the 2020 season being cut short due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Arizona's pitchers had compiled a 1.73 ERA, good for 15th nationally.
In 2019, the Wildcats were even better in the circle, finishing sixth in the NCAA with a 1.61 ERA and holding opponents to a .183 average, the lowest opposing batting average at Arizona since 2006. UA's pitching helped lead the Wildcats in their return to the Women's College World Series. With Mowatt's guidance, McQuillin was a first-team All-American for the first time in her career.
Mowatt joined the staff as UA’s pitching coach after two years in the same role at Ole Miss, where her overhaul of the pitching staff helped lead the charge in the turnaround of the Rebels program. When she took over as pitching coach, she inherited a staff that totaled a 4.30 ERA in 2015. Her pitchers improved that mark to 3.26 in 2016, and shaved off even more in 2017 to 2.10, knocking off more than two runs (2.20) in just two seasons.
In 2015, her first year at Ole Miss, the Rebels went to their first NCAA Tournament ever. In her second, the Rebels won the SEC Tournament Championship and hosted NCAA Regionals for the first time school history.
She was responsible for taking in two-time JUCO All-American Kaitlin Lee, and forming her into a competitive SEC pitcher. She did that and much more, as Lee went on to lead the SEC in innings pitched (249.2) and tie the school’s wins record of 23, set just a year prior by Madi Osias. Her efforts earned her NFCA All-South Region Third Team honors and All-SEC Second Team accolades. Behind Lee, freshman Morgan Bruce became the school’s first-ever pitcher to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after going 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. Brittany Finney, a transfer from Oklahoma, stepped in and went 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA. Alyssa Clayton and Elisha Jahnke combined for six wins to contribute to the 43-win campaign and run into NCAA Super Regionals. All five combined for 17 shutouts as a staff, which broke the school record for most in a season.
Prior to her time at Ole Miss, Mowatt was an assistant coach at California Baptist for three seasons, helping the team to NCAA regional appearances each year along with PacWest Conference championships in 2012 and 2014. As the team’s pitching coach, Mowatt instructed a pitching staff that consisted of program-record holders for wins, innings pitched and complete games. She also coached a conference pitcher of the year, freshman pitcher of the year, and three all-conference honorees.
At Arizona, Mowatt helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007 the latter of which saw the junior pitcher put together one of the most amazing weeks the sport has ever seen. Mowatt earned MVP honors after setting WCWS records in innings pitched (60), strikeouts (76) and complete games (8), while leading the Wildcats’ to their eighth NCAA Championship. She later won a pair of ESPYs for her performance.
Mowatt, a second-team All-American in 2007, won exactly 100 games in her UA career. Her 100-33 career record ranks seventh in UA history. She is second in Arizona history in both strikeouts (1,267) and innings pitched (877.2). She threw six no-hitters, including a perfect game.
Her 42 victories, 522 strikeouts and 370.0 innings pitched in 2007 remain Pac-12 records. In all, Mowatt posted a 1.54 ERA over 147 appearances as a Wildcat.
Mowatt holds UA records in strikeouts in a game (20 – 3/1/08 vs. Virginia Tech), strikeouts in a season (522 – 2007), appearances in a season (60 – 2007), games started in a season (53 – 2007), complete games in a season (50 – 2007), innings pitched in a season (370.0 – 2007) and victories in a season (42 – 2007).
Following her collegiate career, Mowatt was selected in the first round of the 2008 National Pro Fastpitch Draft. She played for five teams throughout her six years as a professional, including one season in Holland competing for the Den Bosch Gryphons. In National Pro Fastpitch, Mowatt spent time with the Washington Glory, Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits and New York Comets.
Mowatt received her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Arizona in 2009.
In December of 2019, Mowatt married former North Carolina catcher Brittany McKinney.
