Bryce Neal - Softball Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Bryce Neal

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
bryce@GoCards.com

Bryce Neal recently completed his second season as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville after joining Holly Aprile's staff in July 2021.

Neal has helped guide the Cardinals to 63 wins and an NCAA Regional appearance in the span of two years. Most recently, Louisville finished the 2023 season with a 36-20 record, the most wins since 2014. The Cardinals’ 16 ACC wins are tied for the most in program history since joining the league in 2015.

Under Neal’s tutelage, Louisville established a new school record with 64 home runs and stood 13^th in the NCAA in home runs per game. The Cardinals also ranked among the top 20 nationally in multiple offensive categories at the conclusion of the season. In addition to leading the ACC and finishing 13^th in the NCAA with a .319 team batting average, the Cardinals also ranked 10^th in the nation in triples per game (.36), 12^th in the NCAA with a .408 on-base percentage, 16^th in slugging percentage (.518) and 20^th in scoring (5.91). The 2023 Cardinals also set new school records in season walks (198) and tied the all-time mark with 18 sacrifice flies.

During his time at Louisville, the Cardinals earned a pair of National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America honors (Carmyn Greenwood, 2022; Taylor Roby, 2023) and totaled five NFCA All-Southeast Region selections. The Cardinals have also tallied nine all-ACC honorees including Louisville’s first ACC Freshman of the Year when Sarah Gordon earned the distinction in 2023. Gordon was also named to the NFCA Freshman of the Year Top 25 List, marking the third player in program history and the first since 2016 to be named to the list.

At the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, Roby became the second Louisville player in as many years to earn NFCA All-America honors when she was named to the second team. She finished her storied career tied for second in the nation with a school-record 23 home runs and took over the school's career mark with 63.

In his first season at Louisville, the Cardinals produced 27 wins in the midst of a challenging schedule 2022 slated which was ranked 18th in the nation and despite season-ending injuries to three starters. The Cards placed two on the NFCA All-Region teams while three players earned All-ACC honors. Greenwood also became Louisville's ninth All-America selection and the first since 2013.

Neal came to Louisville after serving as an assistant coach at Bucknell University during the 2021 season.

While at Bucknell, Neal oversaw player development in both offense and defense. In 2021, the Bison finished second in the Patriot League in fielding percentage and highest percentage in nine years.

Prior to his stint at Bucknell, Neal served as a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona State in 2020. During the COVID-19-shortened season, the Sun Devils produced a 22-7 record and ended the year outscoring their final five opponents 39-0. With Neal on the coaching staff, Arizona State’s offense ranked top five nationally in home runs, walks and scoring.

In addition to his collegiate coaching resume, Neal has also worked as a private instructor and spent five years coaching one-on-one private lessons at Perfect Timing Baseball and Softball in Springdale, Arkansas. In 2019 he worked as a camp instructor for LSU softball.

From 2013 to 2015, Neal served as a director and coach for Midwest Nationals Baseball in Springfield, Missouri. While there he was in charge of developing training programs as well as travel logistics.

In 2015, he earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith where was also a member of the Lions baseball team.

The Springdale, Arkansas native married the former Jill Barrett in 2020.