Griffin Joiner - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - University of Louisville Athletic

Staff Directory

Griffin Joiner

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Phone:
852-7854

After joining head coach Holly Aprile’s staff in August 2018, Joiner has worked primarily with the pitching staff and catchers.

In her six seasons at Louisville, Joiner has helped the Cardinals to two NCAA regional appearances, including the Evanston Regional final in 2019 and the 2023 Knoxville Regional. During her tenure, the Cardinals have also produced a pair of NFCA All-Americans with pitcher/designated player Taylor Roby earning second team honors in 2023.

Additionally, with Louisville has tallied nine All-Southeast Region selections including Roby, a three-time honoree and Megan Hensley who was named to the first team in 2019, becoming the first player in program history to do so since the Cardinals moved into the region. The Cards have also placed 14 student-athletes on the all-ACC teams in the last six seasons with catcher Sarah Gordon becoming Louisville’s first ACC Freshman of the Year in 2023.

Most recently, the Cardinals finished the 2024 season with a 27-25 overall record and an 8-16 mark in ACC play, placing 11th in the final league standings.In the midst of a challenging slate with a strength of schedule ranked No. 28 nationally, and despite a series of injuries, the Cardinals posted four wins against top-25 teams including ACC champion and Women's College World Series participant Duke. As a team, Louisville turned 21 double plays, standing third in the conference and seventh on the program's all-time list.

Riley Frizell was named to the 2024 NFCA All-Southeast Region first team and joined teammate Daisy Hess on the All-ACC third team.

Louisville finished the 2023 season with a 36-20, the most wins since 2014. The Cardinals’ 16 ACC wins are tied for the most in program history since joining the league in 2015. A program-best six players earned all-ACC distinction with Roby and Gordon taking home first team honors and pitcher Alyssa Zabala named to the All-Freshmen team.

The 2022 campaign saw Greenwood and Taylor Roby earn all-ACC and All-Region honors for the second straight year. The Cards finished the season with a 27-25 overall record. The Cardinals produced 27 wins in the midst of a schedule that was rated 18th in the nation and despite season-ending injuries to three starters. Three players earned ACC honors with Greenwood selected to the first team, Roby named to the third team and Korbe Otis tabbed as a member of the All-Freshman team. Greenwood led the ACC and was fifth in the nation with seven triples. She also stood second in the ACC with 70 hits and was third with 54 runs scored. and was second with 52 RBIs.

After the 2020 season was cut short due to the spread of COVID-19, UofL added two more all-region honorees in 2021 with Greenwood named to first team and Roby selected to the second team. Both players also earned all-ACC accolades.

In 2021, the Cardinals amassed 21 wins, in the midst of a challenging slate. Among the season highlights were three wins and one tie against top-25 teams including a win and a tie against eventual Women’s College World Series runner-up Florida State.

In the shortened 2020 campaign, the Cardinals registered a 10-13 overall record in the midst of a tough schedule which featured 10 games against teams in the top 25 in the final rankings.

The team spent the month of February on the road and emerged with some impressive milestones, including a season-opening upset against No. 21/25 Ole Miss, a no-hitter from junior Chardonnay Harris against Penn State and handing then-10th-ranked Oregon its first loss of the season.

After posting a 3-1 record in its home-opening Red & Black Challenge, Louisville looked to carry the home stand momentum into its ACC-opening series against Boston College when the spring season was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19

Joiner’s first season at Louisville was highlighted by an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and a regional final appearance. The 2019 Cardinals amassed a 35-23 overall record and a 12-12 mark in ACC play for a third place finish in the league’s Atlantic Division and fifth in the overall conference standings. Louisville's 35 wins mark the most victories in a season since 2016 when the Cards posted a 35-17 record.

That year, the Cards collected six wins against teams ranked in the top 25 including a pair of contests against third-ranked Florida State. With the series win, Louisville became the first ACC team to claim a series against the Seminoles since 2012. Other ranked wins included No. 15/17 Michigan, No. 24/19 Virginia Tech, No. 24/23 Kentucky and No. 18/17 Northwestern.

Under Joiner’s guidance, the Cardinals’ pitching staff was ranked among the top five in the conference in saves, shutouts, ERA and batters struck out in 2019. Individually, the pitchers were also among the leaders in the conference as Danielle Watson stood tied for fifth in the league in strikeouts, Taylor Roby was second in saves and Megan Hensley was tied for fifth in shutouts.

Joiner came to Louisville after spending the 2018 season as an assistant coach under Aprile at Pittsburgh. While there, she helped direct the Panthers to the program’s first ACC Coastal Division title and advance to the finals of the ACC Championship where they fell to eventual Women’s College World Series Champion Florida State.

Joiner helped the Panthers achieve immediate results while working primarily with the pitchers and catchers. Under her guidance, catcher Giorgiana Zeremenko earned NFCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region first team honors while pitcher Kayla Harris was a second team all-region selection. Harris and fellow pitcher Sarah Dawson were named to the ACC All-Tournament team following Pitt’s runner-up finished in the ACC Championship. Additionally, Harris posted 16 wins to go along with six shutouts, placing her third on Pitt’s single season list. Dawson followed closely with 15 victories.

Prior to her stint at Pittsburgh, Joiner spent two seasons (2016 and 2017) as a graduate manager at her alma mater, the University of Kentucky. With Joiner on the staff, the Wildcats advanced to an NCAA Super Regional in 2017 and finished the season with a 39-19 overall record and ranked No. 17 in the national rankings. In her first season at UK, the team reached the NCAA regional finals and finished the season ranked No. 11/13 nationally after posting a 46-14 overall record and finished second in the SEC with a 17-7 mark in league play.

As a student-athlete, Joiner helped lead the Wildcats to the 2014 Women’s College World Series, setting a school record with 69 games played. The catcher was a two-time NFCA All-Region third team selection and was named to the All-SEC Defensive Team three times (2013, 2014, 2015). Joiner garnered All-SEC second team honors in 2013 after she paced the Wildcats with a .578 slugging percentage and stood second in hits (58), home runs (10) and RBI (41).

She finished her career tied for second on the school’s all-time list with 35 home runs and ranked among the program’s top 10 in career games played, hits, home runs, RBI, batting average, walks, at-bats, slugging percentage, total bases, fielding percentage and putouts.

Joiner continued her playing career professionally when she was selected by the Akron Racers as the 19^th overall pick in the fourth round of 2015 National Pro Fastpitch College Draft. She was selected to the 2016 All-NPF team as a catcher after throwing out a league-best 13 baserunners. In 2017, she was one of eight catchers selected to try out for the USA Softball Women's National Team.

The Hopkinsville, Ky., native graduated from Kentucky in 2015 with bachelor’s degree in exercise science and earned a master’s degree in sport leadership from UK in 2017.