HAMMOND - Ashley Lewis, most recently an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky, has joined the Southeastern Louisiana University softball coaching staff as an assistant coach, announced Southeastern head coach Pete Langlois on Tuesday.

Lewis' hiring is pending approval from the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System. The former star pitcher at LSU and Baton Rouge's Central High School will oversee the pitchers and handle other coaching duties.

"We're very pleased to have Ashley join the Southeastern program," Langlois stated. "She possesses a very pleasant, professional attitude and the experience she has as both as a player and a coach will greatly benefit our players."

Lewis began her coaching career as an assistant at Northwestern State on head coach Eileen Schmidt's staff. Lewis followed Schmidt to Lexington, when the NSU head coach took the same position at UK.

Lewis entered the coaching field after a tremendous college career at Texas A&M and LSU. In her freshman season at Texas A&M, she earned All-Big 12 Conference and second-team All-Region honors as a utility player, before deciding to transfer to LSU.

At LSU, she was a three-time All-Louisiana selection and was twice named to the NFCA All-South Region team. As a junior, she was named to the Easton All-America Team. The 1999 Louisiana Newcomer of the Year, Lewis picked up a pair of All-Southeastern Conference honors and helped LSU to three straight SEC championships.

Lewis was a two-time SEC All-Tournament Team selection, receiving tournament MVP honors in 1999. As a junior, she posted a 0.84 ERA, the nation's sixth-best during the season. Lewis finished her senior year 21-4 with a 0.81 ERA, helping LSU reach the College World Series for the first time. In her three seasons pitching for the Lady Tigers, she posted a career mark of 68-13 with a 0.90 ERA.

One of the most decorated players in Louisiana high school history, Lewis was a three-time high school All-American at Central. She was selected Louisiana's first-ever "Miss Softball" by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and was named the 1997 Louisiana Female Athlete of the Year.

Lewis set a national high school record with 40 career no-hitters at Central, where her jersey is retired. She was the state Class 5A Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and junior, earning All-State honors all four seasons of her high school career. She was district MVP in her final three years while helping Central win three district championships and two state titles. Lewis went 76-9-2 with a 0.40 ERA and struck out an incredible 1,053 batters in 466 innings at Central.

"I am a very family-oriented person, so I am grateful for the opportunity to be closer to home," Lewis, a Baton Rouge native, said. "I am very excited to have the chance to work at a great institution like Southeastern and I look forward to being able to give something back to Louisiana softball, which has given so much to me."

Lewis graduated with a bachelor's degree from LSU in human science and development in December 2002. She was in sales and marketing until accepting the coaching position at Northwestern.

Southeastern will open the 2006 season on Feb. 10, hosting Northern Colorado at 5:30 p.m. on the first day of the Lion Classic at North Oak Park.