NEWTON, Mass. (12/04/14) – Lasell College Director of Athletics, Kristy Walter is pleased to announce the hire of Rich Paulhus as the head softball coach. Paulhus joins the Lasers after serving 12 years as the head softball coach at Framingham State University.

"Coach Paulhus brings a wealth of coaching experience at both the Division III level and at the club level," said Walter. "I look forward to seeing him continue to build the softball program here at Lasell, utilizing his knowledge and passion to mentor our student-athletes."

Rich Paulhus dedicated 15 years to the Framingham State softball program, where he set the all-time wins mark at 194. His team qualified for the post-season eight times, competing in four conference championships with one title and one NCAA regional appearance in 2007. Paulhus picked up his 100^th career victory on April 23^rd, 2008 when the Rams defeated Brandeis University by a score of 5-2.  Paulhus is the fourth head coach in any sport at Framingham State to achieve the 100-win milestone with the Rams. Coach Paulhus had eight consecutive winning seasons in the conference with three straight 20-win seasons in 2006, 2007 and 2014.

During his time at the helm of FSU's softball program, Paulhus had 30 players voted to the All-MASCAC teams, as well as three conference Rookie of the Year accolades. In addition to their success on the field, his team also excelled in the classroom. During his stint as head coach, two softball student-athletes were selected as NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes, while 83 were selected to the MASCAC All-Academic team.

Prior to and during his coaching at FSU, coach Paulhus was a part of the Mass Pressure Softball Junior Olympic travel program. The program placed youth student-athletes into college programs, where they finished twice in the top ten at the FAST Nationals in Orlando, Fla. and appeared in one top ten at the PONY nationals in Virginia.

2015 will be coach Paulhus' 25^th year coaching softball.

"I am very grateful for the opportunity that Ms. Walter has given me (and Jeff)," said Paulhus. "We are eager to meet the Laser softball athletes and can't wait to build this program into a GNAC championship contender."