Stacie Pestrak joined head coach Cindy Ball-Malone’s staff prior to the 2025 campaign and most recently completed her second season with the Knights in 2026.
Having played a key role in helping lead UCF to the second NCAA Super Regional in program history, Pestrak was named to an ATEC/NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year for the second time in her career, as she, Ball-Malone, Noah Sanders and Shannon Saile garnered the recognition for the NFCA’s Gulf Region for their efforts.
The Knights in 2026 produced their first 40-plus-win season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, notching a 41-19-1 overall record that marked the program’s best end-of-season finish since the 2022 Knights went 49-14.
UCF earned its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, and second straight with Pestrak on staff, and saw six Knights named to post-season All-Big 12 Conference teams, five tabbed to the NFCA’s All-Region squads, and one NFCA All-America selection in junior second baseman Sierra Humphreys.
Throughout their strong 2026 run, the Black and Gold earned eight wins over opponents ranked in at least one of the four major top 25 polls, setting a new single-season program record and recording their second consecutive year with at least seven ranked victories.
UCF toppled then-No. 10 LSU, then-No. 12 Oklahoma State twice, then-No. 23 Arizona State twice, and then-No. 24 Kansas twice during the regular season, and added its eighth ranked win of the year in besting the No. 9 overall seeded Florida State Seminoles in the 2026 NCAA Tallahassee Regional Final.
The Knights shattered a myriad of program single-season records in authoring the most prolific offensive season in program history, including home runs (73), RBI (354), grand slams (6), total bases (825), runs scored (383), batting average (.320), on-base percentage (.416) and slugging percentage (.532).
The team throughout the season was led offensively by Humphreys, Beth Damon, Izzy Mertes, Kendall Yarnell and Aubrey Evans, who each eclipsed double-digit home runs on the year, giving the program five different players with at least 10 long balls in a single season for the first time in program history.
Prior to making the move to Orlando, Pestrak served on head coach Kenny Gajewski’s staff at Oklahoma State for nine years as an assistant coach and director of operations.
A member of the Cowgirls’ 2024 ATEC/NFCA Midwest Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, she helped lead Oklahoma State to one Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship (2022), eight NCAA Tournament appearances and five Women’s College World Series berths in each of its previous five non-COVID-19-shortened seasons.
Under Pestrak’s coaching, the Cowgirls saw their team fielding percentage increase from their .957 mark in 2015 to as high as .980 in 2022, a mark that led the Big 12 and ranked fifth-highest in the nation. Oklahoma State finished within the top three in the Big 12 in team fielding percentage in each of the last three seasons, and in four of the last six non-COVID-19-shortened slates as well.
The Cowgirls also boasted 23 All-American selections and 44 All-Region honorees throughout Pestrak’s tenure, highlighted by a program-record-tying eight All-Region players in 2024 alone.
Prior to her time in Stillwater, Pestrak served on Walton’s staff for two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Gators, helping lead the team to back-to-back national championships in 2014-15 on the strength of an aggregate 115-19 record.
Florida played surehanded defense en route to its two titles with aid from Pestrak, ranking second in the SEC and third in the nation in fielding percentage (.978) in 2014, and pulling in as the top team in the nation in the category in 2015 (.981).
The Gators’ steady defense aided the squad in leading the nation in ERA in both seasons, with a team 1.96 mark in 2014 and 1.63 in 2015, and the squad’s 0.42 double plays turned per game in 2014 ranked second-most in the conference as well.
Pestrak’s two-year coaching stint at Florida represented a return home as well, as she also spent two seasons in Gainesville during her collegiate playing career in 2005 and 2006. The former infielder hit .283/.348/.351 (71-for-251) between her two campaigns, recording six doubles, four triples, one home run, 88 total bases and 25 RBI.
The Gators earned NCAA Tournament berths in both of her seasons in Gainesville, and she went on to earn a spot on the 2006 SEC academic honor roll. The utility player was a junior college All-America selection in 2004 at Santa Fe College prior to arriving in Gainesville. She also earned the Florida Community College Athletic Association’s Jean Williams scholar-athlete award and was a two-time academic all-state selection.
Following her Gator playing career, Pestrak spent two years in the National Pro Fastpitch League with the Philadelphia Force before beginning her coaching career at Northwestern State, where she helped the Demons go from a five-win season in 2009 to a 27-win campaign in 2010. She was responsible for player skill development in defense, base running and bunting, and assisted with hitting, conditioning and game strategy.
On the heels of four seasons at Northwestern State, Pestrak spent the 2013 campaign as an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo before joining Florida again in 2014.
Pestrak and her wife, Katie, have two sons, Kaden and Killian.