Illinois softball head coach Tyra Perry announced the addition of Kirsten Verdun to her coaching staff on June 10, 2023. Verdun serves as an assistant coach and will be working primarily with the Illinois pitching staff.

In her first season on the staff with the Orange and Blue, Illinois pitchers posted a 4.83 ERA with three shutouts on the year. Illini ace Tori McQueen recorded double-digit strikeouts on four separate occasions, including a season-best 14 against St. Thomas (3/10/24). During the 2025 campaign, the Illini pitching staff owned a 4.35 overall ERA with Megan Nuechterlein pacing the team with a 3.31 ERA.

Verdun came to Champaign-Urbana following eight seasons at Wisconsin where she was the Associate Head Coach for the Badger softball program. Under her guidance, Wisconsin appeared in four NCAA Tournaments. Verdun’s pitchers earned All-Big Ten honors six times and NFCA All-Region accolades on seven occasions. Most recently, the Badgers’ ace Maddie Schwartz was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and the NFCA Great Lakes All-Region Second Team in 2023. 

While in Madison, Verdun also served as the Badger’s recruiting coordinator. There, she organized recruiting trips and visits and served as a liaison between the program and the top clubs and teams in the country.

Prior to her time at Wisconsin, Verdun served as a graduate assistant with Louisville in 2014-15. She assisted the coaches with office duties, practice drills, youth camps and game day operations.

Before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Verdun played professionally for two years with the Chicago Bandits. She signed with the Bandits via open tryouts in May 2014 and made her National Pro Fastpitch league debut in the circle against the Akron Racers on May 30, 2014. She pitched the Bandits to her first win against the Pennsylvania Rebellion in a complete game outing on July 26, 2014.

Verdun posted a 1-0 record with one save and 13 strikeouts in her first season with the Bandits. In her 2015 campaign in Chicago, Verdun tossed a complete-game shutout in the Bandits’ NPF opener against the Rebellion. During her second season with the team, she helped the squad to a Cowles Cup championship.

A standout for DePaul softball, Verdun was a two-time All-American (2012 and 2014) and helped DePaul to two NCAA regional final appearances and earned the 2014 Big East Conference regular season and tournament titles. Verdun was named the 2014 Big East Pitcher of the Year in addition to being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Championship.

The star-studded pitcher became the first pitcher in program history to accumulate 900 innings with more than 900 strikeouts and 100 or more wins. She currently holds the Blue Demons’ school record for career starts, strikeouts looking and batters faced, while finishing second in the record books in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, appearances and complete games.

The four-time all-conference and all-Great Lakes Region selection was a double threat in the circle and at the plate. Verdun, who held a .347 career batting average, knocked out 37 home runs and ranks second in DePaul’s record books. She holds the record for most career walks with 156.

Verdun was just as successful in the classroom as she was in the circle. The Big East Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2014, Verdun was named to the DePaul University Dean’s List eight consecutive quarters, the DePaul University Athletic Director’s honor roll every quarter and landed a spot on the Big East All-Academic team from 2011-2014.

Verdun graduated from DePaul in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media with a minor in applied psychology.