Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, a two-time All-American and the 2018 Pac-12 home run champion, is in her third season at Oregon.
She was promoted to assistant coach in 2023 after serving the previous two years as Oregon’s volunteer assistant coach.
Palomino-Cardoza was part of an Oregon staff that led the Ducks to the 2023 NCAA Super Regional round for the first time since 2018. Oregon was 38-17 overall and 14-10 in Pac-12 play in 2023. The Ducks also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 when they went 33-19.
She helped mentor 2023 NFCA All-Americans Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan, who was also named the Diamond Sports national catcher of the year. She also worked with all-Pac-12 selections Bunker (2022-23), McGowan (2022-23), Hanna Delgado (2022-23), Morgan Scott (2023) and Stevie Hansen (2022).
Prior to Oregon, Palomino-Cardoza capped an impressive collegiate career at Arizona in the spring of 2021 by leading the Wildcats to their second consecutive Women’s College World Series appearance. She was named a NFCA first team All-American in 2018 and 2019, making her the first UA player to win back-to-back All-America honors in nearly a decade.
In her career, the four-time all-Pac-12 selection hit 69 home runs, which ranks eighth on Arizona’s career list and is tied for 11th all-time in Pac-12 annals. She also finished her career with 53 doubles to rank tied-for-fourth in UA history.
Palomino-Cardoza was an all-Pac-12 first team selection in 2018 and 2019 and a second team pick in 2017 and 2021. She was a three-time Pac-12 all-defensive selection, including the 2019 season when she did not commit an error while starting all 62 games in center field for the Wildcats. She was also a four-time NFCA All-West Region first team honoree.
The five-year starter had a career batting average of .346, a .717 slugging percentage and an otherworldly OPS of 1.162. Palomino-Cardoza was also one of the best defenders in the Pac-12 with a .990 career fielding percentage.
She hit 19 home runs in the back-to-back seasons of 2018 and 2019, which lead the league in 2018 and ranked 11th nationally. As a freshman, Palomino-Cardoza hit 16 home runs with 54 RBI to help the Wildcats win the Pac-12 title in 2017.
Before Arizona, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native set the Junior World Women’s Championship record with 27 RBI in the 10-game tournament. Palomino-Cardoza led the U.S. Junior National Team to a 10-0 record and the gold medal in the 2015 event and was named the USA Softball junior female athlete of the year.
She was a first-team high school All-America as a junior and senior, helping Mission Viejo High School to the national championship in 2014 and a state runner-up finish in 2015. Palomino-Cardoza also won three national titles with her club team, OC Batbusters.
