Peyton Darnell was named assistant coach in the summer of 2025 after spending the previous season as a volunteer assistant. As a volunteer she assisted with all aspects of the team mainly focusing on hitting and pitching as the Eagles made a second consecutive appearance in the Big South title game.
Darnell came to the Eagles after a decorated collegiate career at Appalachian State and USC Upstate.
During her time at USC Upstate, Darnell was a three-time Big South All-Conference First Team selection, the 2022 Big South Player of the Year, two-time NFCA Top Performer, a 2022 NFCA Division I Southeast All-Region Third Team selection and a three-time Big South Player of the Week.
In 2021 she was also named to the Big South All-Tournament Team, Big South All-Freshman Team and was a four-time Big South Freshman of the Week as well as Big South Player of the Week.
In 2022 she helped the Spartans to a Co-Big South Conference regular season title and to the Big South Championship game in 2021. The Fort Mill, S.C. native finished her Upstate career batting .325 with 32 home runs and 147 RBI. In her time at Upstate the team totaled 132 wins overall and 47 wins (3 seasons) in Big South play.
Darnell transferred to Appalachian State for her final season and finished the year batting .344 with a 1.030 OPS, 11 home runs, 45 RBI and a .631 slugging percentage. The 45 RBI were the third-most in a single-season by a Mountaineer. That year she had at least one RBI in 28 games, tallied 23 extra-base hits and 99 total bases. Those numbers earned her Second Team All-Sun Belt honors.
Â
Â
Â
