Softball
Johnson, Riley

Riley Johnson
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- rj45@buffalo.edu
- Phone:
- 716-645-6976
Riley Johnson begins her third season as assistant coach for the Buffalo softball program in the 2022 campaign.
In 2021, Johnson helped lead the Bulls an 18-35 overall record and a 16-22 league mark for a conference winning percentage of .421 which is the highest since 2014 and the fourth-best in program history. Offensively, the Bulls had a historic season at the plate, smashing the program's home run record, hitting 64 home runs on the season off the bats of nine different players. Buffalo also recorded a program-best 212 RBI while recording 224 runs scored, good for second-best all time. Under her guidance, the Bulls also recorded a .954 fielding percentage which is the highest since the 2014 season while committing just 65 errors, the lowest total since 2014.
Before coming to Buffalo, Johnson served as the head coach at Le Moyne College for the 2018 season, where she extended the program's streak of winning seasons to six, posting a 21-19 record and a 13-9 record in the Northeast 10 Conference.
A native of Greece, New York, Johnson came to Le Moyne after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, where she was responsible for assisting the head coach with all aspects of the program including training, competition, travel arrangements, scheduling, camps and fundraising. After going 25-23 with a 13-9 record in the GLIAC in 2017, the Chargers went 25-16, including a 14-8 record in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play, en route to capturing their first G-MAC Championship and first berth in the NCAA Midwest Regional since 1991.
Before her hiring at Hillsdale, Johnson was the assistant director of baseball operations and director of social and digital media at Ninth Inning Baseball in Chamblee, Georgia. In these roles, she worked with the 6U, 8U, 10U and 12U age groups, while also assisting in the implementation of marking and social media plans for the organization.
Johnson graduated magna cum laude in three years from Syracuse University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Rhetorical Studies. The following year, she received a master’s in Sport Venue and Event Management from Syracuse. She was a member of the National Society of College Scholars, part of Lambda Pi Eta-National Honor Society
Johnson appeared in 71 games for the Orange and drew 51 starting assignments. She recorded 20 runs batted in, scored 13 runs and posted a .260 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). For her efforts in the classroom, Johnson was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Academic Team. As a graduate student, Johnson assisted the coaching staff in conducting practices and preparing team on game days, while also organizing scouting reports and managing student-athlete schedules and prospective student-athlete database.
In 2021, Johnson helped lead the Bulls an 18-35 overall record and a 16-22 league mark for a conference winning percentage of .421 which is the highest since 2014 and the fourth-best in program history. Offensively, the Bulls had a historic season at the plate, smashing the program's home run record, hitting 64 home runs on the season off the bats of nine different players. Buffalo also recorded a program-best 212 RBI while recording 224 runs scored, good for second-best all time. Under her guidance, the Bulls also recorded a .954 fielding percentage which is the highest since the 2014 season while committing just 65 errors, the lowest total since 2014.
Before coming to Buffalo, Johnson served as the head coach at Le Moyne College for the 2018 season, where she extended the program's streak of winning seasons to six, posting a 21-19 record and a 13-9 record in the Northeast 10 Conference.
A native of Greece, New York, Johnson came to Le Moyne after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, where she was responsible for assisting the head coach with all aspects of the program including training, competition, travel arrangements, scheduling, camps and fundraising. After going 25-23 with a 13-9 record in the GLIAC in 2017, the Chargers went 25-16, including a 14-8 record in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play, en route to capturing their first G-MAC Championship and first berth in the NCAA Midwest Regional since 1991.
Before her hiring at Hillsdale, Johnson was the assistant director of baseball operations and director of social and digital media at Ninth Inning Baseball in Chamblee, Georgia. In these roles, she worked with the 6U, 8U, 10U and 12U age groups, while also assisting in the implementation of marking and social media plans for the organization.
Johnson graduated magna cum laude in three years from Syracuse University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Rhetorical Studies. The following year, she received a master’s in Sport Venue and Event Management from Syracuse. She was a member of the National Society of College Scholars, part of Lambda Pi Eta-National Honor Society
Johnson appeared in 71 games for the Orange and drew 51 starting assignments. She recorded 20 runs batted in, scored 13 runs and posted a .260 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). For her efforts in the classroom, Johnson was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Academic Team. As a graduate student, Johnson assisted the coaching staff in conducting practices and preparing team on game days, while also organizing scouting reports and managing student-athlete schedules and prospective student-athlete database.