Head Coach Mark Cumpain

Mark Cumpian has been an instant success since taking over the Tarleton Softball program in 2017. The head coach will begin his eighth year at the helm when the 2024 softball season begins.

After its second-straight 30-win season, Tarleton earned the fifth seed in its first ever appearance at the WAC Tournament. Following the conference tournament, the Texans were once again invited to take part in the National Invitational Softball Championships (NISC). The Texans won their second game of the tournament for its second postseason win as a Division I program.

A pair of masterful pitching performances dazzled in the Tarleton circle in 2023. Graduate transfer Grace Garcia tossed the second perfect game in program history on 2/19 against Texas A&M-Commerce. Tristan Bridges twirled the 10th no-hitter in Tarleton history against Cailfornia Baptist on March 31.

Individually, Cumpian helped two Texans earn second team All-WAC honors, Katy Schaefer and Kelci Hill. Schaeffer was also named to the All-WAC preseason team. Hill finished in the top three in the conference in hits and was tied for second in triples with Kayla Wallace. Grace Garcia ranked second in strikeouts in the league at 106.

In just their second year as a member of NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference, Cumpian led the Texans to one of the nation’s best turnarounds. Tarleton recorded its first 30-win campaign at the Division I level and qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championships (NISC). It marked the first national postseason berth by any Tarleton Athletics program in the Division I era and the Texans won second game of that tournament – 6-4 over UC San Diego – for the first postseason win in school history.

In the spring of 2021, Cumpian led Tarleton into the Division I ranks as a member of the Western Athletic Conference in the spring of 2021. Tarleton wasted no time in taking on some of the nation’s elite with showdowns against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Texas in the first two months of the season. Cumpian earned his first win as an NCAA Division I head coach with a 7-3 home win over Prairie View A&M.

Through the first two years of Division I, Cumpian has had six All-WAC selections including first team OF Georgia Capell and second team SS Morgan Medford in 2021. Capell finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in eight statistical categories, including home runs, and was a three-time All-American at the Division II level.

Tarleton finished its Division II tenure as one of the elite softball programs in the nation under Cumpian. Tarleton won 109 games from 2018-20, which was the most by any team in the daunting Lone Star Conference over that span. Tarleton was atop the league standings with a 19-4, 6-0 record when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2020 season. Prior to that, Tarleton had posted 90 wins in each of its previous two seasons with a school-record 50 wins coming in 2018.

Cumpian’s team also spent nine weeks in 2018 ranked in the NFCA National Top 25 poll, including eight straight top 20 weeks to close out the season. Tarleton reached as high as No. 15 in the nation on two different occasions throughout the season. The team stayed nationally-ranked through the majority of its remaining tenure at the Division II level.

In his first season at the helm, Cumpian made Tarleton history by becoming the first rookie head coach in any Tarleton sport to qualify for the NCAA postseason in his first year as head coach. His team won 35 in the debut season and earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. He totaled four All-LSC selections in his first year as head coach, including first-team catcher Nyka Wood, to go along with an Academic All-LSC selection and an LSC Gold Glove award winner.

His encore to an impressive debut would be the record-setting three-year run to close out Tarleton’s time in NCAA Division II.

During his time as a head coach in the Lone Star Conference, Cumpian had three players named to All-America teams, including the school’s first freshman All-American, Georgia Capell, and Academic All-American, Megan Durante. Capell and Withrow were multi-year All-Americans. He had 10 all-region award winners and 30 All-LSC awards, including the LSC Pitcher of the Year, two LSC Academic Players of the Year, LSC Newcomer of the Year, and LSC Freshman of the Year.

His foundation of success started within the Tarleton Softball program after spending six seasons as the top assistant coach.

Over his final two seasons as an assistant coach for Tarleton, Cumpian was the primary hitting instructor and led Tarleton to back-to-back seasons of hitting over .300 as a team, which was the first time a Tarleton team topped a .300 batting average since 2007. His 2015 Tarleton offense ranked No. 14 in the nation in scoring offense.

In 2015, his first season as the primary hitting instructor, he led Tarleton to new heights offensively with two players hit over .400 for the season and, as a team, the team hit .328 for the No. 27-ranked batting average in the nation.

In addition to his leadership of the offense, Cumpian has spent his final two seasons as an assistant coach as the recruiting coordinator for Tarleton. His first recruiting class helped Tarleton clinch the 2015 South Central Region I Championship and advance to the NCAA Division II Super Regional Series for the first time in school history. Tarleton has been ranked in the NCAA regional rankings in five of Cumpian’s six seasons as an assistant.

In his earlier seasons with Tarleton, Cumpian served as the pitching coach and had success in that area as well. He coached a first-team all-conference, all-region, and two LSC Gold Glove pitchers during his time in charge of the Tarleton pitchers.

In his time as an assistant coach for Tarleton, he has mentored 26 all-LSC players, four LSC Gold Glove winners, the 2011 LSC Newcomer of the Year, four all-region selections, and one NFCA All-America honoree. Tarleton has also had 42 LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll selections during his time on the coaching staff.

Cumpian, a 2010 graduate of Howard Payne University, was the student assistant with the Lady Jackets for the 2009-10 season prior to joining Tarleton. Cumpian was a relief pitcher for Howard Payne's baseball team for four years. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from HPU and earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from Tarleton in 2014. He resides in Stephenville with his wife, Jennifer. They have two children, Myles and Hazel.