Lane Bender joins the Saint Mary’s Softball program as the Head Assistant Coach in August 2026. Bender spent the 2024-25 seasons as an Assistant Coach.
In seven years of giving private pitching instruction, Bender has coached over 20 all-conference selections and seven first team all-state honorees. He has also seen his pitchers win three state championships and earn three runner-up finishes. He has also coached the record holder for career strikeouts in the state of Indiana. His pitchers also consisted of seven players in the top five in their state for single season strikeouts and three who collected over 1,000 career strikeouts. Of his players, he has had one NCAA Division I all-conference selection and all-freshman team member, three Division II all-conference selections with two Division III all-conference selections as well as a JUCO conference player of the year.
Bender also spent time pitching in men’s fast pitch at 13 years old and pitched competitively for 27 years. In 2001 he was invited to play for the 2001 18U Boys US National Team and participated in an invite only try out for the 2007-08 Men’s US National Team. Bender was also a four-year varsity letter winner and a unanimous all-conference selection and honorable mention all-state at shortstop before playing collegiately at Glen Oaks.
In his first two years at Saint Mary’s, he helped the Belles improve from 10-19 wins. He helped the pitching staff lower their team ERA by 1.26 runs while also lowering the team WHIP. The team increased their shutouts while also increasing their pitching strikeouts by 40.
As the Head Assistant Coach, Bender will continue working as the Belles pitching coach and helping with recruiting.
