Long Beach State Athletics has announced Kendall Fearn will be the new head coach for Long Beach State Softball, replacing Kim Sowder who announced her retirement following her 19th season in charge of the program in 2025.

Kendall Fearn has played a large part in the rise of San Diego State Softball nationally as the lead assistant for the Aztecs, joining the team prior to the 2023 season. Leading the team’s recruiting efforts and serving as the defensive coordinator, Fearn and San Diego State have made three straight NCAA tournament appearances during her tenure, including a memorable run to the Super Regionals in 2023 when the Aztecs advanced out of the Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA and coming one game short of the program’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series.

The Aztecs have won three straight Mountain West Tournament Championships and the 2024 regular season title, posting a 108-56 record during Fearn’s time with the program.

Fearn brings extensive coaching experience from across the country, which has shaped her path to Long Beach State. Prior to her time in San Diego, she spent five seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Indiana under Shonda Stanton, working primarily with the offense and defense. Indiana posted a 126-101 record during Fearn’s tenure, and the program set school records in both home runs and stolen bases under her offensive leadership.

Preceding her time in Indiana, Fearn worked for four seasons at Marshall, also with Stanton, as the program’s Associate Head Coach. Fearn was the team’s hitting coach while working with the outfielders. During her time at Marshall, the team hit .313 and the Thundering Herd won 135 games in her four seasons in Huntington, which included a Conference USA title and the second-ever NCAA postseason appearance for the program.

Fearn was a four-year starter at UNLV as a corner infielder and was coached in part by Long Beach State legend Pete Manarino. After her playing career, she immediately transitioned into coaching, spending two seasons on the UNLV staff before taking a position at Georgia Southern and eventually moving on to Marshall.

Fearn becomes just the fifth head coach in program history, and only the third in the last 42 years, with Manarino (23 seasons) and Sowder (19 seasons) having led the program for the majority of its existence.

Name	Title	Email Address
Kendall Fearn	Head Coach	Kendall.Fearn@csulb.edu
Tyler Heil	Assistant Coach	Tyler.Heil@csulb.edu
Mariah Lopez	Assistant Coach	Mariah.Lopez@csulb.edu
Maddie Schmidt	Assistant Coach	Maddie.Schmidt@csulb.edu

Long Beach State University Athletics

2027 Softball Coaching Staff

Coaching Staff