Texan SOFTBALL HISTORY
Fastpitch softball came to Tarleton State University in 1996 and has been nothing short of an instant success. Softball is one of just two sports that Tarleton offers that has no previous history of NAIA or junior college competition as every season has been spent as a member of the NCAA.
Julie Garcia was named the school's first head coach on June 10, 1995 and led the (then-named) TexAnns through their inaugural 1996 season. Tarleton played its first home game on February 19, 1996 at its home softball field. The TexAnns won the second game of a doubleheader against Schreiner College 3-2 in nine innings for the program’s first win. After the first season, Coach Garcia stepped aside and turned the reigns over to a Tarleton alumna with purple coursing through her veins – Julie Mata. She was named the second head coach on June 18, 1996 and began a storied 20-year career with the purple and white.
It took just two seasons under Mata before Tarleton claimed its first-ever Lone Star Conference Division Championship, winning the 1998 South Division with a 6-3 win over Abilene Christian. It would go on to be the first of three consecutive South Division titles for Tarleton.
After proving themselves as conference powers through the turn of the century, Tarleton took another huge step for the program in 2003. Tarleton entered the NFCA National polls for the first time with a No. 23 ranking on April 9, 2003 and then went on to win their fourth LSC South Division title. But they weren't done yet. Tarleton made its first appearance in the NCAA Regional tournament and defeated Fort Hays State 6-2 in their debut on the national stage – setting the tone for the program moving forward.
The culmination of Mata's efforts came in 2015 when Tarleton shocked the nation in the South Central Regional Tournament. Tarleton entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in a loaded Lone Star Conference that included the tournament champion and runners-up, as well as the league's fourth-seeded team. Tarleton pulled off an upset special in the tournament opener by defeating the reigning Division II National Champions on their home field to put themselves in the driver's seat for the rest of the tournament. Tarleton's win over West Texas A&M and back-to-back wins over Cameron propelled Tarleton to its first NCAA Regional Championship and Super Region Tournament appearance. Two seasons later, Mata called it a coaching career to pursue a career in academics. For her 20 seasons, Mata won 569 games, five LSC Division championships, and the 2015 South Central Region 1 Championship. Her TexAnns qualified for 14 LSC Championship Tournaments, four regional tournaments and the 2015 Super Region. She was named the LSC Coach of the Year on two different occasions.
It would take a special coach to follow up a career like Mata's and Tarleton had one waiting in the wings – longtime assistant coach Mark Cumpian. He was named the third head coach in program history on May 19, 2016 and wasted no time in continuing to elevate the tradition of the program.
Cumpian led Tarleton back to the NCAA Regional Tournament in just his first season as the head coach, becoming the first rookie head coach in Tarleton Athletics history to lead a team to the national postseason in his debut campaign. Tarleton made the tournament in each of his first three seasons as head coach.
The 2019-20 season proved to be a turning point in the history of the program. Tarleton was sitting atop the LSC standings on March 6, 2020 after Jordan Withrow fired a no-hitter against No. 2-ranked UT Tyler to lead the Texans to a sweep of the Patriots when the NCAA cancelled the remainder of the season. This was Tarleton's final season of NCAA Division II competition as the university accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and NCAA Division I just four months earlier. On July 1, 2020, Tarleton officially made the leap to Division I and joined the WAC. Cumpian played arguably the toughest schedule in the country by a first-year transition program – taking the stage against the likes of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 10 Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, and Baylor.
The spring of 2022 was the cornerstone of Tarleton's move to NCAA Division I. The Texans recorded their first 30-win season at the D1 level and made Tarleton State University history by becoming the first team in school history to receive a postseason invitation at the D1 level. Tarleton earned the right to compete in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) and won their second game against UC-San Diego for a postseason win. The tradition continued in 2023 when Tarleton reached 30 wins and qualified for the NISC postseason once again.
Our Head Coach
Mark Cumpian has been an instant success since taking over the Tarleton Softball program in 2017.
In his first season, 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.
He followed up with a sophomore coaching campaign that is among the all-time best seasons in the history of the program. Cumpian led Tarleton to a program-best 50 wins and back to the South Central Region Finals for the second time in school history. He had three players named to All-America teams, including the school’s first freshman All-American, Georgia Capell, and Academic All-American, Megan Durante. He had eight all-region award winners and a school-record 19 LSC awards, including the LSC Pitcher of the Year, LSC Academic Player of the Year, LSC Newcomer of the Year, and LSC Freshman of the Year. Cumpian’s team also spent nine weeks 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.
If it’s possible for anyone to build on the best season in program history, Cumpian did it.
In 2019, Cumpian led Tarleton to another 40-win season, going 40-15 and earning a program-best No. 3 seed in the South Central regional tournament. Tarleton finished the season ranked No. 22 in the NFCA poll and was ranked for 10 weeks during the season, including a season-high No. 8 national ranking. Over the last two year, Tarleton has won 90 games – the most in the Lone Star Conference over that stretch. Cumpian had seven players receive LSC awards, including the LSC Academic Player of the Year and four first-team selections. Georiga Capell become the first player in school history to be a two-time D2CCA All-American while Jordan Withrow also recorded All-America status for the second straight year.
His 90 combined wins between the 2018-19 seasons were the most in the daunting Lone Star Conference over that span.
Cumpian’s 2020 season was on the verge of becoming his best yet. The Texans boasted victories over the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and defending national champion Augustana and a doubleheader sweep of No. 2-ranked UT Tyler. Tarleton was leading the Lone Star Conference standings with a 6-0 league mark when the season was abruptly cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then Tarleton turned to Division I and 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.
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. The Division I success continued in year three with another 30-win season and a second NISC postseason appearance.
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.
The HOME OF TEXAN SOFTBALL
Home to the youngest program of Tarleton Athletics, the Tarleton Softball Complex has seen its share of success since the inaugural season in 1996. The Tarleton Softball Complex has served as the home field for the Tarleton Softball program since the first season, after initial construction began in the spring of 1995. In the summer of 2021, the facility underwent the first phase of facelifts with brand-new field turf, LED lights and Champion Wall in the outfield as well as expanded dugouts and bullpens on each side of the outfield. In 2022, the new covered seating and press box were debuted.
The field dimensions are 190-feet down the lines and 220-feet to straight-away centerfield. The field itself is laid out in the same direction as the adjacent Tarleton Baseball Complex. A scoreboard was installed in left-centerfield prior to the 2015 season, features customizable name plates and inning-by-inning scores, and is surrounded by nylon netting. Permanent bleachers were also added after the initial construction, which holds 500 fans. A press box rises above the bleachers and seats the primary game administration.
TARLETON SOFTBALL Stadium Quick Facts
- $7 million total cost
- Brand-new Hellas Field Turf
- Renovated and enlarged dugouts
- Champion Wall in the outfield, vinyl-coated black chain link fence down the foul lines
- Brand-new LED lighting system
