College Softball News

Ben Garcia Leaves Colorado Mesa For Northern Colorado

After four seasons at Colorado Mesa, Ben Garcia is leaving to be the new head coach at Northern Colorado.

“I’m excited to be joining the UNC softball program. I want to thank Darren Dunn and Sarah Adams for giving me the opportunity to take this team to the next level,” Garcia said. “I want to bring a championship to UNC.

Under Garcia’s leadership, Division II Colorado Mesa compiled a 169-49 overall record and a 131-21 record in RMAC games. The Mavericks have won three consecutive RMAC regular season titles and two straight tournament titles. Garcia earned RMAC Coach of the Year honors for the 2018 and 2016 seasons.

This past season, Garcia led the Mavericks to a 48-5 overall record and held the No. 1 ranking in the NFCA Poll for seven consecutive weeks. In 2017, CMU had a 48-8 record and had 11 players earn All-RMAC honors, along with two players earning All-America honors. The team also produced the RMAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. The Mavericks advanced to the semi-finals of the South Central Regional Championships in 2016. The team also had the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and ten players on the All-RMAC team.

“It was a great experience coaching at CMU. The school and the administration were great to work with,” Garcia added about his time in Grand Junction.”

You can listen to Garcia appearance on “ In The Circle” from March 23 where he discusses his career that led him to Colorado Mesa.

Garcia takes over a Northern  Colorado program that is coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history. The team won a program-best 28 games since moving to DI. The Bears also earned their first wins in the Big Sky Tournament and qualified for the National Invitational Softball Tournament. UNC returns nine players from the 2018 season. The group includes All-Big Sky first team selection Jordyn Wiatrak and second-team selection Valerie Vidal.

To Top