Softball
Stef Ewing
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- stef.ewing@mso.umt.edu
- Phone:
- 880-5773
The 2027 season is Stef Ewing’s third year as the head softball coach at Montana. She was hired in June 2024 after previously serving as the head coach at NCAA Division II Cal State San Marcos.
Ewing is the third head coach in program history.
After Montana went 8-42 in 2025 in Ewing’s first season, she led the Grizzlies to one of the nation’s top turnarounds in 2026, improving to 22-32, the 12th-best jump in wins in Division I softball.
Montana finished 9-6 in league to tie for second, coming within a game of winning its first-ever Big Sky regular-season title. The Grizzlies had gone 2-28 in league the previous two seasons.
In recognition of that turnaround, Ewing was named the Big Sky co-Coach of the Year after the regular season.
Montana would go on to end an eight-game losing streak at the Big Sky tournament and win three postseason games for only the third time in program history.
Montana’s turnaround came largely from its production at the plate. The Grizzlies batted .294, their best average since 2021, and scored 281 runs, up from 150 in 2025 and the second-most in program history.
Montana shattered the program record for doubles in a season (98), for home runs (51) and for slugging percentage (.482).
Defensively, the Grizzlies’ ERA dropped from 7.88 in 2025 to 6.01 in 2026, and their fielding percentage of .961 was their best since 2022.
In her first season at Montana, Ewing coached Presley Jantzi to second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors, Anna Cockhill to honorable mention accolades.
In 2026, Kailee Mejia was voted the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Carah Sweet the co-Newcomer of the Year.
Cockhill was named first-team All-Big Sky, Sweet, JoJo Christiaens and Grace Lopez second team, with Mejia and Mackenzie Bekofsky earning honorable mention honors.
Ewing, who played collegiately at Oregon State, took Cal State San Marcos to the 2022, ’23 and ’24 NCAA tournaments and to the eight-team Division II World Series in 2023.
The Cougars won 115 games in Ewing’s final three seasons at the school, completing a last-to-first trajectory that began with her first season at CSUSM in 2019.
Cal State San Marcos finished last in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 2018. By 2022, the Cougars were winning 45 games and the CCAA regular-season title.
Ewing, who had a record at San Marcos of 136-100, was voted the CCAA Coach of the Year in 2022. She and her assistants were named the NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2023.
Ewing is a member of the Desert Mountain (Ariz.) High School Hall of Fame and in 2023 was inducted along with her teammates from the 2006 Beaver team into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame.
A freshman catcher and designated player who would earn first-team All-Pacific Region honors, Ewing helped Oregon State reach the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2006.
That Beaver team went 43-16, had a 28-game winning streak and 17 wins over ranked opponents. Ewing was honorable mention All-Pac-10 as a senior in 2009 and part of four teams that won 137 games.
Ewing was an assistant coach at Butler for the 2010 season before returning to Arizona, where she coached high-level club softball and at Chaparral High for a number of years.
She was named the Arizona Big School Coach of the Year in 2013.
She was an assistant coach at New Mexico State for the 2016, '17 and '18 seasons. The Aggies won three WAC regular-season titles with Ewing on staff and twice advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Ewing, who played for the Greek National Team at the Olympic Test Event in 2004 when she was 16, earned a degree in speech communication from Oregon State.
Ewing and her wife, Nina, have a dog, Coors.
Ewing is the third head coach in program history.
After Montana went 8-42 in 2025 in Ewing’s first season, she led the Grizzlies to one of the nation’s top turnarounds in 2026, improving to 22-32, the 12th-best jump in wins in Division I softball.
Montana finished 9-6 in league to tie for second, coming within a game of winning its first-ever Big Sky regular-season title. The Grizzlies had gone 2-28 in league the previous two seasons.
In recognition of that turnaround, Ewing was named the Big Sky co-Coach of the Year after the regular season.
Montana would go on to end an eight-game losing streak at the Big Sky tournament and win three postseason games for only the third time in program history.
Montana’s turnaround came largely from its production at the plate. The Grizzlies batted .294, their best average since 2021, and scored 281 runs, up from 150 in 2025 and the second-most in program history.
Montana shattered the program record for doubles in a season (98), for home runs (51) and for slugging percentage (.482).
Defensively, the Grizzlies’ ERA dropped from 7.88 in 2025 to 6.01 in 2026, and their fielding percentage of .961 was their best since 2022.
In her first season at Montana, Ewing coached Presley Jantzi to second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors, Anna Cockhill to honorable mention accolades.
In 2026, Kailee Mejia was voted the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Carah Sweet the co-Newcomer of the Year.
Cockhill was named first-team All-Big Sky, Sweet, JoJo Christiaens and Grace Lopez second team, with Mejia and Mackenzie Bekofsky earning honorable mention honors.
Ewing, who played collegiately at Oregon State, took Cal State San Marcos to the 2022, ’23 and ’24 NCAA tournaments and to the eight-team Division II World Series in 2023.
The Cougars won 115 games in Ewing’s final three seasons at the school, completing a last-to-first trajectory that began with her first season at CSUSM in 2019.
Cal State San Marcos finished last in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 2018. By 2022, the Cougars were winning 45 games and the CCAA regular-season title.
Ewing, who had a record at San Marcos of 136-100, was voted the CCAA Coach of the Year in 2022. She and her assistants were named the NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2023.
Ewing is a member of the Desert Mountain (Ariz.) High School Hall of Fame and in 2023 was inducted along with her teammates from the 2006 Beaver team into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame.
A freshman catcher and designated player who would earn first-team All-Pacific Region honors, Ewing helped Oregon State reach the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2006.
That Beaver team went 43-16, had a 28-game winning streak and 17 wins over ranked opponents. Ewing was honorable mention All-Pac-10 as a senior in 2009 and part of four teams that won 137 games.
Ewing was an assistant coach at Butler for the 2010 season before returning to Arizona, where she coached high-level club softball and at Chaparral High for a number of years.
She was named the Arizona Big School Coach of the Year in 2013.
She was an assistant coach at New Mexico State for the 2016, '17 and '18 seasons. The Aggies won three WAC regular-season titles with Ewing on staff and twice advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Ewing, who played for the Greek National Team at the Olympic Test Event in 2004 when she was 16, earned a degree in speech communication from Oregon State.
Ewing and her wife, Nina, have a dog, Coors.
| STEF EWING AT A GLANCE | ||||||
| PERSONAL | ||||||
| Hometown | Scottsdale, Ariz. | |||||
| Education | Oregon State, 2009 | |||||
| Family | Wife: Nina | |||||
| COACHING RESUME | ||||||
| Years | School, Position | |||||
| 2010 | Butler, Assistant Coach | |||||
| 2016-18 | New Mexico State, Assistant Coach | |||||
| 2019-24 | Cal State San Marcos, Head Coach | |||||
| 2025-Present | Montana, Head Coach | |||||
| COACHING HISTORY | ||||||
| Year | School | Record | Conf. Record | Conf. Finish | Postseason | |
| 2010 | Butler | 36-19 | 11-11 | t-5th | ||
| 2016 | New Mexico State | 38-21 | 14-1 | 1st | ||
| 2017 | New Mexico State | 29-25 | 11-4 | t-1st | NCAA Regionals | |
| 2018 | New Mexico State | 29-24 | 11-4 | 1st | NCAA Regionals | |
| 2019 | Cal State San Marcos | 14-31 | 10-28 | 10th | ||
| 2020 | Cal State San Marcos | 7-12 | 3-9 | n/a | ||
| 2021 | Cal State San Marcos | 0-0 | 0-0 | n/a | ||
| 2022 | Cal State San Marcos | 45-14 | 28-8 | 1st | NCAA II Super Regionals | |
| 2023 | Cal State San Marcos | 33-21 | 20-12 | 3rd | NCAA II World Series | |
| 2024 | Cal State San Marcos | 37-22 | 20-12 | 2nd | NCAA II Regionals | |
| 2025 | Montana | 8-42 | 1-14 | 6th | ||
| 2026 | Montana | 22-32 | 9-6 | t-2nd | ||
Friday, June 19
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Friday, May 01
