Kendall Fearn

bio through 2025 season

Fearn helped the Aztecs to four Mountain West titles (one regular season, three tournament) and three NCAA Tournament appearances in her three seasons at San Diego State. In her first season, 2023, the Aztecs made their first Super Regional appearance in program history. During Fearn's time on The Mesa, SDSU went 108-56 including a 47-19 record in conference play.

During the 2025 campaign, San Diego State picked up several marquee wins during non-conference play and took four-time defending national champion No. 2/3 Oklahoma to nine innings on Opening Day. The squad went 5-0 at the prestigious Clearwater Invitational including wins over No. 14/12 Alabama and No. 16/16 Missouri. In the final non-conference game of the season, the Aztecs earned a 1-0 victory over No. 12/13 Arizona. Overall, SDSU went 20-5 at SDSU Softball Stadium, with three of the losses coming against Oklahoma, Arizona and No. 6/6 UCLA. In the Mountain West Tournament, the team opened with a 3-0 defeat against Fresno State, the first one suffered in conference tournament play since it was brought back in 2023 following a 16-year hiatus. San Diego State responded well, bouncing back with four straight elimination game wins to earn the tournament title and the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Yet another trip to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional was highlighted by a 3-2 win over second-seeded Arizona State in the opening game after Grace Uribe and Gabriella Terrones hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning.

In the 2024 season, SDSU went 31-20 (15-7 Mountain West) with a win over No. 11/13 Missouri. The team clinched the Mountain West regular season title on the last day of the season with a 13-4 (5 innings) win at UNLV led by a pair of home runs from Mountain West Co-Player of the Year Mac Barbara. San Diego State cruised through a three-game sweep at the Mountain West Tournament in Boise, beating the host Broncos twice by a combined score of 15-4. The team was unable to replicate that success in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, falling to No. 15/17 Virginia Tech and Grand Canyon.

In her first season at San Diego State, the Aztecs went 39-17 (.696) including a 24-4 home record, but finished second to Boise State in the Mountain West regular season. SDSU hosted the Mountain West Tournament, which was brought back for the first time since 2006. San Diego State swept its way through to the tournament title by following up a 5-4 win against Nevada with consecutive shutouts of San Jose State, winning 7-0 and 8-0 (5 innings). The squad continued the winning streak by sweeping its way through the NCAA Tournament Los Angeles Regional including a 7-0 shutout of Liberty and a 6-0 blanking of Grand Canyon before a 6-3 victory against Liberty advanced the Aztecs to their first ever Super Regional. SDSU emerged victorious 4-3 over No. 17/14 Utah in the opening game of the Salt Lake City Super Regional to move to one win away from the Women's College World Series. However, 10-1 (5 innings) and 7-2 defeats in the ensuing games would end the season. San Diego State finished the year ranked No. 18/19. Barbara repeated on the NFCA All-Region First Team while Light and Decker garnered second-team accolades. The SDSU coaching staff was voted the NFCA's West Region Coaching Staff of the Year by active head coaches.

Aztecs head softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz announced the hiring of Kendall Fearn as an assistant coach on July 15, 2022. A former two-time All-Mountain West selection as a player at UNLV, Fearn comes to The Mesa from Indiana (IU), where she has been an associate coach for the past five seasons.

“We are excited to welcome Kendall to San Diego,” head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz said. “Kendall brings a wealth of coaching experience with her to SDSU and is a highly regarded teacher of the game and leader in the softball community. She is known for her ability to connect with the student-athlete and is an amazing communicator and mentor. Present and future Aztecs will undoubtedly be made better by her tutelage, and I am honored to have her as part of the Aztec softball family.”
 
Fearn helped guide the Hoosiers to more than 125 wins over five seasons, including a highwater mark of 36 victories during the 2019 campaign. She oversaw all aspects of the Hoosiers’ offense and worked with the team’s outfielders during her time at IU. During her five seasons, nine players earned first-team or second-team All-Big Ten designation. 

“I want to thank Stacey Nuveman Deniz for this amazing opportunity to return to my hometown and join the SDSU Aztec softball family,” Fearn said. “I am honored to join a storied program and coach alongside two of the most incredible people and ambassadors in softball. I am looking forward to competing for Mountain West Conference Championships and help our student-athletes achieve their dreams both on and off the field.”

In 2022 Indiana posted 27 wins, the fourth time in five seasons that the Hoosiers had won at least 25 games. Four Hoosiers hit at least .300, led by Cora Bassett, who hit .400 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI, and earned first-team All-Big Ten. Additionally, Indiana stole 111 bases, which rank No. 13 nationally, and hit 56 home runs.

During the 2021 season the Hoosiers won or split nine of 12 Big Ten series. Emily Goodin finished with 583 career strikeouts, rankings fourth best in program history, and Gabbi Jenkins set the career record for stolen bases with 96.

In 2020, prior to the cancelation of the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana posted an overall record of 12-9 over 21 games. The Hoosiers won nine of their last 12 ballgames prior to the season’s cancelation. IU totaled 138 hits, 90 runs, 75 RBI’s and 55 stolen bases in the shortened season. The team ended the year ranked No. 3 nationally in stolen bases per game (2.62) and No. 1 in the Big Ten.

In 2019, Indiana posted its best start in program history (14-0), the best record since 2011 (36-21) and the best non-conference mark since 1986 (26-8). During that season, the Hoosiers earned its first USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll ranking since 1996, and the team also picked up wins over No. 10 LSU and No. 6 Georgia.

During Fearn’s first season at Indiana in 2018, IU finished third in the Big Ten, with a 17-6 conference record, and six players hit at least .300 in conference play. The Hoosiers had four players earn first or second-team All-Big Ten honors.

Prior to her time at Indiana, Fearn spent four seasons as an associate coach at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. During her time at Marshall the team posted a .616 winning percentage and she helped guide the Thundering Herd to a .313 team batting average while posting three of the top four scoring seasons in program history. Additionally, Marshall broke its own single-season record for stolen bases three times under Fearn and led the nation twice in stolen bases. Under her leadership, Morgan Zerkle left Marshall as the all-time leader in career batting average (.451), stolen bases (162) and triples (14). In addition, Zerkle was named the 2017 Conference USA Player of the Year, as well as an NFCA All-American.
 
Fearn joined the Thundering Herd after two seasons coaching at her alma mater, UNLV, and a year at Georgia Southern. At Georgia Southern, she saw the Eagles win the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

During her playing career at UNLV, Fearn was a two-time All-Mountain West pick and started 227 games at first and third base. The Carlsbad, Calif. native guided UNLV to a NCAA Regional appearance in 2009.