Ben Sorden

Biography

The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year has bolstered the SIUE softball program back to prominence since being tapped as the head coach in August 2022. In three seasons, he has led the Cougars to the championship game of the OVC Tournament twice while his team has earned numerous honors. That includes the 2025 OVC Freshman of the Year Avery Arwood and 2024 co-Player of the Year Paige Rocha. SIUE's numbers also saw in serious upgrade in 2025. The Cougars were ranked in the top two most statistical categories on offense and defense, including a .327 batting average in OVC play. SIUE broke the school record for home runs in a season with 45 as Emma Henderson set a new Division I standard with 13 home runs. While playing a tough schedule, the Cougars recorded 32 wins in 2025 for Sorden's second 30-win season in three seasons. The Cougars also have been winners in the classroom, help lead the SIUE Athletic Department to 38 consecutive semesters of a cumulative grade point average above 3.0. Sorden previously spent the last decade as an assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference, having joined SIUE after holding positions at Michigan State and Indiana. He helped the pitching staffs to national honors and top-notch results. The Lone Tree, Iowa, native spent five seasons at Michigan State, where the Spartans sported a 2.38 earned run average and a 1.11 WHIP over 350 innings of play. Sorden is a 1995 graduate of Buena Vista University, where he earned a bachelor's in manageme