Helen Peña - Head Coach - Staff Directory - Ball State University Athletics

Staff Directory

Helen Peña

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
765-285-5137

NOTES ENTERING 2026 SEASON
- 62-47 Overall Record
- 28-22 Mid-American Conference Record
- Six Total All-MAC Honors
- 2025 MAC Player of the Year
- 2025 MAC Defensive Player of the Year
- Four Total NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Honors
- 22 Total Academic All-MAC Selections
- 34 Total Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Awards
- 10 CSC Academic All-District® Softball Team Accolades

Helen Peña enters her third season as Ball State’s head softball coach in 2026 looking to continue the program’s trajectory back to the top of the Mid-American Conference standings.

Over Peña’s first two years at the helm, the former collegiate standout pitcher has guided the program to a 62-47 overall record, including a 28-22 ledger in MAC play. The Cardinals advanced to the championship series of the MAC Tournament in her first season, while falling in the final game of the elimination bracket to the eventual tournament champion last season.

The 2025 season saw the Cardinals produce a 33-18 overall record and earn the No. 4 seed in the MAC Softball Championship with a 16-9 MAC mark. It was the program’s most wins since the 2021 squad went 37-18 (31-8 MAC) in a schedule heavy with league games coming off the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Ball State’s success was exemplified by the pitching staff which boasted a 3.96 ERA and saw Ella Whitney become just the seventh pitcher in program history to record at least 20 wins in a season. A two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week, Whitney led all MAC pitchers with a .231 opponents’ batting average and ranked second in the conference with a 2.84 ERA. She also paced the league with a 1.23 WHIP, allowing only 156 hits and 56 walks across 172.2 innings.

Overall, the Ball State pitching staff registered six shutouts on the season, with each two from Whitney and freshman phenom Breanna Severino. Sophomore Brinkley Kita also logged one, while Whitney and junior Jessica Hoffman combined for another. Overall, the team’s 3.96 ERA ranked third in the MAC, while its .265 batting average against was second.

The Cardinals also had another solid year on offense in Peña’s second season, ranking first in the MAC and 22nd nationally in scoring average at 6.59 runs per game. Ball State led the nation in hit batters (91) and ranked 58th in total walks (192), capitalizing on the free bases thanks to a .479 team slugging percentage which ranked 64th nationally. The Cardinals were also a major threat on the base paths, ranking first in the league and 29th nationally with 87 stolen bases.

In 2024, Peña’s first season at the helm, the Cardinals boasted a 29-29 overall record, including a 12-13 mark in MAC play. Ball State secured the sixth and final seed in the conference championship with a 5-2 victory over Central Michigan in its final game of the regular season, and after losing its second game in the tournament to Ohio, won three consecutive elimination games to make it to the title tilt.

Peña helped the Ball State pitching staff steadily improve over the course of the season, capped by the first career complete game victory for redshirt junior Emma Eubank in the 5-1 win over Ohio (May 10) in the elimination bracket championship game of the MAC Tournament.

The Cardinals boasted a 4.22 ERA for the season but dropped the mark to 4.04 in MAC play which ranked sixth in the league. Ball State’s pitchers also logged eight shutouts on the year, including a 6-0 win over Western Michigan (May 8) to open the league tournament.

On the offensive front, the Cardinals ranked second in the league and 58th nationally with a 5.16 runs-per-game average. The Cardinals blasted 52 home runs on the year, led by a BSU single season record 25 from McKayla Timmons.

On the awards front, Peña has helped five Cardinals earn a total of six All-MAC honors in her first two seasons. In addition, Timmons was named the 2025 MAC Player of the Year and was the inaugural recipient of MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.

Timmons is also a two-time NFCA All-Great Lakes Region selection under Peña, earning first team honors in 2024 and second team accolades in 2025. Haley Wynn was also named to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team in 2024, while Whitney garnered second team accolades in 2025.

Ball State has been just as solid in the classroom under Peña, with 22 total Academic All-MAC selections, including a league-best 14 in 2024. In addition, the Cardinals have earned a total of 34 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors and 10 Academic All-District® Softball Team accolades as selected by College Sports Communicators.

Peña, who was named the 11th head coach in program history on July 31, 2023, was named the 2023 Mid-Major Assistant Coach of the Year by Extra Inning Softball after serving as the associate head coach at Middle Tennessee State University for the 2023 campaign. She helped guide MTSU to a program record 42 wins in her first and only season in Murfreesboro. The effort included the Blue Raiders’ second-ever Conference USA tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Final.

“Throughout our search process, we sought an individual with exceptional coaching ability and who demonstrates intentional efforts to grow human potential while developing a program,” Mitchell said. “Helen Peña is the perfect coach for Ball State softball. Her devotion to student-athlete excellence encompasses a charge for our talented student-athletes to improve athletically, scholastically and socially. We are thrilled to have Coach Peña join the Ball State community as we continue to advance our softball program.”

MTSU earned three wins in regional play, including knocking off host and fifth-seeded Alabama to force a decisive seventh game. While the Crimson Tide won the final contest by a score of 1-0 and eventually advanced to the Women’s College World Series, the Blue Raiders’ three regional wins were the most by a Conference USA team since 2014.

As Middle Tennessee State’s pitching coach, Peña helped her staff rank 35th nationally with a 2.44 ERA. MTSU ranked 175th nationally with a 3.96 team ERA in 2022. In addition, the 2023 Blue Raiders ranked 35th nationally with 12 shutouts, limited opposing batters to a .219 average and struck out 247 total batters. For their play, Gretchen Mead was named to the NFCA All-Region and All-Conference USA second teams, while Kamryn Carcich earned Conference USA All-Tournament Team honors.

Prior to joining the Blue Raiders staff, Peña spent five seasons at the University of Memphis, where she helped guide the Tigers to 100 wins. Highlighting the list of pitchers Peña mentored at Memphis was Molly Smith, who finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in strikeouts (498), wins (50) and shutouts (19). A 2018 second team All-American Athletic Conference selection, Smith earned 25 wins and registered 220 strikeouts under Peña’s tutelage.

Peña also helped Mariah Nichols finish her Memphis career as the program’s all-time saves leader, with 10, including a single season record four as a sophomore in 2019. Nichols also ranked fourth in innings pitched (428.1), sixth in wins (24), sixth in strikeouts (267) and 10th in ERA (3.92) at the end of her Tigers career.

Before joining the Tigers’ coaching staff, Peña spent two seasons as an assistant at Menlo College in Atherton, California, helping guide the Oaks to a program record 31 wins in 2017. Her pitching staff finished the same season with a 2.59 ERA, the program’s lowest in over 14 years.

After starting her collegiate coaching career at her alma mater, Cal Poly, as a student assistant in 2011 and a volunteer coach in 2012, Peña worked the 2013 and 2014 seasons as an assistant coach at Cal State Bakersfield. While with the ‘Runners, she coached Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Kelsie Monroe and helped lead CSUB to a berth in the 2015 WAC Tournament Championship.

As a student-athlete, Peña helped lead Cal Poly to a pair of Big West Championships over her four-year career, including the program’s first-ever title in 2007. She finished the 2007 season with a 1.75 ERA to rank third among all Big West pitchers. A two-time All-Big West honoree, Peña helped the Mustangs break into the top 25 for the first time in program history in 2009, with the squad ranking as high as 21st nationally.

She finished her playing career ranked among the program’s all-time leaders in strikeouts (236), victories (28), shutouts (10), saves (2), ERA (2.36), complete games (14) and innings pitched (314.1).