Sydney Sturner was named head coach of the Union University softball program in May of 2023 following one season of service as interim. Sturner began at Union in 2022 and spent a season as an assistant coach. The 2025 season will be the third at the softball helm for Sturner, who has a career record of 52-49 (.515).
Sturner came to Union from Corvallis, Oregon where she was a high school head coach for three seasons.
During her 2023 season as interim, Sturner led Union to its second straight GSC Tournament. It was the fourth trip overall for Union softball, but the first time Union made back-to-back trips. In the 2023 season, Union posted two winning streaks of seven games, setting the longest winning streak for Union softball since moving to NCAA D2 in 2012-13. In 2022, as the assistant coach, Sturner was instrumental in helping Union softball return to the GSC Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Sturner was the head varsity softball coach at Crescent Valley High School from 2018-21. She also spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach for the 14U Northwest Bullets Fastpitch Organization. She has been giving private pitching lessons since 2013. In addition to her coaching duties at Crescent Valley, Sturner served as Student Behavior Support for three years.
Sturner holds the Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) certification from the Nutritional Therapy Association.
Sturner is a 2016 graduate of Southern Oregon University with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education. While at Southern Oregon, she completed a successful softball career, being named the Southern Oregon University Softball Player of the Year in 2014. She holds the single-game strikeout record at University Field with 13. In her senior season of 2016, Sturner helped lead Southern Oregon to its first NAIA Region birth in 10 years.
Sturner is a 2012 graduate of Clovis West High School in Clovis, California. She is married to David Sturner and is the daughter of Debbie and David White. She and her husband have a dog, Maui.
YEAR -- HEAD COACH -- OVERALL RECORD -- CONFERENCE RECORD
2025 -- Sydney Sturner
| Year |
Head Coach |
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
| 1995 |
Dan Patterson |
24-15 |
|
| 1996 |
Dan Patterson (51-24, .689) |
27-9 |
|
| 1997 |
Brian Dunn |
39-13 |
20-4 |
| 1998 |
Brian Dunn |
51-16 |
21-5 |
| 1999 |
Brian Dunn |
57-13-1 |
21-3 |
| 2000 |
Brian Dunn |
53-6 |
20-0 |
| 2001 |
Brian Dunn |
63-8 |
19-1 |
| 2002 |
Brian Dunn |
51-7 |
14-2 |
| 2003 |
Brian Dunn |
45-13 |
16-2 |
| 2004 |
Brian Dunn |
45-16 |
14-6 |
| 2005 |
Brian Dunn (449-108-2, .803) |
45-16-1 |
10-6 |
| 2006 |
David Blackstock |
37-18 |
10-6 |
| 2007 |
David Blackstock (77-36, .682) |
40-18 |
23-8 |
| 2008 |
Heather Hall |
37-22 |
22-14 |
| 2009 |
Heather Hall |
26-23 |
9-5 |
| 2010 |
Heather Hall |
34-16 |
10-4 |
| 2011 |
Heather Hall |
41-15 |
24-6 |
| 2012 |
Heather Hall |
46-12 |
27-5 |
| 2013 |
Heather Hall |
28-21 |
13-17 |
| 2014 |
Heather Hall |
31-27 |
9-19 |
| 2015 |
Heather Hall |
31-19 |
17-15 |
| 2016 |
Heather Hall |
10-42 |
3-30 |
| 2017 |
Heather Hall |
24-29 |
8-25 |
| 2018 |
Heather Hall (319-254, .557) |
18-30 |
9-23 |
| 2019 |
Mackenzie Sher |
30-25 |
14-16 |
| 2020 |
Mackenzie Sher |
15-10 |
4-5 |
| 2021 |
Mackenzie Sher |
7-27 |
6-20 |
| 2022 |
Mackenzie Sher (70-91, .434) |
18-29 |
11-16 |
|
| 2023 |
Sydney Sturner (Interim) |
24-26 |
13-15 |
| 2024 |
Sydney Sturner |
28-23 |
16-14 |
