University of Houston Athletics
Softball Adds Pair of Assistant Coaches to Staff
7/15/2026 8:03:00 PM | Softball
Coach Schoonmaker adds to coaching staff with hiring of Long Beach’s Shelby Miller, Incarnate Word’s Ben Buechner
HOUSTON – University of Houston Softball Head Coach Chrissy Schoonmaker announced the hiring of two assistant coaches, Shelby Miller and Ben Buechner, to the staff on Wednesday.
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Shelby Miller
Miller arrives to Houston from Long Beach State, where she spent one season with the Sharks working primarily with the pitching staff.Â
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"We are thrilled to welcome Shelby to our coaching staff," said Coach Schoonmaker. "Shelby is an incredible coach with a passion for learning and growth. She is committed to developing high performing student-athletes and is a proven developer of pitching staffs. Our team will love her preparation, her diligence and the environment she will create. We look forward to her making her mark on the Cougar bullpen as we continue to build the program."
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At LBSU, Miller played a key role in producing three Big West Pitcher of the Week awards, lowering the pitching staff ERA by over 1.0 runs and earning a victory over No. 4 Oklahoma.
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Prior to her stop in Long Beach, Miller spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Fresno State.
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With the Bulldogs, she helped lead a 149-108 overall record while developing back-to-back Mountain West Pitcher of the Year winners in Serayah Neiss (2025) and Taylor Gilmore (2024), as well as NFCA All-Region selections in 2024-25, three all-conference pitching accolades, eight conference weekly awards and seven all-WAC selections.
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In 2025, she helped lead Fresno State to a 2025 Mountain West Tournament Championship game appearance with the lowest ERA in the conference at 2.78, good for 32nd in the nation.Â
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Miller also guided the Bulldogs to multiple top three finishes in key pitching categories including ERA, strikeouts and opponent batting average. She has also made stops at Utah Valley University and Kansas Wesleyan University.
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Miller served as an assistant coach at Utah Valley during the 2019–20 season before being elevated to interim head coach in 2020 where she produced a Western Athletic Conference Second-Team pitcher accolade.
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At Kansas Wesleyan, Miller climbed the ranks starting as a graduate assistant before moving up to assistant coach and interim head coach from 2016–18.Â
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During her time with KWU, Miller propelled the Coyotes to a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship while coaching up five first-team All-Conference selections, three second-team honorees, six honorable mentions, and one Golden Glove winner.
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As a player, Miller spent four seasons as a pitcher at Florida International University from 2012–15, earning Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team honors as a freshman.Â
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She earned her bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism management before earning an MBA at Kansas Wesleyan.
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Ben Buechner
Buechner joins the Cougars following three seasons as an assistant coach at Incarnate Word.
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"We are thrilled to welcome Ben to our coaching staff. Ben is a fantastic coach with a highly developed skillset. He is a dynamic recruiter, and he is committed to the growth of our student-athletes. He has a passion for teaching, for the offensive game and a strong work ethic. He is committed to taking Houston to the next level. Our team will love his competitiveness, his engagement and his commitment to seeing them develop every aspect of their game."
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During his time with the Cardinals, he helped UIW finish with the 25th highest batting average in the nation (.312) last season while also developing three-time Southland Conference Player of the Year and two-time Hitter of the Year in Victoria Altamirano, the program's first.
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Last season, he helped lead UIW to program records in home runs (59), doubles (88), batting average (.325), slug (.527) and OBP (.417) while tallying a joint-most conference wins in program DI history. In 2025, he also guided catcher Piper Caceres and first baseman Sydney Zenon to earning All-Conference Defense Team honors.
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In his first season with UIW, Buechner helped led the program to a record 34 wins before finishing finished second in the Southland Conference Tournament.
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Prior to UIW, Buechner spent three seasons as an assistant baseball coach at University of the Pacific. His baseball coaching journey began a decade prior, where he served on staff for 10 seasons at Santa Rosa Junior College. During his time at SRJC, he spent nine as an assistant and one as the interim head coach in 2019.
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At Pacific, Buechner helped the team improve at the plate every season with increases in team batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits and runs per game. He also mentored West Coast Conference All-Conference INF Tommy Gavello while developing young talents to the pros with three players taken in the MLB draft.Â
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At Santa Rosa, Buechner handled recruiting, player development and third base duties, helping lead SRJC to a playoff appearance in each complete season before finishing #1 in the state during the shortened 2020 season (COVID-19).
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His time at SRJC saw the program produce a .707 winning percentage and a .686 winning percentage in BIG 8 Conference play highlighted by a 2016 CCCAA State Championship with both California JC Player and Pitcher of the Year. Buechner has also coached two Big 8 Conference Players of the Year (Ryan Haug – 2015, Jake Scheiner – 2016) as well as nine players to careers in professional baseball with four breaking into the MLB.
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Buechner earned his undergrad degree from Sonoma State in Kinesiology before completing his master's degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration at Concordia University Irvine in 2013. He played baseball at Menlo College and Santa Rosa JC.Â
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SUPPORT YOUR COOGSÂ
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Softball by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective – and by joining the Diamond Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Softball for needs beyond its operating budget.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarSB on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at Houston Softball. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at @UHCougarSB.
− UHCougars.com −
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Shelby Miller
Miller arrives to Houston from Long Beach State, where she spent one season with the Sharks working primarily with the pitching staff.Â
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"We are thrilled to welcome Shelby to our coaching staff," said Coach Schoonmaker. "Shelby is an incredible coach with a passion for learning and growth. She is committed to developing high performing student-athletes and is a proven developer of pitching staffs. Our team will love her preparation, her diligence and the environment she will create. We look forward to her making her mark on the Cougar bullpen as we continue to build the program."
Â
At LBSU, Miller played a key role in producing three Big West Pitcher of the Week awards, lowering the pitching staff ERA by over 1.0 runs and earning a victory over No. 4 Oklahoma.
Â
Prior to her stop in Long Beach, Miller spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Fresno State.
Â
With the Bulldogs, she helped lead a 149-108 overall record while developing back-to-back Mountain West Pitcher of the Year winners in Serayah Neiss (2025) and Taylor Gilmore (2024), as well as NFCA All-Region selections in 2024-25, three all-conference pitching accolades, eight conference weekly awards and seven all-WAC selections.
Â
In 2025, she helped lead Fresno State to a 2025 Mountain West Tournament Championship game appearance with the lowest ERA in the conference at 2.78, good for 32nd in the nation.Â
Â
Miller also guided the Bulldogs to multiple top three finishes in key pitching categories including ERA, strikeouts and opponent batting average. She has also made stops at Utah Valley University and Kansas Wesleyan University.
Â
Miller served as an assistant coach at Utah Valley during the 2019–20 season before being elevated to interim head coach in 2020 where she produced a Western Athletic Conference Second-Team pitcher accolade.
Â
At Kansas Wesleyan, Miller climbed the ranks starting as a graduate assistant before moving up to assistant coach and interim head coach from 2016–18.Â
Â
During her time with KWU, Miller propelled the Coyotes to a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship while coaching up five first-team All-Conference selections, three second-team honorees, six honorable mentions, and one Golden Glove winner.
Â
As a player, Miller spent four seasons as a pitcher at Florida International University from 2012–15, earning Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament Team honors as a freshman.Â
Â
She earned her bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism management before earning an MBA at Kansas Wesleyan.
Â
Ben Buechner
Buechner joins the Cougars following three seasons as an assistant coach at Incarnate Word.
Â
"We are thrilled to welcome Ben to our coaching staff. Ben is a fantastic coach with a highly developed skillset. He is a dynamic recruiter, and he is committed to the growth of our student-athletes. He has a passion for teaching, for the offensive game and a strong work ethic. He is committed to taking Houston to the next level. Our team will love his competitiveness, his engagement and his commitment to seeing them develop every aspect of their game."
Â
During his time with the Cardinals, he helped UIW finish with the 25th highest batting average in the nation (.312) last season while also developing three-time Southland Conference Player of the Year and two-time Hitter of the Year in Victoria Altamirano, the program's first.
Â
Last season, he helped lead UIW to program records in home runs (59), doubles (88), batting average (.325), slug (.527) and OBP (.417) while tallying a joint-most conference wins in program DI history. In 2025, he also guided catcher Piper Caceres and first baseman Sydney Zenon to earning All-Conference Defense Team honors.
Â
In his first season with UIW, Buechner helped led the program to a record 34 wins before finishing finished second in the Southland Conference Tournament.
Â
Prior to UIW, Buechner spent three seasons as an assistant baseball coach at University of the Pacific. His baseball coaching journey began a decade prior, where he served on staff for 10 seasons at Santa Rosa Junior College. During his time at SRJC, he spent nine as an assistant and one as the interim head coach in 2019.
Â
At Pacific, Buechner helped the team improve at the plate every season with increases in team batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits and runs per game. He also mentored West Coast Conference All-Conference INF Tommy Gavello while developing young talents to the pros with three players taken in the MLB draft.Â
Â
At Santa Rosa, Buechner handled recruiting, player development and third base duties, helping lead SRJC to a playoff appearance in each complete season before finishing #1 in the state during the shortened 2020 season (COVID-19).
Â
His time at SRJC saw the program produce a .707 winning percentage and a .686 winning percentage in BIG 8 Conference play highlighted by a 2016 CCCAA State Championship with both California JC Player and Pitcher of the Year. Buechner has also coached two Big 8 Conference Players of the Year (Ryan Haug – 2015, Jake Scheiner – 2016) as well as nine players to careers in professional baseball with four breaking into the MLB.
Â
Buechner earned his undergrad degree from Sonoma State in Kinesiology before completing his master's degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration at Concordia University Irvine in 2013. He played baseball at Menlo College and Santa Rosa JC.Â
Â
SUPPORT YOUR COOGSÂ
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Softball by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective – and by joining the Diamond Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Softball for needs beyond its operating budget.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarSB on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at Houston Softball. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at @UHCougarSB.
− UHCougars.com −
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