WACO, TX — Legendary Baylor Softball coach Mark Lumley has died following his fourth battle with cancer. He was 65.
Lumley is credited for helping make Baylor Softball one of the premiere programs in the country. Over his 20 years an an assistant coach, he helped the team make 13 NCAA regionals and four trips to the Women's College World Series.
Lumley had his prostate removed in 2007. In 2015, he received chemo treatment after cancer was found in his lymph nodes. He then had surgery for colorectal cancer in November 2018.
He was back on the field coaching full-time when the 2020 season was cut short by COVID-19. In March, Lumley found out that cancer had spread to his vertebrae.
"That's when they found the cancer in the bone," Stacey Lumley, Mark's wife of eight years, told Baylor Athletics. "Being in the bone, it's horrific. It's just overwhelming, because I hate to see him hurt like that."
The legend retired from coaching on September 30, but remained on staff as assistant director of operations for the Lady Bear softball team.
"He was out here at times when he shouldn't have been here, when he should have been taking care of himself," said head coach Glenn Moore, who had Lumley by his side for the last 22 years, first at LSU and then the last 20 at Baylor. "That's who he is. He has always put others ahead of himself. I admire him for how he's been driven by doing that."
Lumley died at 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 27. He is survived by his wife, Stacey, stepsons, Trey, Mason and D.J., and "a Baylor Softball family that will forever cherish the memories they shared over the last 20 years."
Funeral services are pending. For more on Lumley, click here.
