Lauren Ebstein joined the Northwestern Softball staff as the Wildcats’ pitching coach in July 2026.

Ebstein arrived at Northwestern after serving as head coach at her alma mater, Tufts University, where she compiled a 228-72 record and a .780 winning percentage that ranked ninth among all active Division III softball coaches. Across her time at Tufts, she helped guide the program to five NCAA Division III World Series appearances, including two as head coach, and back-to-back national championships in 2014 and 2015 as associate head coach.

Ebstein's teams went 86-14 in NESCAC conference play during her time as head coach, earning three conference titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances in her seven seasons at the helm of Tufts. She was named NFCA Regional Coach of the Year in both 2021 and 2022, also winning the 2021 NESCAC Coach of the Year. While at Tufts, Ebstein coached four different pitchers to NESCAC Pitcher of the Year honors: Allyson Fournier in 2014-15, Kristi Van Meter in 2019, Kristina Haghdan in 2021 and Sophia DiCocco in 2022.

Ebstein earned the permanent title of head coach at Tufts in 2019 following a successful season as the interim head coach in 2018, during which Tufts won the NESCAC title and ultimately hosted an NCAA Regional, finishing with a 32-10 record.

Ebstein returned to the Tufts coaching staff in 2013 and was promoted to associate head coach for the 2014 season, where she helped lead her alma mater to back-to-back NCAA Division III national championships in 2014 and 2015, capped by a perfect 51-0 season in 2015. Working directly with the pitching staff, she helped shape four-time All-American Allyson Fournier into one of the most decorated pitchers in Division III history.

Before returning to Tufts in 2013, Ebstein spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Colgate, helping the Raiders to a 28-11 mark in Patriot League play and a regular season title in 2011, a year in which she coached the league's Pitcher of the Year in Rachel LeCoq as well as three All-League pitchers during her two years. She also worked as an assistant at Valparaiso in 2013, helping the Crusaders to a Horizon League championship and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. To begin her coaching career, Ebstein spent two seasons as an assistant at Tufts, helping guide the program to a fourth-place finish at the 2009 Division III College World Series.

Ebstein was a four-year letterwinner at Tufts, where she helped the Jumbos win a NESCAC championship as a senior captain in 2007 and reach three NCAA Regionals over her career. Ebstein graduated from Tufts in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in English and psychology and earned her master's degree in journalism from Boston University in 2009.