Bender's collegiate career began at LIU Brooklyn in 2013, before moving on to South Florida State College in 2014. Bender's next stop would be for NCAA Division 1 Alabama State University where he spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons. In 2016, Bender graduated from Alabama State with a Bachelor of Science. Bender later obtained his Master's of Science from the University of the Cumberlands in 2020. 

Professionally, Bender had stops at Ida Baker High School and Indian River State College before becoming a part of the University of the Cumberlands staff. At Ida Baker High School, Bender spent a season as an assistant coach in 2016. He spent the following season as an assistant coach at Indian River State College where he was part of a staff that coached three MLB draft picks in 2018. 

In July of 2018, Bender was named to the University of the Cumberlands staff as the pitching coach. In three seasons, Bender has played a huge role in elevating the Patriots pitching staff. In 2019, Patriots right-hander Zach Hurley was a nationally recognized pitcher, going on to win MSC Pitcher of the Year, among various other accolades. Hurley holds a program record for innings pitched and was a critical piece in the Patriot's post-season success. The Patriots pitching staff ranked in the top ten in the NAIA in both Opponent Batting Average (.215) and Earned Run Average (3.080) during the 2020 season while ranking 23rd in total batters struck out before the COVID-19 shutdown. 

In 2021, Bender paved the way for the Patriots pitching staff who were one of the most dominant pitching staff in all of NAIA and UC program history. The pitching staff broke the school’s All-time strikeout record for a single season with 510 strikeouts. The staff also ranked #3 in NAIA for Team ERA (3.39) and 7th in total batters struck out. Bender also coached the MSC Pitcher of the year Thomas Gutierrez and helped lead Senior Colton Easterwood to the program's all-time individual strikeout leader. Easterwood signed a professional contract with the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League 

In July 2021, Bender was named as the Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Georgia Southwestern State University. In his first year, the Canes had extreme success on the mound. The GSW staff led the PBC in ERA, K’S, Opposing Batting Avg, and least amount of HR’s given up.  The staff also shattered the school record for K’s in a season which was 107 K’s more than the previous record, and also broke the school record for lowest opponents’ batting average in a season.  On top of success as a group, Bender also helped develop the program’s first ever 1st Team All-American Pitcher, Jared Donalson.  Donalson turned in a historic season winning PBC Pitcher of the Year, Finishing #7 in the country in K’s, 4th in the country in WHIP, and 4th in the country in ERA.  

In 2022, Bender helped guide the GSW pitching staff to lead the PBC in pitching. The pitching staff also broke the 2021 record for K’s in a season. For the first time in the NCAA era, 2 GSW SP’S (Ray Euson & Nick McCollum) were named to the All-Region team. Nick McCollum also claimed the title of PBC Pitcher of the Year making it 2 Pitcher’s of the Year in a row for Bender & the GSW staff. In year 2, the Canes took a drastic leap in overall success. The Canes won a school record 34 games and won the PBC regular season and conference tournament for the first time in school history in the NCAA era. 

In 2023, Bender helped contribute to another historic season for GSW. The Canes broke the previous school record for wins set by the 2022 team by winning 35 games. Bender recruited an offense that not only led the PBC in almost every major category, but also finished #1 in D2 in hits, #7 in runs, and broke GSW school records of Batting avg, Slugging pct, On base pct, runs, hits, RBI’s, & BB’s. On the pitching side, Bender’s staff once again led the PBC in pitching and earned the 3rd straight Pitcher of the Year in a row by way of Ray Euson. Bender’s staff had 3 PBC All-Conference selections and individually Nick McCollum & Ray Euson ranked #1 and #4 in D2 in K’s. The pitching staff also broke the All-time single season K’s record for GSW by striking out 518 hitters in only 53 games.