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Eastern Illinois
* Hired as 13th head baseball coach at Eastern Illinois on June 24, 2015
* Begins 11th season as head coach in 2026, 13th season as a coach at EIU
* Won first career game as a head coach on March 5, 2016 with 10-8 (12 inning win) over No. 12 Arkansas
* Won 100th career game as head coach on March 7, 2021 with 14-7 win over Kansas State giving EIU series win over Big 12 Conference team
* Won 200th career game as head coach on April 13, 2024 with 13-4 win over SIUE
* Won 100th OVC game as head coach on March 21, 2025 with 5-4 (11 inning win) over Lindenwood
* Named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2025, team won 31 games and won OVC regular season titleÂ
* Coached team to 2025 OVC Regular Season Title (17-7)
* Coached team to school record 38 wins during 2023 season winning OVC Tournament
* Team played in third NCAA Regional as a Division I program in 2023 appearing at the Nashville (Vanderbilt Regional)
* Has coached 12 first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference performers (Jimmy Govern 2017 & 2019), Christian Pena (2019), Trey Sweeney (2021), Ryan Ignoffo (2022 & 2023), Hayden Birdsong (2022), Zane Robbins (2023), Ky Hampton (2023), Lucas Loos (2024), Mike O'Conor (2025) and Tyler Kapraun (2025)
* Coached OVC Player of the Year Trey Sweeney in 2021
* Coached All-American Trey Sweeney in 2021, third EIU NCAA Division I All-American selection (first, first-team selection at D1)
* Coached All-American Jimmy Govern in 2019, second EIU NCAA Division I All-American selection
* Coached Trey Sweeney, 2021 1st round MLB Draft Selection by New York Yankees (20th pick overall -
EIU's 3rd highest draft selection in history) (MLB Debut in 2024)
* Coached Will Klein, 2020 5th round MLB Draft Selection by Kansas City Royals (MLB Debut in 2024)
* Coached Hayden Birdsong, 2022 6
th round MLB Draft Selection by San Francisco Giants (MLB Debut in 2024)
* Coached Ryan Ignoffo, 2023 20th round MLB Draft selection by the Miami Marlins
* Had two players selected in 2019 MLB Draft (Michael
YaSenka 17th round / Jimmy Govern 30th round)
* Coached Academic All-American Lucas Loos (2024)
* Has coached ten second-team
All-OVCÂ selections
* Has coached eightÂ
All-OVC Freshman team selections
* Coached OVC Freshman of the Year Chris Worcester (2022)
* Coached Freshman All-American outfielder Grant
Emme (2019)
* Coached six ABCA All-Region selections, five on first teamÂ
* Has coached eight players who have been drafted or signed free agent contracts with major league clubs
* Has coached tenÂ
players who signed professional contracts with independent league teams
* Team posted 33 wins in 2022 season, most by EIU team since the 2001 season
* Coached team to third straight winning season in 2022, first time by EIU baseball program since 1987-89
* Coached team to fourth straight winning season in 2023, first back-to-back 30-win seasons in program history
* Team ranked fourth in NCAA in home runs in 2017 with 83Â
* Team ranked in top 50 in scoring offense in 2017 and 62nd in 2021
* Team ranked in the top 35 in NCAA in doubles in 2016
* Team ranked 41st in NCAA in strike outs per nine innings in 2019
* Team ranked 21st in batting average in the NCAA in 2019
* Team ranked in the top 50 for offense in scoring, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in 2019
* Team has posted top three fielding percentages in school history in 2021, 2022 and 2023
* Team ranked in EIU career top ten in 2023 for runs scored (418 - 4th), hits (592 - 3rd), doubles (109 - 7th), RBI (366 - 4th), walks drawn (286 - 1st), stolen bases (97 - 1st), innings pitched (518.0 - 1st), strike outs (418 - 4th), saves (14 - 4th) and shutouts (7 - 2nd)
* Team led NCAA in sacrifice bunts during 2025 season with 72, ranked 17th in NCAA in triplesÂ
* Coached team to OVC Tournament appearances in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 winning 2023 OVC Championship
* Coached team to 8-6 record in shortened 2020 season, RPI of 60 (highest in OVC)
* Coached team to 25-23 record in 2021 season giving EIU back-to-back winning seasons
* Head coaching record at Eastern Illinois (240-258, 10 years ... 116-136 in OVC games)
* Served as pitching coach for EIU team from 2013-16, had two pitchers selected in MLB Draft (Joe Greenfield / Matt Borens)
Prior to Eastern Illinois
* Assistant coach at Danville Community College 2010
* Assistant coach at University of Illinois, 2011-12
Personal
* Pitched at University of Illinois from 1998-2000
* Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2000
* First Team All-American in 2000
* 10th round MLB Draft selection of New York Yankees in 2000
* Academic All-American honors in 1999
* Made Major League Debut in 2003 with the New York Yankees
* Played in the Majors until 2010 seeing time with the Yankees, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres
* Played the 2011 season with the Somerset Patriots
* Bachelor's Degree from Illinois in 2012
* He and wife Brittany, have three children
* Native of Danville, Ill.
.
| School |
Year |
Overall |
Conference |
Other |
| Eastern Illinois |
2016 |
15-39 |
8-22 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2017 |
21-35 |
12-18 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2018 |
23-31 |
12-18 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2019 |
26-30 |
13-17 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2020 |
8-6 |
2-1 |
Season halted due to COVID-19 |
| Eastern Illinois |
2021 |
25-23 |
14-16 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2022 |
33-20 |
12-12 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2023 |
38-19 |
13-11 |
OVC Tournament Champions / NCAA Tournament |
| Eastern Illinois |
2024 |
20-33 |
13-14 |
|
| Eastern Illinois |
2025 |
31-22 |
17-7 |
OVC Regular Season Champions |
|
|
|
|
|
| EIU Record |
10 Years |
240-258 |
116-136 |
1 NCAA Tournament |
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