Ball State University Athletics
Greg Beals Named Baseball Coach at Ohio State
June 17, 2010 | Baseball
Greg Beals, who has spent the last eight seasons as the head baseball coach at Ball State University, has been named the head baseball coach at Ohio State University.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for Coach Beals, who has done an outstanding job leading the Ball State baseball program," Ball State athletics director Tom Collins says. "We have a great deal of admiration for Coach Beals and wish he and his family well as they continue their careers at Ohio State University. We will begin a search for a new head baseball coach at Ball State, and are confident the program will continue to prosper."
Beals led the Cardinals to three Mid-American Conference West Division Championships and the 2006 MAC Tournament crown, which was the first in school history. He tallied a 243-202 career coaching record, and led Ball State to the 2006 NCAA Lexington Regional, and a win over top-seeded Kentucky at that Regional. Beals has had 21 of his student-athletes selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including four players in 2006 and three in 2009 and 2010.
In the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft, Ball State's Kolbrin Vitek was selected with the 20th pick of the first round by the Boston Red Sox after earning All-America honors for the Cardinals as a utility player. In addition, third-year sophomore pitcher Perci Garner, was chosen in the second round by the Philadelphia Phillies. A third student-athlete -- Zach Dygert -- was selected in the 22nd round by the Houston Astros.
Beals, who spent three seasons in the New York Mets' farm system after his playing career at Kent State, earned a bachelor's degree from KSU in 1995 and his master's in 1999. He attended Kenton Ridge High School in Springfield, Ohio, where he played baseball under Coach Tom Randall, a member of the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Beals' wife, Kathy, was a four-year basketball letterwinner at Kent State. The couple has three daughters -- Kayla, Amber and Morgan.
