Ball State University Athletics
Photo by: Josh Brunette
Baseball Adds Pitching Coach Bob Keller to Staff
June 03, 2026 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball program and head coach Rich Maloney have announced the addition of Bob Keller to the staff as pitching coach.
A longtime collegiate pitching coach who worked with Maloney when the two were at Michigan, Keller comes to Muncie after most recently serving as an assistant and pitching coach for the United States Sports University in Daphne, Ala. Prior to that, Keller was the head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College after previous stints as an assistant at South Alabama, Dallas Baptist and Birmingham-Southern.
"We are excited to have Bob Keller as our pitching coach," Maloney said. "Bob and I had a great run at the University of Michigan and hope to raise the bar here at Ball State. Bob has been successful wherever he has been and he is highly-regarded in the pitching world.
"I'm excited for our current pitchers and those who will be joining us this summer to have the opportunity to develop under Coach Keller and tap into his expertise and vast knowledge of pitching."
In addition to his time coaching, Keller was the Mississippi / Louisiana area scout for the Seattle Mariners from 2018-20. The Biola University (La Mirada, Calif.) alumnus was at South Alabama for seven seasons prior to working with the Mariners.
Keller started his coaching career at Georgia State in 1994 where he spent seven years before three seasons at Birmingham-Southern. Maloney and Keller teamed up at Michigan from 2005 to 2010 to coach 18 pitchers who were named All-Big Ten and 10 pitchers who were selected in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. The Wolverines finished either first or second in ERA in three of Keller's last four seasons at Michigan.
"This was a very exciting opportunity to be able to join Coach Maloney and his staff at Ball State," Keller said. "It's very unique in that we had success in the past together. I'm truly excited to be here and to get to know our pitching staff and the rest of the team. We'll hit the ground running and continue to build on the rich tradition of success that's been here – I'm very excited to be able to be a part of that and very grateful, thankful and truly humbled to be in this environment at Ball State University."
Keller has a bachelor of science degree in physical education from Biola and a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology from Georgia State. He and his wife, Jeannie, have sons Charlie, an outfielder at Ball State, and Brady.
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A longtime collegiate pitching coach who worked with Maloney when the two were at Michigan, Keller comes to Muncie after most recently serving as an assistant and pitching coach for the United States Sports University in Daphne, Ala. Prior to that, Keller was the head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College after previous stints as an assistant at South Alabama, Dallas Baptist and Birmingham-Southern.
"We are excited to have Bob Keller as our pitching coach," Maloney said. "Bob and I had a great run at the University of Michigan and hope to raise the bar here at Ball State. Bob has been successful wherever he has been and he is highly-regarded in the pitching world.
"I'm excited for our current pitchers and those who will be joining us this summer to have the opportunity to develop under Coach Keller and tap into his expertise and vast knowledge of pitching."
In addition to his time coaching, Keller was the Mississippi / Louisiana area scout for the Seattle Mariners from 2018-20. The Biola University (La Mirada, Calif.) alumnus was at South Alabama for seven seasons prior to working with the Mariners.
Keller started his coaching career at Georgia State in 1994 where he spent seven years before three seasons at Birmingham-Southern. Maloney and Keller teamed up at Michigan from 2005 to 2010 to coach 18 pitchers who were named All-Big Ten and 10 pitchers who were selected in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. The Wolverines finished either first or second in ERA in three of Keller's last four seasons at Michigan.
"This was a very exciting opportunity to be able to join Coach Maloney and his staff at Ball State," Keller said. "It's very unique in that we had success in the past together. I'm truly excited to be here and to get to know our pitching staff and the rest of the team. We'll hit the ground running and continue to build on the rich tradition of success that's been here – I'm very excited to be able to be a part of that and very grateful, thankful and truly humbled to be in this environment at Ball State University."
Keller has a bachelor of science degree in physical education from Biola and a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology from Georgia State. He and his wife, Jeannie, have sons Charlie, an outfielder at Ball State, and Brady.
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