Mike Batesole
Batesole in 2017 at Falcon Baseball Field.
Biographical details
Born (1964-03-28) March 28, 1964 (age 59)
Anaheim, California, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia State University, Fullerton
Playing career
1983–1985Oral Roberts
Position(s)Third baseman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1986–1987Orange Coast (asst.)
1991Orange Coast (asst.)
1993Cypress (asst.)
1994–1995Cal State Northridge (asst.)
1996–2002Cal State Northrdge
2003–2022Fresno State
Head coaching record
Overall828–615–1 (.574)
TournamentsNCAA: 18–12
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • 2× Collegiate Baseball National Coach of the Year (1998, 2008)
  • Big West Coach of the Year (2002)
  • 2× MW Coach of the Year (2016, 2019)

Michael Harold Batesole (born March 28, 1964)[1] is an American former baseball coach. He previously served as coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors (1996–2002) and the Fresno State Bulldogs (2003–2022).

Early life, playing career, and education

Born in Anaheim, California, Batesole graduated from Garden Grove High School in 1982 and began his college baseball career at Oral Roberts University.[2] At Oral Roberts, Batesole started at third base from 1983 to 1985 and finished with a .285 batting average, 31 home runs, and 148 runs batted in.[2][3]

From 1985 to 1988, Batesole played minor league baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.[1] In 1990, Batesole completed his bachelor's degree in kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton. He later completed a master's degree in biomechanics from the same university.[2] During his graduate studies, Batesole was an instructor in the Health and Physical Education Department.[4]

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1986–1995)

From 1986 to 1987 and again in 1991, Batesole was an assistant coach at Orange Coast College, a junior college in Costa Mesa, California.[3] After completing his master's degree, Batesole was an assistant coach at another Southern California junior college in the 1993 season, Cypress College.[5]

Batesole joined the coaching staff of Bill Kernen at Cal State Northridge in July 1993.[5] As an assistant, Batesole specialized in coaching infielders and calling the offense.[2]

Cal State Northridge (1996–2002)

Following the resignation of Kernen in August 1995, Cal State Northridge promoted Batesole to interim head coach.[3] Batesole led Cal State Northridge to a 52–18 record, NCAA Regionals runner-up appearance, and first Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title in school history in his debut season of 1996.[2][6] Cal State Northridge promoted Batesole long-term as head coach in July 1996.[6]

Batesole led Cal State Northridge through its transition out of the WAC to independence (1997 to 2000) to the Big West Conference in 2001. In its first year of independence in 1997, Cal State Northridge went 42–20–1.[7] After leading a team largely consisting of freshmen and junior college transfers to a 37–19 record in 1998, Batesole earned National Coach of the Year honors from Collegiate Baseball.[4]

The Big West Coach of the Year in 2002, Batesole reached his 250th career win that season and led Cal State Northridge to a 41–17 season, its first Big West title, as well as an NCAA Regionals appearance.[2][7] In seven seasons from 1996 to 2002, Batesole led Cal State Northridge to a cumulative 256–158–1 record, the second most wins for a head coach in program history.[2][7]

Fresno State (2003–2022)

On May 28, 2002, California State University, Fresno hired Batesole to be head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team following the retirement of 34-year head coach Bob Bennett.[8][9]

Batesole led Fresno State to six WAC tournament titles: four straight from 2006 to 2009 and two more in 2011 and 2012, in addition to five WAC regular season titles: three straight from 2006 to 2008 and two more from 2010 to 2011. Fresno State moved from the WAC to Mountain West Conference (MW) beginning in the 2013 season. In 2016, Fresno State won the MW regular season title for its first championship in that conference, for which Batesole won MW Coach of the Year honors.[2]

On December 8, 2022, Batesole retired from coaching.[10]

2008 national championship

Main article: 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team

In 2008, he coached Fresno State to their first College World Series appearance in seventeen years by defeating #3 Arizona State, and then defeating #6 Rice University, #2 University of North Carolina to advance to the championship, and then defeating #8 University of Georgia in the final two games in a best two-out-of-three championship series winning 19–10 in the second game, and 6–1 in the third game to win Fresno State their first NCAA Men's Championship.

Head coaching records

The following is a list of Batesole's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[11][12][13]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Cal State Northridge Matadors (Western Athletic Conference) (1996)
1996 Cal State Northridge 52–18 21–9 1st (West) NCAA Regional
Cal State Northridge Matadors (NCAA Division I independent) (1997–2000)
1997 Cal State Northridge 42–20–1
1998 Cal State Northridge 37–19
1999 Cal State Northridge 27–29
2000 Cal State Northridge 23–33
Cal State Northridge Matadors (Big West Conference) (2001–2002)
2001 Cal State Northridge 34–22 9–9 4th
2002 Cal State Northridge 41–17 19–5 1st NCAA Regional
Cal State Northridge: 256–158–1 (.618) 49–23 (.681)
Fresno State Bulldogs (Western Athletic Conference) (2003–2012)
2003 Fresno State 30–29 14–16 3rd
2004 Fresno State 29–29 17–12 2nd
2005 Fresno State 30–29 16–14 2nd
2006 Fresno State 45–18 18–6 1st NCAA Regional
2007 Fresno State 38–29 17–7 1st NCAA Regional
2008 Fresno State 47–31 21–11 1st College World Series champions
2009 Fresno State 32–30 12–12 T–3rd NCAA Regional
2010 Fresno State 38–25 16–8 1st
2011 Fresno State 40–16 17–7 T–1st NCAA Regional
2012 Fresno State 31–28 8–10 5th NCAA Regional
Fresno State Bulldogs (Mountain West Conference) (2013–2022)
2013 Fresno State 23–33 14–16 4th
2014 Fresno State 28–29 13–17 5th
2015 Fresno State 31–28 18–12 3rd
2016 Fresno State 36–22 21–9 1st
2017 Fresno State 35–24 18–12 3rd
2018 Fresno State 30–27 13–17 4th
2019 Fresno State 38–14–1 20–8–1 1st NCAA Regional
2020 Fresno State 9–7 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Fresno State 20–25 16–18 5th
2022 Fresno State 27–28 15–15 T–4th
Fresno State: 599–485 (.553) 148–121 (.550)
Total: 855–643–1 (.571)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b "Mike Batesole". baseball-reference. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Mike Batesole". Fresno State. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Fletcher, Jeff (August 26, 1995). "Batesole Is Man for CSUN Job". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Mike Batesole". CSUN. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Hiserman, Mike (July 20, 1993). "CSUN Hires Assistant to Kernen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Haddad, Dana (July 18, 1996). "Northridge Stays With a Winner: Batesole". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "NCAA Statistics: Mike Batesole". NCAA. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Stephens, Eric (May 29, 2002). "Northridge Coach Off to Fresno". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "Mike Batesole Named New Baseball Coach". Fresno State. May 28, 2002. Archived from the original on December 22, 2002. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  10. ^ "Fresno State baseball coach Batesole announces retirement". www.fresnobee.com. Fresno Bee. December 8, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "2013 Big West Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). BigWest.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 14, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  12. ^ "All-time standings" (PDF). 2022 Mountain West Baseball Record Book. Mountain West Conference. 2022. pp. 37–39. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  13. ^ "2013 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Western Athletic Conference. 2013. pp. 82–83. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2022.

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