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COACHES BIOS COACHES BIOS THE BATESOLE FILE FRESNO STATE BASEBALL MIKE BATESOLE Mike Batesole enters his 10th season as head coach at Fresno State. Batesole and the Bulldogs won the program's fifth Western Athletic Conference league title in six years last season with a 17-7 record. Overall, the 'Dogs finished the season 40-16 and went on to win their fifth WAC tournament championship. The Bulldogs have played in every WAC tournament championship game since the tournament format was brought back in 2006. Every returning player under Batesole has won a conference championship every year of their career in the program. Fresno State finished the 2011 season at the UCLA Regional, the team's fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament in the past six years. Under Batesole, the 'Dogs have made five NCAA appearances, made it to the regional title game three of the last six years and won the National Championship in 2008. Batesole coached three All-Americans in 2011. Greg Gonzalez and Dusty Robinson were named to the Louis- ville Slugger All-American first and third teams, respec- tively, while Aaron Judge was named a Louisville Slug- ger Freshman All-American. Nine Bulldogs were named to 2011 All-WAC teams with Robinson, Gonzalez and Judge taking home the top honors. Robinson was named WAC Player of the Year (the fourth straight Bulldog named top conference player), Gonzalez pitcher of the year and Judge fresh- man of the year. The threesome were joined on the All- WAC first-team by Jordan Ribera, Danny Muno, Garrett Weber and Austin Wynns. Brennan Gowens and Josh Poytress were named to the second team. After an award filled season, it was no surprise when 10 'Dogs were selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. In all, the Bulldogs have had 39 players drafted, 39 first-team All-WAC selections, six conference MVPs, two Joe Kearney award winners and six freshman All- Americans under Batesole's watch. Dedicated not only to excellence on the diamond but in the classroom as well, Batesole saw eight Bulldogs earn Academic All-WAC honors in 2011. Overall, 53 Bulldogs have earned Academic All-WAC honors under Batesole. In 2010, he was named the WAC Coach of the Year, while Bobby Coyle, Gonzalez, Ribera and Robinson were named first-team All-WAC. Also earning all-confer- ence awards that year were Weber, Poytress and Muno. Ribera was the third consecutive Bulldog to be named WAC Player of the Year. Ribera led the nation in home runs under Batesole with 27 and was named an All-American by several publica- tions, making him the sixth Bulldog, at the time, to earn All-American honors since Batesole started at Fresno State. Two Bulldogs were selected in the 2010 MLB draft. Coyle in the 10th round to the Los Angeles Dodg- ers and Muno in the 28th round to the Chicago Cubs. The 'Dogs also had a multi-year Academic Progress Rate of 976 out of 1000 in 2010. In 2009, the Bulldogs brought back a little magic from the 2008 season and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 32nd time in school history. Fresno State was one of only four teams in the Western Region to make four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. That same season, the Bulldogs compiled a 12-12 WAC record and a 32-30 overall record with 22 newcomers on the squad. Batesole earned his 500th career victory on May 14, 2009, with a 15-7 win over Sacramento State. Batesole's team had four first-team All-WAC selections in Mendonca, Muno, Sprague and Robinson and four players taken in the 2009 MLB draft. Mendonca earned several All-American honors, while Robinson was named a freshman All-American. The 2008 season was a historical one for Fresno State. After defying the odds and beating six ranked teams and facing six elimination games, the 'Dogs won the program's first-ever National Championship, defeating Georgia in the College World Series. The Bulldogs captured their third-consecutive WAC championship in 2008 and finished the postseason run with an overall record of 47-31. Six Bulldogs were draft- ed in the 2008 MLB draft. Batesole earned four National Coach of the Year accolades from the American Base- ball Coaches Association, FieldTurf, the National Col- lege Baseball Writers Association and, for the second time, from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Fresno State saw five players earn first-team All-WAC honors in 2008. Under Batesole, Susdorf earned Player of the Year, Muno was named Freshman of the Year and Scheppers became the Pitcher of the Year. Batesole also shared the WAC Coach of the Year title. The 2008 postseason run was the 'Dogs fourth appearance at the College World Series and first National Championship. The Bulldogs took home a WAC Championship in 2007 and, for the first time in school history, won back- to- back WAC league and tournament championships. The Bulldogs finished with a 17-7 conference mark and a 38-29 overall record. Fresno State captured the title in 2006, producing one of the best records in school his- tory at 45-18. In addition, Batesole has continued the success of producing quality prospects. Four members of the Fresno State program were draft- ed in the 2007 MLB draft in Susdorf, Brandon Miller, Bri- an Lapin and Ozzie Lewis. Batesole also generated six first-team All-WAC selections, one less than the 2006 team. The Bulldogs earned two regional wins over Minne- sota and No. 4 San Diego in 2007. Fresno State 2011 32 CROSS COUNTRY 2012 33 HEAD COACH ....................................... 10TH YEAR also placed Mendonca, Lewis, Danny Grubb, Scheppers, and Susdorf on the San Diego All-Regional team. The WAC Tournament win in 2006 was the first in the program's history. The Bulldogs reached the postseason for the second time since 2001 with one win against San Diego and another against Minnesota and two losses against Cal State Fullerton. The 2006 Bulldog team closed out the year with the program's 31st-straight season at .500 or above. Under Batesole, the Bulldogs have had two players selected in the first round of the MLB draft. .................................................... PERSONAL FRESNO STATE SEASON WITH THE BULLDOGS: 10TH DATE HIRED: MAY 28, 2002 .................................................... BIRTHDATE: MARCH 28, 1964 HOMETOWN: ANAHEIM, CALIF. SPOUSE: SUSIE CHILDREN: KASSY, KALLY, KODY AND KORBY .................................................... CAL STATE FULLERTON, EDUCATION BACHELORS IN KINESIOLOGY, 1990 CAL STATE FULLERTON, MASTERS IN BIOMECHANICS, 1992 .................................................... LOS ANGELES DODGERS, 1985-88 PLAYING EXPERIENCE FLORIDA STATE ALL-STAR TEAM, 1987 USA BASEBALL TEAM, 1984 ORAL ROBERTS, 1983-85 GARDEN GROVE HS (ALL-GARDEN GROVE CONFERENCE AND ALL-ORANGE COUNTY HONORS) .................................................... FRESNO STATE, HEAD COACH, 2003-PRESENT COACHING EXPERIENCE CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE, HEAD COACH, 1996-02 CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE, ASSISTANT COACH, 1994-95 CYPRESS COLLEGE, ASSISTANT COACH, 1993 ORANGE COAST COLLEGE, ASSISTANT COACH, 1988-92 Batesole guided the Matadors to a Big West title with a 19-5 conference mark, earning him Big West Conference Coach of the Year honors in his final season at Northridge. Batesole solidified a conference affiliation Right-handed pitcher Matt Garza was selected as the 27th overall pick in the 2005 draft to the Minnesota Twins. Moving quickly through the minors with short stints Double-A affiliate New Britain and Triple-A Rochester, Garza finished his first season with the Minnesota Twins in 2006. Garza made the move to the Tampa Bay Rays and helped pitch the Rays from last to first in the 2008 season. Garza and the Rays made an appearance at the World Series and after the Rays were crowned the ALCS champs, he was awarded MVP honors. Outfielder Richie Robnett was also picked in the first round by the Oakland A's after an All-American cam- paign with the Bulldogs in 2004. In 2003, Batesole became the third head coach at Fres- no State since 1948 and the eighth skipper overall in the program's 82-year history. In his first year, Batesole guided the Bulldogs to their 27th consecutive winning season and 16th-straight campaign with 30 or more wins with a 30-29 record. A season-high nine-game winning streak, that included the school's 13th Pepsi/ Johnny Quik Classic title, highlighted the year. Under his tutelage, five Bulldogs earned All-WAC honors. Batesole joined the Bulldogs after spending seven sea- sons as head coach at Cal State Northridge. During his tenure, the Matadors captured a Western Athletic Con- ference (1996) and Big West Conference title (2002). The Matadors made two NCAA Tournament appearances un- der Batesole and were eliminated by J.D. Drew and the Florida State Seminoles in the NCAA Tournament Re- gionals in 1996. In 2002, the Matadors finished first in the conference in home runs (89), RBIs (392), slugging percentage (.503), on-base percentage (.413) and walks (298). The squad featured nine All-Big West selections, includ- ing the conference's Player of the Year, Eric Verbryke. Cal State Northridge was ranked as high as 15th in the national polls.