Jeremy Beard, Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners

After serving one year as interim head coach, Jeremy Beard was hired as permanent head coach of the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners in July of 2017.

The Roadrunners went through fall practice in 2016 with head coach Bob Macaluso before firing him in mid-December. School officials said they wanted a more positive direction for the baseball program and named Beard as the team’s interim’s head coach for the 2017 campaign.

Beard led the Roadrunners to a resurgence, as the team turned their record around from a 19-37 record to a 32-24 finish in 2017. The Roadrunners finished in third place in the Western Athletic Conference, placed seven players on All-Conference teams and for the third time in five years had a pitcher earn ‘Pitcher of the Year’ in Max Carter.

Beard came to CSUB after coaching at the University of Portland during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He served as the outfield and hitting coach for 19-year head coach, Chris Sperry. In 2014, Beard was the head b aseball coach in the West Coast Collegiate League for the Portland Lobos.

He quickly returned to the college ranks, becoming the Associate Athletic Director while serving as the Associate Head Coach at Columbia Basin College (Wash.). During a nine-year stint with the Hawks from 2001 to 2010, Beard impacted the college by leading the fundraising, community relations, facility projects, academic advising, and game management for the athletic department. He was the lead on raising funds and major gifts in kind for facility projects such as a new soccer facility and a four locker room building among other projects.

As a coach at CBC, Beard served many roles but was primarily the pitching and catching coach, helping the program earn a record of 309-84 (.786) including six conference championships. The Hawks qualified for the NWAC Championship tournament all nine seasons, winning the 2006 championship and finishing in the top five out of 28 teams eight times. The Hawks ranked among the nation’s Top 25 teams six times and reached the nation’s Top 10 list on three occasions. CBC hurlers won the conference pitching title all nine seasons in record-breaking form including ...