After strong finish, 30 wins, Fresno State sticks with Overland to lead baseball program

Fresno State was in a tight spot in January when baseball coach Mike Batesole walked away from a job he had held for 20 years, one year after signing a contract extension that was to keep him in it through 2026.

But it elevated long-time assistant coach Ryan Overland on an interim basis and gave him a one-year contract, setting up a season-long job search that piqued curiosity across the country and ultimately included coaches at the college level as well as at least one from a Major League Baseball organization.

That search ended on Wednesday when athletics director Terry Tumey removed the interim tag on Overland, who in his first season led the Bulldogs through a late-season surge to finish 30-27 and 16-14 and in fourth place in the Mountain West Conference.

“After an extensive national search, it became clear that Ryan Overland is the right coach to build upon our storied past and lead our baseball program into an exciting new era in our history,” Tumey said, in a statement from the athletics department. “Ryan is a proud alumnus with a deep-rooted passion for Fresno State, Bulldog baseball, and our Central Valley community. He cares tremendously about the personal growth and holistic development of student-athletes, recruits at a high level, and has a unique ability to simultaneously acknowledge and celebrate tradition, while also embracing a whole new world of analytics and forward-thinking in the game of baseball.

“I am excited for Ryan to lead our proud Diamond ’Dogs program back to consistently competing for conference championships and national relevance.” .

The 30 wins matches Batesole in his first season at Fresno State - he was 30-29 in 2003, and in 2006 started a run of four consecutive seasons reaching the NCAA Tournament with a College World Series title in 2008.

Batesole won 639 games at Fresno State before his retirement at the end of 2022.

“(Overland) is an unrelenting recruiter with a program plan,” Batesole said. “He is consistent and knows how to win including the last game of the year, as only a National Champion can. He can’t be outworked.

“As a head coach, he will be over-prepared because he is excellent at thinking ahead, great at adjusting within the game and he will take calculated risks. He will get in the dirt with his players and have his players’ backs. Most importantly, he will invest in them so much on and off the field, that his love for them will form the life-long bonds that only Bulldogs can.”

The Bulldogs season ended on Saturday with a loss to San Jose State in the Mountain West Tournament, and Tumey moved quickly with the NCAA transfer portal window for baseball opening on Monday and the Major League Baseball draft coming up in July.

Overland, a catcher on the Bulldogs’ College World Series championship team, had the Bulldogs at 21-22 at the end of April before a solid finish sparked by a surge of offense.

Fresno State was ranked only sixth in the seven-team Mountain West in batting at .251, sixth in runs scored and seventh in on-base percentage and in slugging percentage, but finished with a team batting average of .269.

In his 13 seasons as an assistant to Batesole or interim coach, Fresno State has produced 63 all-conference selections and won three regular season titles and conference tournament titles.

“I am extremely honored for the opportunity to be the head coach of Fresno State baseball, a program that means so much to not only myself, but so many people,” Overland said.

“The pride and tradition of Bulldog baseball runs deep through generations of Bulldogs and I am filled with excitement to lead the future of the program. I would like to thank athletic director Terry Tumey and president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval for their leadership and vision for the future of both the University and the program.”