Ryan Edward Overland (born October 25, 1985) is an American baseball coach and former catcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs. He played college baseball at Fresno State from 2005 to 2008.
 Overland in 2024. | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Fresno State |
| Conference | Mountain West |
| Record | 63–56 (.529) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 25, 1985 Atascadero, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2005–2008 | Fresno State |
| Position(s) | Catcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2009–2010 | South Dakota State (GA) |
| 2011 | Fresno State (intern) |
| 2012 | Fresno State (volunteer asst.) |
| 2013–2022 | Fresno State (asst.) |
| 2023–present | Fresno State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 63–56 (.529) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 0–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
As a college baseball player, Overland was a catcher under head coach Mike Batesole and helped Fresno State win the 2008 College World Series during his senior year. After graduating from Fresno State, Overland began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at South Dakota State from 2009 to 2010. He then spent over a decade on Batesole's Fresno State coaching staff, starting as an intern in 2011, volunteer assistant in 2012, and assistant coach from 2013 to 2022.
Shortly before the 2023 season, Batesole retired, resulting in Overland being named interim head coach that year. Overland led Fresno State to a 30–27 record, and Fresno State promoted him to a multi-year contract.
Early life and education
editOverland was born in Atascadero, California, one of two children of Dale and Jean Overland, who both worked as teachers. At Atascadero High School, Overland graduated in 2004 as a two-sport athlete, with two letters in basketball as a guard and three letters in baseball as pitcher and catcher. In 2003 and 2004, Overland earned first-team all-league honors and was part of league championship baseball teams, as a junior and senior at Atascadero High.[1]
After high school, Overland attended California State University, Fresno, where he played at catcher for Fresno State Bulldogs baseball from 2005 to 2008 under head coach Mike Batesole.[1][2] As a freshman in 2005, Overland started all 30 Western Athletic Conference games at catcher, with a .992 fielding percentage and .265 batting average. Overland later played primarily in backup roles, with five starts in 23 games in 2006 and 19 starts in 45 games in 2007. He had a .267 batting average in 2006 and .253 batting average in 2007.[1]
As a senior in 2008, Overland had a breakthrough season with career highs in games played (65), starts (41), and batting average (.291), in a season where Fresno State had an unexpected run to the 2008 College World Series national championship.[3][4]
Overland completed his bachelor's degree in communication studies at Fresno State in 2008 and master's degree in health, physical education, and recreation at South Dakota State University in 2010.[2]
Coaching career
editFrom 2009 to 2010, Overland was a graduate assistant at South Dakota State specializing in hitting and catching; South Dakota State won the regular season Summit League championship in 2010.[2] Reuniting with Batesole, Overland returned to Fresno State in 2011 as a coaching intern for Batesole and became a volunteer assistant coach in 2012.[2]
In the fall of 2012, Overland took his first full-time assistant coaching job at Nevada, but Overland returned to Fresno State the following spring for the 2013 baseball season and remained in the job for ten seasons, with Fresno State winning the Mountain West Conference regular season title in 2016 and conference tournament in 2019.[2][5] In his early years as a Fresno State assistant coach, Overland was the third base coach and specialized in coaching catchers.[6] Beginning in 2018, Overland was the pitching coach for Fresno State.[2]
On January 15, 2023, Overland was named the interim head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs about two weeks after Batesole retired.[7] Overland led Fresno State to a 30–27 record, including 16–14 and fourth place in Mountain West Conference standings, a three-win improvement from Batesole's final season in 2022.[8][9]
Fresno State elevated Overland from interim status on May 31, 2023, signing him to a long-term contract.[10]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno State Bulldogs (Mountain West Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Fresno State | 30–27 | 16–14 | 4th[8] | |||||
| 2024 | Fresno State | 33–29 | 16–14 | T–3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| Fresno State: | 63–56 (.529) | 32–28 (.533) | |||||||
| Total: | 63–56 (.529) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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References
edit- ^ a b c "Ryan Overland". Fresno State. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ryan Overland". Fresno State. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ "Overall Statistics for Fresno State (as of Jun 24, 2008)". Fresno State. June 24, 2008. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ Anteola, Bryant-Jon (June 26, 2008). "Underdogs turn to Wonderdogs in just 35 days". The Fresno Bee. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ "MW CHAMPS! Diamond 'Dogs defeat UNLV, 12-6 to win MW Tournament title". Fresno State. May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ "Ryan Overland". Fresno State. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ Steve Hicks (January 15, 2023). "Bulldog Breakdown: Interim coach Ryan Overland talks Mike Batesole & Fresno State baseball". ABC30.com. KFSN-TV. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "2023 Baseball Standings". Mountain West Conference. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ "2022 Baseball Standings". Mountain West Conference. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ Kuwada, Robert (May 31, 2023). "After strong finish, 30 wins, Fresno State sticks with Overland to lead baseball program". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved June 4, 2023.