March 8, 2016

Carlson earned his 400th win with Greenville

More news about: Greenville
Greenville head coach Lynn Carlson earned his 400th win in a 13-3 win over Millikin.
Greenville athletics photo

GREENVILLE, Ill. -- The 13-3 win over Millikin was historic for the Greenville College baseball program as its head coach Lynn Carlson recorded his 400th career victory in his 20th season as Greenville's head baseball coach.

Greenville got their bats on track leading into Friday and Saturday's conference contests with MacMurray by pounding Millikin 13-3 in seven innings on Tuesday.

In a beautiful mid-Spring game, the Panthers exploded for 10 runs in the fourth inning as they erased a 3-0 deficit.  Greenville added two runs in the sixth and a run in the seventh to end the game.

Shane Olmsted, playing his first contest of the spring, went 3-for-4 with two runs, four RBI, a double, and a home run. Trevor Montgomery was also 3-for-4 with four runs scored.

Austin Marsh started the game on the mound for Greenville and threw four innings, giving up three runs on four hits and striking out seven. Phillip Reedy picked up the win by throwing three perfect innings with two strikeouts.

Carlson came to Greenville in 1996-97 as head baseball coach, and his first season was the spring of 1997.

In 20 seasons, Carlson has re-written the record book for Greenville baseball coaches, surpassing predecessors Bob Marsh (121 wins), Robert "Ish" Smith (141), and Dave Altopp (294) as he has accumulated a career record of 400-380-2.

The 2006 Panther baseball team was SLIAC regular season champion, and he was SLIAC coach of the year.

The 2015 squad became the first baseball team to advance to the NCAA Division III national tournament as they won the SLIAC tournament championship.

He is currently believed to be second to Coach Lynn Adams among all Greenville College coaches in school history and has the most wins of any men's coach in school history.

While a student at Greenville College, he competed in men's basketball and baseball before signing a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1990 and pitching in the Pirates' and San Diego Padres' organizations for two seasons.

He returned to Greenville College as a student after his professional baseball career and graduated in 1993. He also holds a master's degree from the University of Kentucky.

In 2010, he passed Greenville Hall of Fame baseball coach Dave Altopp to became Greenville College baseball's all-time leader in wins.

The Panthers (2-7) host MacMurray on Friday in the SLIAC opener.