Greencastle, Ind. - Blake Allen, a former DePauw student-athlete and assistant coach and most recently baseball assistant at Vanderbilt University, has been named DePauw's head baseball coach.
Allen served two stints (2004-08 and 2015-16) for a total of five seasons with the Commodores with responsibilities that included first base coach, assistant hitting coach, bullpen coach and catching coach. During that time, Vanderbilt appeared in four NCAA regionals with a 210-101 overall record including a Southeastern Conference championship.
Additionally, 45 student-athletes were selected in the MLB draft including two MLB All-Stars and 12 total players currently or previously competing in the majors. Commodores players earned 50 All-SEC Academic accolades and 10 all-America honors during that time.
Allen was also assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for seven seasons (2009-15) at Western Kentucky where he held roles as the Hilltoppers' hitting, pitching and catching coach. The team was ranked in the NCAA Division I Top 25 three different seasons and made one NCAA regional appearance with one Sun Belt Conference title.
The team posted 10 consecutive semesters of at least a 3.0 grade point average with six Academic All-America® honorees. A total of 21 student-athletes were selected in the MLB draft and Hilltoppers players garnered seven all-America honors and 22 all-conference accolades during those seven seasons.
The St. Louis, Mo., native attended DePauw for two years and was an outfielder for the Tigers during the 1996 and 1997 seasons as well as a defensive back on the 1997 football team. He transferred to Blackburn College where he played both sports and set several of the Beavers' receiving records in football. Allen was an honorable mention all-conference choice in baseball.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Blackburn, Allen came back to DePauw where he served as an assistant baseball coach for two seasons and football for one while earning a Master of Science degree from Indiana State. He then assisted in both baseball and football at Franklin College for the 2003-04 year and served as recruiting coordinator.