Cobleskill, N.Y.: The SUNY Cobleskill Athletic Department announced today that current Fighting Tiger pitching coach Austin Straub has been named the team's interim head baseball coach for the 2022-23 academic year. Straub succeeds Lance Ratchford who recently accepted the head coaching position at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. after leading Cobleskill to back-to-back North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Western Division Titles in 2021 and 2022 while compiling a 60-56 overall record in his four seasons directing the program including a 30-17 mark versus league opponents.
In his three seasons as the team's pitching coach, Straub guided the staff to a 44-34 overall record with a 6.14 ERA in 587 innings of work as Cobleskill pitchers struck out 398 batters on their way to back-to-back NAC Divisional Championships. Under his direction a pair of Fighting Tiger hurlers earned All-NAC Team honors as Jarrod Williams, Baldwinsville, N.Y., earned Second Team All-NAC honors in 2021 and Wyatt Palmer, Camden, N.Y., earned All-NAC First Team acclaim and NAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honors in 2022.
According to Fighting Tiger Athletic Director Marie Curran-Headley, Straub was a natural choice to take the reigns of the program at this time.
"Over the past three years Austin has played a major role in our baseball program's success and has become a valued member of not only our athletic department but of our campus community as well. He is well known to returning players, our current recruiting class and our college community which makes him an excellent choice for our program."
As he prepares to begin the new year and starts to prepare for the 2023 campaign, the new Fighting Tiger Head Coach spoke about what the position means to him and the task ahead.
"I want to thank Marie Curran-Headley our Athletic Director on trusting me with the guidance of the Cobleskill baseball program. Having spent nine years as an assistant coach at the college level, I look forward to the challenge in front of me. Understanding that our program is built on development, as an athlete, student and human being, the players and I will continue to build this program into the championship caliber team that Coach Ratchford put us on the path towards. The great thing about this transition is the culture these players have grown accustomed to and have thrived in stays the same. I'm a familiar face to the returners and I've spent time with those new to the program. We know our goals and we know where we need to grow. It's time to get to work and bring home a NAC Baseball Conference Championship banner to Cobleskill."