Greg Beals (born February 9, 1970) is an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach and former catcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are memb ...

. Beals played college baseball at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

from 1989 to 1991 for coach Danny Hall. He previously served as head coach at

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

(2003–2010) and the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

(2011–2022).

Playing career

Beals was a three-year letterman at catcher for

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

, batting .306 for his career and earning honorable mention All-MAC honors. He was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in the 21st Round of the

1991 MLB Draft The 1991 Major League Baseball draft began 3 June 1991 to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 1990 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be distributed for players who did ...

and played three seasons professionally, reaching high Class-A and playing on division-winning teams in each season.

Coaching career

After ending his playing career, Beals became an assistant coach at Kent State, working primarily on recruiting. In nine seasons with the Golden Flashes, the team claimed a pair of MAC Tournament championships and made three NCAA Regional appearances. He would see 21 recruits sign professional contracts, 36 earn All-MAC honors, and 17 earned Academic All-MAC honors. He then earned his first head coaching job at Ball State. In eight seasons with the Cardinals, his teams claimed three MAC West Division championships and the school's first MAC Tournament title, leading to an NCAA Regional appearance. Only once did his team finish below third in the six-plus team division, also the only time the Cardinals failed to qualify for the MAC Tournament. This was after six starting position players and a top pitcher from the NCAA Tournament team, four of whom were drafted. Beals saw five players named

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, 18 named All-MAC, and 15 Academic All-MAC, as well as 20 players drafted in the

Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

. In the summer of 2010, Beals was named head coach at Ohio State. He has led the Buckeyes to the

Big Ten Tournament Big Ten Tournament can refer to any Big Ten Conference sport that has a tournament or championship game: * Big Ten Football Championship Game * Big Ten men's basketball tournament * Big Ten women's basketball tournament * Big Ten baseball tournamen ...

each of his three seasons. Beals lead the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Regional in 2016, with a Big Ten Conference Tournament championship, their first postseason appearance since 2009. Beals lead the Buckeyes to another Big Ten Conference Tournament championship in 2019. On May 23, 2022, Beals was fired by the Buckeyes after finishing 12th in the 2022 season. He posted a 346–288–1 record in 11 seasons. On July 25, 2022, Beals was introduced as the head coach of the

Akron Zips The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level as a memb ...

. On January 3, 2023, Beals was introduced as the head coach of the Marshall baseball team without ever coaching a game for Akron.

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beals, Greg 1970 births Living people Ball State Cardinals baseball coaches Baseball catchers Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Columbia Mets players Kent State Golden Flashes baseball coaches Kent State Golden Flashes baseball players Marshall Thundering Herd baseball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes baseball coaches Pittsfield Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Sportspeople from Springfield, Ohio