Northern Colorado Bears baseball

Last updated
Northern Colorado Bears
Baseball current event.svg 2024 Northern Colorado Bears baseball team
UNC Bears.png
Founded1924 (1924)
University University of Northern Colorado
Head coach Mike Anderson (2md season)
Conference Summit League
Location Greeley, Colorado
Home stadium Jackson Field
(Capacity: 1,500)
Nickname Bears
ColorsBlue and gold [1]
   
College World Series appearances
1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958,
1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1974
NCAA Tournament appearances
Division II: 1994, 1998
Division I: 1974, 1975, 1976
College Division: 1971, 1972, 1973
No Divisions: 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955,
1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961,
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968
Conference tournament champions
NCC: 1998
GPAC: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
RMC: 1971, 1972
Regular season conference champions
GWC: 2013
NCC: 1998
GPAC: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
RMC: 1954, 1955, 1956,
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963,
1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1972

Northern Colorado Bears baseball is the varsity intercollegiate team representing University of Northern Colorado in the sport of college baseball in NCAA Division I. The team is led by Mike Anderson, and plays its home games at Jackson Field on campus in Greeley, Colorado. The Bears are baseball members of the Summit League, having joined in July 2021 after spending the previous eight years as baseball members of the Western Athletic Conference. [2]

Contents

Prior to the 1968 establishment of what is now the NCAA Division II baseball tournament, the Bears reached the College World Series nine times, and reached the CWS again in 1974 at the Division I level for a total of ten appearances, compiling a record of 3–20. The school was known as Colorado State College until 1970, when the school changed to its present name. This is not to be confused with the current Colorado State University, which was known as Colorado A&M until 1957.

Venue

The Bears play baseball home games at Jackson Field, which holds 1,500. [3] Jackson Field has hosted NCAA regionals in 1952, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962 and 1974.

The Bears home dugout at Jackson Field, July 2015 Northern Colorado Bears - Baseball team fieldhouse.JPG
The Bears home dugout at Jackson Field, July 2015

History

Northern Colorado first fielded a baseball team from 1924 [4] to 1942, taking a break during World War II and returned to play in 1945, under Pete Butler, who returned to his post as head coach after serving in the United States Navy. [5]

After playing as a Division I Independent following their return to Division I play in 2004, the Bears joined the Great West Conference for the 2010 season. [6] The Bears captured the 2013 regular season Great West Conference championship, their first conference championship since 1998. [7] When the Great West League became defunct, the Bears joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). [8]

Following the 2021 season, the Bears announced they would join the Summit League to help control costs. [9]

Head coaches

TenureCoachYearsRecordPct.
1924–1927 George E. Cooper 413–9–1.587
1928–1929George Cooper/Pete Brown26–3.667
1930–1940Pete Brown1154–58.482
1941–1942, 1945–1967 Pete Butler 25417–153–2.731
1943–1944 World War II – No Team
1968–1970Thurman Wright343–35–1.551
1971–1985Tom Petroff15367–198–1.649
1986–1990John Barnes590–133.404
1991–2002Terry Hensley12289–284.504
2003–2010Kevin Smallcomb8195–235.453
2011–2022 Carl Iwasaki 12218–375.368
2023–present Mike Anderson 10–0

Postseason appearances

NCAA tournament

YearSiteRecordNotes
1949 Bovard Field 1–2West Regional
1951 Unknown2–0Won District VII Playoff
1952 Jackson Field2–0Won District VII Playoff
1952 Omaha Municipal Stadium 0–2CWS Seventh Place
1953 Derks Field 2–1Won District VII Playoff
1953 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1954 Jackson Field1–2Lost District VII Playoff
1955 Jackson Field2–1Won District VII Playoff
1955 Omaha Municipal Stadium1–2CWS Fifth Place
1956 Jackson Field1–2Lost District VII Playoff
1957 Jackson Field2–1Won District VII Playoff
1957 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1958 Cougar Field1–2Lost District VII Playoff
1958 Omaha Municipal Stadium1–2CWS Fifth Place
1959 Jackson Field2–1Won District VII Playoff
1959 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1960 Derks Field2–1Won District VII Playoff
1960 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1961 Unknown3–1Won District VII Playoff
1961 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1962 Jackson Field3–0Won District VII Playoff
1962 Omaha Municipal Stadium0–2CWS Seventh Place
1963 UA Field0–3Lost District VII Playoff
1964 Falcon Baseball Field 0–2Lost District VII Playoff
1965 Phoenix Municipal Stadium 2–4Lost District VII Playoff
1966 Jackson Field0–2Lost District VII Playoff
1968 Unknown1–2Lost District VII Playoff
1971 Unknown3–2Lost Midwest Regional
1972 Unknown2–2Lost Midwest Regional
1973 Unknown2–2Lost Midwest Regional
1974 Jackson Field4–1Won District VII Playoff
1974 Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium1–2CWS Fifth Place
1975 Packard Stadium 0–2Lost Rocky Mountain Regional
1976 Bailey Field0–2Lost West Regional
1994 Mules’ Field0–2Lost Central Regional
1998 Mules’ Field0–2Lost Central Regional
Total41–60(38–40 regionals)
(0–0 super reg.)
(3–20 CWS)

Source: [10]

Conference affiliations

Source: [11]

Awards and honors

All-Americans

YearPositionNameTeamSelector
1949PHarry Wise3rd ABCA
1954OFRichard Porter2ndABCA
1956PJohn Hogg3rdABCA
1957PJohn Hogg3rdABCA
1957OFDel Peterson2ndABCA
1958CLarry Klumb3rdABCA
1959PDon Herrick3rdABCA
1961OFJohn Koehler3rdABCA
1967SSGreg Riddoch3rdABCA
1972CBob DeMeo2ndABCA
1973CBob DeMeo3rdABCA
1974CBob DeMeo3rdABCA
1982OFJordon Berge3rdABCA
1989OFTim Walstrom1stABCA
1990OFTim Walstrom1stABCA
20031BPhil Delich2ndABCA
2013OFNick Miller2ndABCA

Freshman All-Americans

YearPositionNameSelector
2012OFJensen Park [12] Louisville Slugger

Conference player of the year

YearConferencePositionName
2013Great WestOFJensen Park
2015WACOFJensen Park [13]

Conference coach of the year

YearConferenceName
2013Great West Carl Iwasaki

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References

  1. UNC Style Guide (PDF). March 1, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  2. Record Book (PDF). Northern Colorado Bears. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  3. "Outdoor Fields at UNC". www.unco.edu. University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  4. Samuel G. Mustari (May 13, 2020). "Strong past can lead way for UNC in future on diamond". www.greeleytribune.com. Greeley Tribune. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  5. "Pete Butler, baseball and basketball coach at Colorado State College of Education (later named Colorado State College), 1940–1967". www.digarch.unco.edu. University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  6. "UNC baseball has fresh start in Great West". www.greeleytribune.com. Greeley Tribune. February 26, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  7. "University of Northern Colorado sports teams have best Division I seasons yet". www.greeleytribune.com. Greeley Tribune. June 2, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  8. "Week in Weld: The University of Northern Colorado baseball team is all set to compete in the WAC". www.greeleytribune.com. Greeley Tribune. March 26, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  9. Jayden Watson-Fisher (July 21, 2020). "UNC baseball will reduce travel time, cost with conference change". www.greeleytribune.com. Greeley Tribune. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  10. "BSB Records Final 2017 Season" (PDF). www.uncbears.com. University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  11. "Northern Colorado to join The Summit League as a baseball affiliate" (Press release). The Summit League. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  12. ""LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'S" FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN BASEBALL TEAM". www.baseballnews.com. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Inc. June 6, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  13. "2015 All-WAC Baseball Teams Announced". www.wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. May 19, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2020.