Eastern Connecticut State University

Mike Odenwaelder was named the eighth head baseball coach in the 75-year history of the program in the summer of 2022, and promptly led the Warriors to their second straight Little East Conference tournament championship (11th overall) in 2023 and a share of their 15th LEC regular-season title in 2024 -- those seasons resulting in the program's 37th and 38th NCAA Division III tournaments, respectively.

In Odenwaelder's first two seasons, Eastern was ranked among the national Top 25 a total of 22 times, landing in the national Top 10 nine times in 2023 and as high as 15th in 2024 after compiling a 21-6 record through mid-April. In 2023, Eastern was ranked no lower than third in the regular season in New England and in 2024, no lower than fourth before gaining a No. 2 ranking in the final poll of the season.

Odenwaelder's first two teams have featured one ABCA and one D3Baseball.com All-America, six ABCA and six D3Baseball.com All-New England players and 17 All-Little East selections -- nine of them first-teamers -- as well as the 2023 LEC tournament MVP.

In addition, 21 athletes in those two years qualified for the LEC All-Academic Team, including 14 in 2024. Moreover, Noah Plantamuro in 2023 and Jason Claiborn in 2024 received the department's prestigious Francis E. Geissler Senior Male SportsPerson-of-the-Year Award, which recognizes sportsmanship, integrity, spirit and fair play, while Matt Malcom in 2023 and Nathan Furino in 2024 were named the department's Team Sport Male Athletes-of-the-Year.

The 2024 team was accorded an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament and was chosen as a host site for a regional tournament. During the regular season in 2024, Eastern had the fourth-longest winning streak (20 games) in program history which began with a 14-11 win at Guilford College March 12 and extended through a 5-4 Little East victory over the University of Southern Maine nearly a month later.


The 2023 season marked the third time that Eastern had won back-to-back LEC tournament titles. After sharing second place in the final LEC standings in 2023, the Warriors went on to a four-game tournament sweep on the field of top-seeded Rhode Island College, downing the University of Massachusetts Boston, 14-6, in the title game

Despite losing two All-Americas and six all-region players from their 2022 national championship team -- the program's fifth such title -- Eastern was ranked among the national Top 10 (and as high as second) through the first eight weeks of the poll in 2023 and earned a final ranking of No. 21 at the conclusion of the season. Under Odenwaelder, the Warriors got off to an 11-1 start and were 17-3 after 20 games and never lost more than two games in a row all season.
 
Prior to being named to his first collegiate head coaching position, Odenwaelder served as assistant coach at Dartmouth College in the spring of 2022 under veteran head coach Bob Whalen after four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Amherst College. At Amherst, Odenwaelder assisted Brian Hamm for one season (2018) and J.P. Pyne for three. Dartmouth was 24-19 in 2022, 14-7 in the Ivy League and Amherst compiled an overall 53-31-1 record and won two conference titles during Odenwaelder’s coaching tenure.
 
Upon his appointment to the position at Eastern, Odenwaelder pointed out that "the biggest things that drew me to Eastern were that it’s a place where you can win, it has a strong sense of community, and it brings me back home to Connecticut,” noted Odenwaelder, a native of Goshen. “Having a head coaching role has always been my end goal, and I don’t see this job as a stop along the way. This is a type of destination job. I don’t plan on using it as a steppingstone to the next big thing… and that’s a testament to Eastern.”
 
Added Odenwaelder, “Eastern has a tight-knit community, and that’s been a blessing that I’ve had in each of my stops in college baseball. I’ve been at schools that have had a lot of school pride and a strong sense of community, and that’s something that I noticed during the interview process (at Eastern) and in my conversations with people who have been involved with Eastern."

Odenwaelder took over one of the winningest programs in Division III baseball history and the most successful one in New England at any level, with the Warriors coming off their winningest (49-3) season ever and fifth NCAA national title a year prior to his arrival.

Odenwaelder welcomed the challenge of maintaining the program’s standard of excellence.
 
“It’s a great situation to be stepping into because of the strong foundation that’s already in place,” added Odenwaelder upon his appointment. “There’s already a real strong foundation of a successful culture and it will be nice to step into a program where we’re looking to re-load and not rebuild. I’ve talked to (returning players) who had major roles on the (2022) team  and guys who had minor roles on the team, and there hasn’t been a negative thing said about a teammate. It’s all been geared toward being competitive on the baseball field and creating a competitive and strong team culture.”
 
 Odenwaelder had a successful career at Wamogo Regional High School in Litchfield. He was an outfielder and parttime pitcher during his three-year (2013-15) playing career at Amherst before being drafted in the 16^th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft  by the Baltimore Orioles and playing 80 games over two seasons in their organization with Aberdeen, MD of the Short-Season New York-Penn League. As a junior at Amherst, the two-time NESCAC Player-of-the-Year and 2013 NESCAC Rookie-of-the-Year was named to the ABCA Division III national Gold Glove team (New England’s only selection). In his career, he helped Amherst to three straight NCAA tournaments for the first time ever, its first 30-win season as a junior and to an overall record of 84-39. Odenwaelder compiled a three-year batting average of .372, leading the club in hitting as both a sophomore (.420) and junior (.380).

Odenwaelder and wife Gina and young son reside in Columbia.
 

EASTERN BASEBALL UNDER MIKE ODENWAELDER                     Overall           Little East             Little East Trnmt