Blake Beemer has been named head coach of the Butler Baseball Program. Butler Vice President/Director of Athletics Barry Collier made the announcement Tuesday, June 21. Beemer replaces Dave Schrage, who announced his retirement last month.

As an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Ball State over the past four seasons (2019-22), Beemer has helped the Cardinals to a 123-65 record.

"Throughout his college coaching and playing career, Blake has built meaningful relationships and impacted on-field success at a high level," said Collier. "There was strong interest in our position and throughout our process, Blake was able to stand out with both his vision and his plan for a successful baseball program at Butler. We are excited to add Blake as a Bulldog and have him lead our program."

"I am extremely excited and fortunate to have been chosen by Barry Collier, Lee Dicklitch, and Butler University to lead the Bulldog Baseball Program to new heights," said Beemer. "The opportunity to build on Coach Schrage's successes while recruiting high level student-athletes to such a great university is not one that I take lightly. I know with the talent in the Midwest, the strength of the BIG EAST Conference, and the national brand of our great university, Butler is in position to be a premier baseball school for our current and future student-athletes."

Beemer helped the Cardinals to the 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season championship and an appearance in the MAC Tournament championship game. Ball State won 40 games in 2022, just the third time in program history to reach that plateau. The Cardinals won 38 games in both the 2021 and 2019 seasons, while the 2020 slate was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 team finished with the best RPI (48) in program history and was one of the "First Four Out" for an at-large berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The 2019 team also reached the MAC Tournament championship game.

Beemer has coached a total of 10 All-MAC selections over the last two seasons, including 2022 MAC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Schweitzer and MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year Ryan Brown. Recent Ball State MLB Draft picks include Drey Jameson (first round), Kyle Nicolas (second round), Chayce McDermott (fourth round), and John Baker (29^th round).

Beemer spent the 2016-18 seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois. Overseeing the team's hitting, he had four hitters belt 10 or more home runs during the 2017 season. That season saw the Panthers finish fourth nationally in home runs with 83 and ranked in the Top 50 nationally in runs scored. Beemer recruited both Trey Sweeney and Will Klein to EIU. Sweeney (first round) and Klein (fifth round) became the first duo from the same Ohio Valley Conference team to be selected in the first five rounds of consecutive MLB Drafts (2021, 2020).  

As an assistant coach, Beemer helped Eastern Illinois earn a berth in the 2018 OVC Tournament after five seasons of not qualifying for the postseason event.

Beemer began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Penn State during the 2014 and 2015 season, coaching outfielders and serving as the first base coach.

Beemer was a four-time letterwinner (2010-13) at Ball State, selected by his peers as team captain in each of his final three seasons. As a Cardinal, he had a .286 batting average, registering 108 runs scored and 94 RBI. Beemer served two years on the Ball State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Executive Committee and was one of 30 finalists for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award.

Beemer earned two degrees from Ball State: a bachelor's degree in 2012 and an MBA in 2014.