Butler University Athletics

Ross Learnard joined the Butler baseball program in the summer of 2022 as the Bulldog pitching coach. The Bulldogs topped 400 strikeouts as a team in 2023 and were led by the trio of Tyler Banks, Cole Graverson and Ben Whiteside in 2024.
 
Before arriving in Indianapolis, Learnard coached at Purdue, specializing in pitching analytics and team operations. A two-time All-American at Purdue, Learnard returned to the Boilermaker dugout in 2022 as an assistant coach. He worked alongside Chris Marx and John Madia in preparing Purdue’s players for competition and enhancing the overall student-athlete experience. Purdue found success in 2022, opening the year with 15-straight wins. The Boilers set the program’s strikeout record (479) and returned to the Big Ten Tournament. Learnard worked with Jackson Smeltz and Troy Wansing throughout the 2022 campaign. Smeltz was recognized as a third team All-Big Ten selection and Wansing earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher.
 
After graduating from Purdue in 2018, Learnard pursued a coaching career and held assistant positions at Illinois State and Parkland College. While with the Redbirds, Learnard was ISU’s director of operations as a graduate assistant during the 2018-19 school year. The Redbirds won the Missouri Valley Conference that season. The following year he was ISU’s volunteer assistant coach and director of camps.
 
As a student-athlete in West Lafayette, Learnard became the Boilermakers’ single-season saves record holder. He pitched in 56 games over two seasons from 2017 to 2018, earning eight victories and 19 saves while compiling a 1.78 ERA, ranking second in program history in saves and ERA. More importantly, the Boilermakers were 67-48 in his two seasons, their best two-year stretch since the move to Alexander Field in the fall of 2012.
 
As a senior, Learnard helped lead Purdue to a runner-up showing in the Big Ten standings and an NCAA Regional bid, both of which came to fruition thanks in a part to a memorable 21-2 stretch from mid-April through Memorial Day Weekend. The lefty racked up 12 saves during that time.
 
Learnard was Purdue’s pitcher of the year honoree in 2017 after a consecutive scoreless innings streak of 35 2/3 helped him post an ERA of 0.58, eclipsing a team benchmark that had stood since 1965. He was a Second-Team All-American that year as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
 
The following year when his team-record 15 saves earned him All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball, the lefty became the first player in Purdue program history to be a full-fledged All-American in multiple seasons. Learnard was also a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, All-Big Ten performer, Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week.
 
Before transferring to Purdue, Learnard helped Parkland qualify for the NJCAA DII World Series in 2016. He was Parkland’s Male Athlete of the Year and later selected to the Cobras’ All-Decade Team. He returned to Champaign as an assistant coach with Parkland for the 2021 season and helped guide the Cobras to 36 wins, a 23-9 record in conference play and the No. 2 seed in the Region 24 Tournament.