EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball Head Coach Chris Ramirez announced the addition of Derek Beasley to his staff as an assistant coach. Beasley will be responsible for coaching the pitchers.
“Derek is one of the top up and coming pitching coaches in college baseball,” said Ramirez. “He has a proven track record for building successful pitching staffs along with developing players and moving them onto professional baseball.
“Beaz and I have a great coaching chemistry that was successful years during our best years at Lenoir-Rhyne,” continued Ramirez. “Derek is a player’s coach that has the ability to get the most out of his pitchers.”
The native of Harlem, Georgia, joins the USI staff and rejoins Ramirez’s staff after helping Western Carolina University to a record of 49-59 the last two seasons.
Prior to joining the staff at WCU, Beasley was a member of Ramirez’s staff and helped guide Lenoir-Rhyne to a 46-13 record in 2022, collecting eight wins over Top 25 opponents and finishing one victory shy of the NCAA Division II Super Regional appearance. Lenoir-Rhyne’s pitching staff led the nation with an NCAA Division II single-season record of 647 strikeouts in 2022, ranking second in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (11.39).
The Bears also led the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) in team ERA (3.77), finishing 11th nationally, and recorded eight shutouts to rank fifth in the NCAA with a WHIP of 1.31, ninth-best in nationally.
Beasley successfully guided the USC Aiken pitching staff to the top of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC). The Pacers finished second in the league in each of Beasley’s two seasons.
USC Aiken led the PBC in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings while allowing the fewest hits and the lowest batting average against under Beasley in 2019. In 2018, the Pacers was a PBC-best in saves, earned runs, hits, and batting average against.
Before entering the coaching ranks, Beasley ranks as one of the most efficient pitchers in USC Aiken baseball history. He was a two-time, first-team All-Conference selection and finished his collegiate playing career second in program history with 29 victories over 310.1 career innings from 2011-14. Beasley also posted 292 career strikeouts over the 310.1 innings.
As a senior in 2014, Beasley ranked third in NCAA Division II in games started (15) and his 52 career starts are still the program record, garnering team MVP accolades. He ranks eighth in the history of the PBC in strikeouts and wins and is fifth in career games started. In 2013, Beasley won the Mr. Pacer award for the baseball team and was named All-Region.
Beasley, who is a 2016 graduate of USC Aiken with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a 2021 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne with a masters in university leadership, was drafted by Oakland in the 30th round with the 912th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft. He played three seasons of professional baseball (2014-16), securing eight victories over 40 appearances and had a 4.81 career ERA, striking out 78 and waking 31.
