Neffendorf Named 2022 ABCA Regional Coach of the Year

SHREVEPORT, LA - LSUS Baseball’s Head Coach Brad Neffendorf has been named a 2022 ABCA Regional Coach of the Year, announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association on Tuesday. 

This past season, Coach Neffendorf led the Pilots through a 53-8 campaign that saw the Pilots finish the season as a National Semifinalist for the fourth time in program history. The Pilots got off to a flying start in the regular season and continued to play at a high level for the majority of it. 

They finished the regular season with a 47-3 record overall and a 31-2 record in the Red River Athletic Conference. Those 31 conference wins were more than enough for Neffendorf and the Pilots to clinch the seventh Conference Regular Season Championship in program history and set a new conference and program high for league wins. The regular season also saw the Pilots clinch the nation’s longest winning streak twice, once at 23 games, and the other at 13 games. 

The Pilots were given an opportunity to be a host site for the 2022 NAIA Baseball Opening Round for only the second time in program history, the first since 2005. After dropping their opener against Loyola (LA.), the Pilots won four games in three days to punch their ticket to the NAIA World Series for the fifth time in program history. The Pilots then began World Series play with an 8-4 win over Bellevue. After dropping a game, the Pilots bounced back to defeat Faulkner in an elimination game to clinch a spot in the National Semifinals for the fourth time in program history. The Pilots were just one win away from playing in the National Title Game.

Overall, the Pilots finished the season with 53 wins, the second most in program history dating back to 1991 and the inaugural season for LSUS. The Pilots broke the 2012 team’s record for the best start in program history after a 34-2 start to the season. Their 23-game winning streak also set a new program high. 

This is the second straight season that Neffendorf has been named an ABCA Regional Coach of the Year as he did so after the Pilots’ 45-win season a year ago. The Pilots stormed through postseason play, winning both the RRAC Tournamentand the NAIA Opening Round. It was the fourth time in program history the Pilots made it to Lewiston.

2022 ABCA/ATEC NAIA Regional Coaches of the Year