The 2021 season marks Eric Madsen's 13th at the helm of the Wolverine baseball program. He took Utah Valley to its first NCAA Regional in 2016 and during his career has amassed over 300 victories, as he'll enter the 2021 campaign with a record of 302-332 (.476) at UVU.
Madsen has helped his team achieve ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award honors in two of the last three seasons, and has also coached a total of 48 all-conference players during his tenure at Utah Valley as well as 104 total academic all-conference honorees.
Among all of the successes his teams have achieved through the years, 2016's NCAA Tournament berth was the pinnacle and a first for the program that moved to NCAA Division I in 2004. The Wolverines earned the Western Athletic Conference's automatic berth by going 4-0 in the conference tournament in Mesa, Arizona, en route to winning the program's first WAC Tournament title. The tournament was capped by a 4-0 shutout of Seattle University at Hohokam Park.
UVU was placed in the 2016 Baton Rouge Regional at Louisiana State University. The Wolverines fell to #5 LSU, 7-1, before being edged by Southeastern Louisiana, 3-2, to see the team's run end.
The 2016 team included five All-WAC performers including first-team selections Greyson Bogden, Mark Krueger and Danny Beddes. Beddes became the program's first player to be selected in the MLB draft since 2012 when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 15th round. In 2019, Orem native and fellow right-handed pitcher Paxton Schultz became UVU's highest MLB draftee in program history, as he was selected by the Brewers in the 14th round.
During a three-year span from 2010-12, Madsen led the Wolverines to 123 wins against just 51 losses for an impressive .707 winning percentage. Those seasons also brought three consecutive Great West Conference regular season and tournament championships.
The 2012 season was one for the storybooks for Utah Valley, with a record of 47-12 - including a 32-game winning streak - the school received national attention for the program's unprecedented success. Madsen's club led the nation in winning percentage (.797) and had the best team batting average (.350) in the country for the second time in three seasons. UVU also led the nation in runs per game (9.02), runs (532) and slugging percentage (.523).
The 2012 season also included the 32 straight victories, two shy of matching the NCAA record, one of which was over eventual national champion Arizona. For the third straight season, Madsen's club produced at least one All-American with three players receiving the honors in 2012. Goose Kallunki was the first UVU athlete to receive first-team All-American honors with both Billy Burgess and Austin Heaps received third-team recognition. Kallunki received the first-team honors from four different publications, including the National College Baseball Writers Association, which also named the Orem native one of three finalists nationally for the Dick Howser Trophy, regarded as the Heisman Trophy of college baseball. Kallunki was also a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, the District VIII Player of the Year, the Great West Conference Player of the Year and the national leader with 86 RBIs.
Madsen collected his third straight conference Coach of the Year award in 2012, matching the titles he won in 2011 and 2010, when the Wolverines initially established a school record with 42 wins. The 2011 club went 34-22 and for produced an All-American in senior outfielder Chris Benson. The Wolverines lost just two games in the Great West Conference, going 22-2 before winning four straight games to win the year-end tournament.
Madsen was also named the Great West Coach of the Year after finishing the 2010 regular season with a 26-2 record and leading his team to five four-game sweeps in conference. In 2010, Utah Valley finished as the nation's team batting champion, hitting .372 as a club.
The Wolverines also led all Division I teams in doubles (188), doubles per game (3.19), hits (840), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.029). UVU finished second in the nation in three categories; runs (611), RBIs (553) and runs per game (10.4) and were top five in three other categories.
Individually, Jake Rickenbach led the country in runs per game (1.51) while teammate Jace Brinkerhoff was second with 1.49 and led the nation in total runs with 88. Brinkerhoff, who was named a Third-Team All-American, finished less than one-tenth of a point out of the top spot for the individual batting title, batting a school-record .456. Chris Benson was the national leader with 89 runs batted in.
Madsen has produced 48 all-conference players; 25 first team and 23 second team as well as the Player of the Year in 2010 (Jace Brinkerhoff), the Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year in 2011 (Jeremy Gendlek), and the Player of the Year in 2012 (Kallunki). He has also coached a total of five All-Americans as well as had five of his players drafted during his tenure as head coach at UVU (Paxton Schultz - 2019 - 14th Round by Brewers; Danny Beddes - 2016 - 15th Round by Pirates; Goose Kallunki - 2012 - 27th Round by Padres; Jace Brinkerhoff - 2010 - 38th Round by Angels; Justin Smith - 2009 - 36th Round by Cardinals).
Prior to taking over as head coach, Madsen coached for five seasons as an assistant under Steve Gardner and has been a part of the program since the school's first season of NCAA Division I competition in 2004. As an assistant at Utah Valley, Madsen tutored Kam Mickolio, who was drafted in the 18th round by the Seattle Mariners in 2006. Mickolio became UVU's first player to play Major League Baseball when he made his debut on August 20, 2008 for the Baltimore Orioles. Mickolio, who was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization in 2011 is now playing in Japan for the Rakuten Eagles. Madsen also coached former Wolverine Justin Smith, a 36th-round pick in 2009 by the St. Louis Cardinals, during his first season at Utah Valley.
Madsen spent seven years (1996-2003) as the head coach at the College of Eastern Utah, in Price, Utah (now USU Eastern), amassing a 146-160 record. While there he coached former MLB pitcher Willie Eyre, who was a junior college All-American while playing for Madsen. He also coached at CEU with current UVU assosiate head coach David Carter from 1996-99. While at Eastern Utah, he directed the Golden Eagles to a 146-160 overall record. His Eastern Utah teams competed every year in what is considered to be one of the best Junior College conferences in the nation.
Madsen spent two years (1994-1996) as an assistant at Eastern Utah before taking over the helm in 1996. Madsen was also an assistant coach for the Zion Pioneerz, a former professional independent baseball club in St. George, Utah. Madsen played collegiately at both Eastern Utah, from 1990-92, and at Southern Utah University, from 1993-95. He later received his Bachelor's degree from Bellevue University in 2003.
Madsen had an outstanding playing career at both Eastern Utah from 1990-92 and at Southern Utah University from 1993-95. At Eastern Utah he was named the Golden Eagle Player of the Year in 1992.
A graduate of Bonneville High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Madsen lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. As a standout pitcher and infielder he was a three-year starter, two-time All-City selection and was named Athlete of the Year as a senior. Madsen and his wife Jessica have five sons, Mick, Maddux, McGwire, Mays and Murphy and one daughter, Macee.
