FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State head baseball coach Rich Maloney has announced the hiring of pitching coach Todd Linklater, along with former baseball letterwinner Scott French, who will serve as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Cardinals.
“French was an outstanding player for me at Ball State and part of two of our championship teams in 1999 and 2001,” said Maloney. “Scott is a great person with a great work ethic who loves Ball State with all of his heart. I’m excited to have him by my side. He will be an outstanding recruiting coordinator. Linklater comes to us with a wealth of experience. He is a tireless worker who has developed an outstanding reputation for developing young pitchers. He has outstanding recruiting experience and ties throughout the Midwest. Todd is an excellent communicator and very well respected in the baseball community. I am thrilled to have Scott and Todd by my side as we rebuild the Ball State tradition.”
Linklater comes to Ball State after spending the last 13 seasons (1999-2012) as the associate head coach at Dayton. He helped Dayton to the 2012 Atlantic-10 regular and tournament championship title, the Flyers also captured the regular season crown in 2009. At Dayton, seven of Linklater’s pitchers were Major League Baseball Draft picks since 2000, including two major league level pitchers – Jerry Blevins ’04 and Craig Stammen ’05. The 2011 pitching staff ranked second in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings, set a program record in strikeouts (429) and recorded the lowest ERA in program history during the modern era (3.94).
In addition to his tenure at Dayton, Linklater served as the head coach for the Southern Ohio Great Lakes league in the summer of 2003 where 35 percent of his roster signed a major league contract. Linklater also had coaching stints for the Fort Wayne Royals (1998-99) and IPFW (1997-99). He began his collegiate playing career as a pitcher in 1992-93 at Lincoln Trail Community College under current UD head coach Tony Vittorio. Linklater then transferred to Lake Forest College where he played football and graduated with a degree in history in 1996. His coaching career began at Lake Forest High School where he served as pitching coach from 1996-97. In December of 2002, he finished his master’s degree in educational leadership at UD after earning his bachelor’s in education at Indiana in 1999. Linklater and his wife, Kerry, have three daughters — Caroline, Elizabeth and Madeline.
French, a former four-year letterwinner at Ball State, played under Maloney’s guidance from 1999-2002. He earned his bachelor degree in physical education in 2003. French was the all-time leader in walks (139) and posted a career batting average of .321, while playing in 224 games with 211 starts. He recorded 246 hits, including 42 doubles, nine triples and 26 home runs in his career. After his playing days at Ball State, French was a volunteer assistant coach at Ball State from 2003-07. He helped guide the Cardinals to the 2006 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship which earned Ball State a bid to the NCAA Regionals. French has been a baseball instructor at Prosource Baseball School in Pendleton, Ind., for the last nine years (2003-present), while also spending his time as a sales representative for EmRoe Sporting Goods in Indianapolis.
