Northern Colorado Bears baseball

Northern Colorado Bears baseball is the varsity intercollegiate team representing University of Northern Colorado in the sport of college baseball in NCAA Division I. The team is led by Mike Anderson, and plays its home games at Jackson Field on campus in Greeley, Colorado. The Bears are baseball members of the Summit League, having joined in July 2021 after spending the previous eight years as baseball members of the Western Athletic Conference.
Prior to the 1968 establishment of what is now the NCAA Division II baseball tournament, the Bears reached the College World Series nine times, and reached the CWS again in 1974 at the Division I level for a total of ten appearances, compiling a record of 3–20. The school was known as Colorado State College until 1970, when the school changed to its present name. This is not to be confused with the current Colorado State University, which was known as Colorado A&M until 1957.

Venue

The Bears play baseball home games at Jackson Field, which holds 1,500. Jackson Field has hosted NCAA regionals in 1952, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962 and 1974.

History

Northern Colorado first fielded a baseball team from 1924 to 1942, taking a break during World War II and returned to play in 1945, under Pete Butler, who returned to his post as head coach after serving in the United States Navy.
After playing as a Division I Independent following their return to Division I play in 2004, the Bears joined the Great West Conference for the 2010 season. The Bears captured the 2013 regular season Great West Conference championship, their first conference championship since 1998. When the Great West League became defunct, the Bears joined the Western Athletic Conference.
Following the 2021 season, the Bears announced they would join the Summit League to help control costs.

Head coaches

Records are through June 28, 2024

1924–1927	George E. Cooper	4	13–9–1
1928–1929	George Cooper/Pete Brown	2	6–3
1930–1940	Pete Brown	11	54–58
1941–1942, 1945–1967	Pete Butler	25	417–153–2
1943–1944	World War II – No Team
1968–1970	Thurman Wright	3	43–35–1
1971–1985	Tom Petroff	15	367–198–1
1986–1990	John Barnes	5	90–133
1991–2002	Terry Hensley	12	289–284
2003–2010	Kevin Smallcomb	8	195–235
2011–2022	Carl Iwasaki	12	218–375
2023–present	Mike Anderson	2	27–72–1

1	Pete Butler	25
2	Tom Petroff	15
3	Terry Hensley	12

1	Pete Butler	417
2	Tom Petroff	367
3	Terry Hensley	289

1	Pete Butler	.731
2	Tom Petroff	.649
3	George E. Cooper	.587

Postseason appearances

NCAA tournament

Year	Site	Record	Notes
1949 [NCAA Baseball Tournament\|1949]	Bovard Field	1–2	West Regional
1951	Unknown	2–0	Won District VII Playoff
1952	Jackson Field	2–0	Won District VII Playoff
1952	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1953	Derks Field	2–1	Won District VII Playoff
1953	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1954	Jackson Field	1–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1955	Jackson Field	2–1	Won District VII Playoff
1955	Omaha Municipal Stadium	1–2	CWS Fifth Place
1956	Jackson Field	1–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1957 [NCAA University Division baseball tournament\|1957]	Jackson Field	2–1	Won District VII Playoff
1957	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1958	Cougar Field	1–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1958	Omaha Municipal Stadium	1–2	CWS Fifth Place
1959	Jackson Field	2–1	Won District VII Playoff
1959	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1960	Derks Field	2–1	Won District VII Playoff
1960	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1961	Unknown	3–1	Won District VII Playoff
1961	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1962	Jackson Field	3–0	Won District VII Playoff
1962	Omaha Municipal Stadium	0–2	CWS Seventh Place
1963	UA Field	0–3	Lost District VII Playoff
1964	Falcon Baseball Field	0–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1965	Phoenix Municipal Stadium	2–4	Lost District VII Playoff
1966	Jackson Field	0–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1968	Unknown	1–2	Lost District VII Playoff
1971 [NCAA College Division Baseball Tournament\|1971]	Unknown	3–2	Lost Midwest Regional
1972 NCAA [College Division Baseball Tournament\|1972]	Unknown	2–2	Lost Midwest Regional
1973	Unknown	2–2	Lost Midwest Regional
1974 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament\|1974]	Jackson Field	4–1	Won District VII Playoff
1974	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium	1–2	CWS Fifth Place
1975 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament\|1975]	Packard Stadium	0–2	Lost Rocky Mountain Regional
1976	Bailey Field	0–2	Lost West Regional
1994 [NCAA Division II baseball tournament\|1994]	Mules’ Field	0–2	Lost Central Regional
1998	Mules’ Field	0–2	Lost Central Regional
Total	–	41–60

Source:

Conference affiliations

Rocky Mountain Conference: 1924–1972
Great Plains [Athletic Conference |Great Plains Athletic Conference]: 1973–1976
Division I Independent: 1977–1990
North Central Conference 1991–2003
Division I Independent: 2004–2009
Great West Conference: 2010–2013
Western Athletic Conference: 2014–2021
Summit League: 2022–present