Through his first three years leading WKU baseball, Marc Rardin has accumulated 115 wins – the second-most among the 33 Division I baseball schools that made head coaching hires prior to the 2023 season. (WKU ATHLETICS)

Thirty-three NCAA Division I baseball programs hired new head coaches prior to the 2023 season, including Western Kentucky, which brought in NJCAA Hall of Famer Marc Rardin.

Rardin had spent the previous 20 seasons at Iowa Western Community College, compiling a 934-252 overall record, appearing in 12 JUCO College World Series and winning three NJCAA Division I National Championships.

Through his first three years leading WKU baseball, Rardin has accumulated 115 wins – the second-most among the 33 Division I baseball schools that made head coaching hires prior to the 2023 season. Only Clemson, with 133 victories under Erik Bakich, has more. Rardin’s 115 wins mark the most in a three-year span for WKU since 1980–82, with the Hilltoppers improving their win total each year under his leadership.

Rardin and the Hilltoppers are coming off arguably the greatest season in program history, finishing 46-14 (18-9 CUSA), the second-most wins in a season and the most in 45 years. WKU captured its first conference tournament title in 17 years and first ever Conference USA Championship, earning an NCAA Regional berth as the league’s automatic qualifier – their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years.

The 2025 season saw WKU start 20-1 – the best start in program and CUSA history – including a 15-game winning streak, the second-longest in program history. The Hilltoppers won their first 23 home games, setting a new program record, and finished the regular season 30-3 at home – the most home victories in a single season in program history and the most among Group of Five programs.

WKU appeared in multiple national polls following a series win at #17 Dallas Baptist, marking the program’s first national ranking since 2010. The Hilltoppers climbed as high as No. 17 in the Baseball America Poll, the highest ranking in program history by a national media outlet. This ranking followed a series win over rival Middle Tennessee.

Rardin earned his 100th career win at WKU in just his third season, following a series sweep at Liberty. He is the second-fastest coach to 100 wins at WKU, behind Joel Murrie (1980–2005).

After the regular season, Rardin was named CUSA’s Keith LeClair Coach of the Year – the first Conference Coach of the Year in 16 years for WKU and the first in program history for Conference USA. He was also recognized as an ABCA/ATEC Midwest Region Co-Coach of the Year, the first Hilltopper coach to receive this honor since the award’s inception in 2003.