College Coaching News: Mike Smith Returns as CBU Head Softball Coach; Bill Baber Remains on Staff

The following information was released today (Thursday, May 27, 2021) by California Baptist University…

California Baptist University President Dr. Ronald L. Ellis announced on Thursday that the softball program’s all-time wins leader, Mike Smith, will return to Riverside as the head coach.

Smith was the head coach of the University of Mississippi softball program for five years (2015-19) where he posted a record of 187-112 (.625). The record books were rewritten as the Rebels reached heights never before seen in Oxford. Smith led Ole Miss to four NCAA Tournaments, including a pair of Super Regional appearances.

Current skipper Bill Baber will remain on staff as the associate head coach. Smith and Baber have combined for 1,268 total wins as head coaches with 800 of those victories coming while at CBU.

“We are excited to welcome Mike back to lead our softball program forward to new heights in the Division I era,” Dr. Ellis said. “Mike and Bill are committed to our mission of honoring Christ through excellence in athletics. They have helped create a winning tradition within the program, and I have no doubt they will continue to build on that foundation now at the highest level of collegiate athletics.”

Smith, a San Diego native, was previously at the helm of the CBU softball program for eight seasons (2004-11) and compiled a 467-56 (.893) record that included the 2009 NAIA national championship. The Lancers finished in the top-six in the country all eight years, including seven years inside the top-four. The Lancers won their conference championship and advanced to the postseason all eight years, and won 60 or more games in each of Smith’s final four seasons, concluding with a school-record 66 wins in 2011.

“I am excited about the chance to get to work with Mike again. The Lancers accomplished a lot of great things in our first eight years together, and I am excited to see what we can do now in Division I,” Baber said.

Baber previously served on Smith’s staff for eight years at CBU before taking over as the head coach in 2012. Baber registered a 333-161-1 (.688) overall record in 10 seasons as head coach and holds the second most wins in program history.

“I’m thrilled that Mike Smith, who has won at the highest level within a Power 5 conference, has chosen to come be the next head coach at CBU,” said Director of Athletics Tyler Mariucci. “I’m also pleased that Bill Baber will continue to help move this program forward to new heights. It’s a win-win situation for all involved, and we are excited to do this together.”

After a highly successful tenure at CBU, Smith has since served as the head coach at McNeese State and Ole Miss. Smith also has head coaching experience at Biola and UC Riverside (interim). He owns an overall 935-340 (.733) career record as a head coach.

“The chance to return to CBU, a place that’s always felt like home and to coach with Bill again is a situation too good to pass up,” Smith said. “I want to thank Dr. Ellis, Vice President Kent Dacus and Director of Athletics Tyler Mariucci for this opportunity.”

The turnaround at Ole Miss under Smith’s leadership started immediately, with the Rebels tying the school win’s record in the inaugural season before breaking it the next season and resetting it again the following year.

Achieving a winning record just twice in the program’s first 18 seasons, Ole Miss did so in each of Smith’s five campaigns, topping 30 wins each year with three 40-plus win seasons. Smith guided the Rebels to the program’s first four NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the Super Regional round in 2017 and 2019.

Smith came to Ole Miss after he led the McNeese State softball program to three-straight 30-plus win seasons in his three years. He led McNeese State to back-to-back Southland Conference regular season championships in 2013 and 2014 and was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Smith’s record at McNeese State was 112-53 (.679).

Smith was the interim head coach at UC Riverside (2003) prior to his time at California Baptist, and in the four years prior to that he served as head coach at Biola (1999-02), where he won one league title, had a 50-win season and a 10th-place finish at the NAIA World Series.

Baber took over the CBU program in 2012, leading the Lancers to a 49-6 record, a PacWest championship and an NCCAA national title. Under Baber’s leadership, CBU made five-straight NCAA Division II postseason runs from 2014-18 and won three PacWest championships.

CBU moved to the NCAA Division I level in July 2018 and became a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

In the first three seasons at the Division I level, the accomplishments are highlighted by the program’s first-ever win over a Power 5 conference school in Ole Miss (Feb. 14, 2020), as well as the first series sweep of a Power 5 school when the Lancers took both games of a doubleheader against Michigan State (March 5, 2020).