June 26, 2018
MADISON, S.D. - Dakota State University head baseball coach Geoff Schaab is excited to announce the hiring of Derrion Hardie as its head assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator.
"I am excited to become a DSU Trojan," stated Hardie. "My wife and I wanted to return back to our home state of South Dakota to be closer to family and this is the right opportunity. I have learned that vision, mission, core values and continually asking why we do what we do is what drives organizational excellence. Coach Schaab has an aggressive 'brick by brick' vision for building DSU Trojan Baseball into an eventual North Star Athletic Conference contender, a vision I believe in and am grateful that he has entrusted me to assist him with."
"DSU is innovative and provides a great academic setting that rivals private schools and costs significantly less," added Hardie. "Additionally, the DSU Athletics Master Plan is impressive and will significantly change the landscape of Trojan Athletics. DSU, Trojan Athletics and its baseball program has a motivating future that I am thrilled to be a part of! Brick by Brick…We Are Rising…Go Trojans!"
Prior to arriving at Dakota State University, Hardie was the head baseball coach at Ecclesia College (Ark.) where he was hired to lead the development of the baseball program that began play in 2013. Hardie pioneered the Royals to six consecutive winning seasons, post-season berths and executed a five-year plan to qualify for the NCCAA World Series.
His 2017 team qualified for the World Series and finished No. 7 nationally-ranked. Hardie arguably had his most successful season in 2018, finishing with a 35-18 record and while his Ecclesia team broke most of the team's statistical records highlighted by a .330 team batting average.
His 2018 team also earned a 3.2 team grade point average (GPA) that ran the program's streak to twelve consecutive semesters with a 3.0 or higher team GPA. Hardie engineered 175 wins in his six seasons as the head coach at Ecclesia. During that time, he produced five (5) players that went on to sign professional contracts, five (5) All-Americans, eighteen (18) All-Region, twenty-four (24) All-Conference, two (2) Conference Player-of-the-Year and two (2) Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year selections.
As the head baseball coach at Northwestern College (Iowa), Hardie's teams finished at the top of the Great Plains Athletic Conference in team offense and defense. His Red Raider teams were most known for their offensive production that earned them national recognition in the NAIA top 20 in various team statistical categories, such as his 2003 team that finished 16th in the nation in team home runs (43). That same year, Hardie had a player ranked 2nd in the nation in batting average (.493), 5th in the nation in home runs (17) and 12th in the nation in runs batted in (57).
While at Northwestern, he coached two All-Americans.
Previous to his time at Northwestern, Hardie served as an assistant baseball/catchers and hitting coach at his alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.). While Hardie was at USF, the Cougars qualified for the post-season and he assisted with the development of the 2001 Great Plains Athletic Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year and a 1st Team NAIA All-American outfielder.
In addition to his collegiate coaching, Hardie spent ten years as a highly successful high school head baseball coach in Minnesota and South Dakota. His teams qualified for the state tournament nine of his ten years, reaching the state championship game five times, winning two state championships and receiving two state Coach-of-the-Year honors. During his high school coaching career, Hardie coached 29 All-State Players and 46 All-Region players. Furthermore, he had 18 of his players sign national letters of intent as high as the NCAA Division I.
"Bringing Derrion on to the staff makes us immediately stronger of baseball team by adding proven veteran coaching experience," said Schaab. "His ability to successfully recruit in areas – specifically the South and Midwest – combined with his servant leadership attitude and transformational coaching style make him the exact type of coach DSU Baseball needs to continue growing positively. We also look forward to implementing many of his hitting principles and philosophies into our offense, which furthers the 'chaos' offense that has been work in progress to date."
Hardie will also be the DSU Trojan catchers' position coach as well as the team hitting/offensive coach.
Derrion, a native of Aberdeen, S.D., has been married to his wife, Lisa, for 24 years and they have three children: Sierra (21), Zach (18) and Madisyn (8).
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
