Muhlenberg College Men's Baseball

Summary • Career record through 2026 season: 208-272-2 (.434) in 14 seasons • Second-winningest coach in Muhlenberg baseball history  • Three Centennial Conference playoffs berths • Coached first All-American in program history • Coached 31 All-Centennial Conference selections, two CC rookies of the year and two CC scholar-athletes of the year • Teams have posted the top four fielding percentages in program history, all since 2017 • Coached program's all-time leaders in hits, doubles, extra-base hits, fielding percentage, assists, saves, and strikeouts Coaching Highlights 2026 Record 11-25 • Young team that included seven freshman and sophomore in the lineup most games • Averaged 9.47 runs per game at new home field Bicentennial Park  • Set school record with 15-run inning vs. Dickinson • First all-region shortstop in program history • Twice came back from at least six runs down in eighth inning or later to win 2025 Record 19-20 • 10-win improvement was the second-best in program history • Mules were in contention for a playoff spot on the final day of the season • Team averaged 7.51 runs per game, most since 2010 • Win against nationally ranked Gettysburg • First All-American in program history • Three all-region selections and two All-Centennial Conference first-team picks 2024 Record 9-30 • Mules set Division III record for walks in a game 2023 Record 16-22-1 • Tied Haverford for final playoff spot after being picked eighth in Centennial Conference preseason poll • Set program record with six All-CC selections and had program's first Gold Glove of the Year • Placed two position players on the All-CC first team for the first time since 2003 • Centennial Conference Gold Glove and Scholar-Athlete of the Year 2022 Record 16-21 • Coached first Mule pitcher to make D3baseball.com all-region team • Won Gallaudet Bison Classic 2021 Record 7-9 2020 Record 6-6 2019 Record 20-19 • Earned second straight playoff berth thanks to a season sweep of Swarthmore, at the time ranked ninth in Division III • Team set school records for doubles, extra-base hits and fielding percentage in a season 2018 Record 19-20 • Led a team that was picked eighth in the CC preseason poll to a third-place finish and a playoff berth • Staff set school record for batters struck out in a season and led the CC in strikeouts per nine innings • Won Gallaudet Bison Classic • Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year • Earned 100th career win with 8-1 defeat of Washington College in second game of Senior Day doubleheader 2017 Record 16-21 2016 Record 18-20 • Went 5-1 against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, ending season with doubleheader sweep of nationally ranked Johns Hopkins • Centennial Conference rookie of the year 2015 Record 14-19 • Ranked second in the Centennial Conference in home runs 2014 Record 17-20 • Finished third in Centennial Conference two years after team finished in last place • First CC playoff berth in six years • Defeated future professional pitcher for first postseason win in 11 years • Ranked second in the CC in double plays turned • Centennial Conference rookie of the year 2013 Record 20-20 • Led the Centennial Conference in doubles per game • Second player in program history to make all-region first team • Scored in double figures and allowed two runs or fewer in three straight games for the first time in program history Coaching Career • 2010-12 Assistant coach at Davidson University      > coached two All-Southern Conference freshman performers and two NCAA Division I Freshman All-Americans • 2008-09 Assistant coach at Belmont Abbey College      > 41 wins in 2008 and NCAA Division II College World Series appearance in 2009  • 2006-07 Assistant coach at Guilford College • 2003-05 Assistant coach at Franklin & Marshall College      > Helped 2005 team to Centennial Conference championship Personal Married to Shannon Gross and has two young children

Pete Violante joined the Muhlenberg baseball staff as pitching coach for the 2022 season. Violante is a 2020 graduate of Drew University, where he pitched for four years. He earned All-Landmark Conference honors as a junior as was off to a 2-0 start with a 3.15 ERA in four starts as a senior before the season was cut short. In the summer of 2021, Violante pitched professionally in Arizona for the Tucson Saguaros of the Pecos League. Violante served as assistant baseball coach at Easton Area High School in 2021 and was a youth baseball coach for the Rising Stars Baseball Organization from 2018 to 2020.  

Ryan Friesen officially joined the coaching staff of his alma mater in the summer of 2026. Friesen was a member of the Mule baseball team from 2021 to 2026, spending considerable time with the coaches in the last two of those years, when injuries prevented him from playing.  Friesen played both pitcher and catcher for Muhlenberg, earning All-Centennial Conference recognition after hitting .314 in 2023. A superb defensive catcher, he committed only two errors and threw out nine runners attempting to steal that season. In 2024, he became the first Mule catcher to hit two home runs in a game in 39 years.  On the mound, Friesen was Muhlenberg's ace in 2024, leading the staff in games started, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He struck out 146 batters in 36 career appearances, including 20 starts, finishing his career 11th in program history in strikeouts and second in strikeouts per nine innings (10.16). A five-time member of the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll, Friesen graduated cum laude with a degree in finance in 2024 and went on to enroll in the master's of applied analytics program in Muhlenberg's Division of Graduate and Continuing Education.