Ouachita Baptist University Men's Baseball

Education: Ohio University (2006), Fort Hays State (2012) Seasons at Ouachita: 10 total, 7 as head coach (Assistant Coach, 2009-11; Head Coach, 2019- Present) Record at Ouachita (prior to 2026): 170-153 Luke Howard enters his eighth season as head coach for the Ouachita Tigers in 2026. He is in his second stint at Ouachita after serving as assistant coach from 2009-11. Since returning to Arkadelphia, Howard has the program pointed in the right direction, highlighted by two 30-win seasons and two NCAA tournament appearances. Howard's 2023 Tigers finished as the GAC regular season runner-up, just one game behind the leader. In his first three seasons as head coach, Howard recruited and rebuilt the Tiger roster, which eventually yielded the program's most successful season in more than a decade in 2022 with a final record of 33-24 and a 20-13 mark in Great American Conference games. The Tigers advanced to the semifinals of the GAC Championship Tournament and then earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division II tournament, where they shocked the bracket with an upset of the top-seed and host Central Missouri in the first round by a final score of 5-4. More wins followed in 2023 with nearly the entire roster back from 2022. Howard led the Tigers to a second-place finish in the GAC with a final overall record of 37-19 and a 23-10 mark in conference games. Ouachita knocked out Harding in the first round of the conference tournament, but then had a disappointing finish in the GAC Final Four at Arvest Ballpark in Northwest Arkansas. However, the Tigers' resume from the regular season was strong enough to earn another at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, again hosted by Central Missouri. Howard led the 2024 Tigers to the program's third straight winning season at 28-23 overall and 19-14 in GAC games, earning a spot in the GAC championship tournament. The 2025 Tigers posted the program's fourth straight winning conference record with a 20-13 finish, just three games off the leader. Howard returned to Ouachita in June of 2018 and laid the foundation for the success of 2022 and beyond. In his first season, he led the Tigers to their first 20-win season since 2015. In 2021, Ouachita finished with a record of 18-22, highlighted by a 13-4 finish in the last 17 contests, giving the program momentum heading into the NCAA tournament run of 2022.  In total, the Tigers have earned 29 All-GAC selections, six all-region selections, and two All-America honorees under Howard's coaching, including G. Allen in 2023, who earned All-America honors both athletically and academically, and Dustin Bermudez, who earned All-America honors as a two-way player in 2024. Howard also coached 2022 GAC Freshman of the Year Wyatt Core and 2024 GAC Newcomer of the Year Chase Oberle. Oberle was an All-GAC First Team pitcher in 2024, leading the league and ranking sixth in the nation in ERA that year at 2.23. Pitcher Cooper Timmons, who was a four-time All-GAC honoree under Howard, broke the program's all-time strikeout record with a final total of 349. Timmons also tied the program's career wins record at 26. Howard returned to Ouachita after serving seven years with the King University baseball program, the last five as associate head coach. Prior to coaching at King, he was an assistant at Ouachita from 2009-2011. Before his first stint with the Tigers, Howard served as an assistant coach at Murray State University in 2007 and the University of Cincinnati in 2006. He started his playing career at Purdue University before transferring and ending his career at Ohio University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Marketing from Ohio in 2006 and his Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Fort Hays State in 2012.  Howard and his wife, Annie, are the parents of two sons, Drew (15) and Will (12).  Coaching Experience:  Ouachita, Head Coach (2019-Present) King University, Associate Head Coach (2014-18) King University, Assistant Coach (2012-13) Ouachita, Assistant Coach (2009-11) Murray State, Assistant Coach (2008) Cincinnati, Assistant Coach (2007)

Beau Burson joined the Ouachita coaching staff in the summer of 2022 following a three-year playing career with the Tigers. Heading into the 2026 season, Burson has been a player or a coach for the Tigers as they have set records for conference wins in a season and advanced to the NCAA tournament twice. As a player, Burson was primarily a starting pitcher for the Tigers. He made 36 career appearances in his last three seasons, including 28 starts with 11 wins to his credit and a 4-0 record in the 2021 season. He earned GAC Pitcher of the Week honors in April of 2022 after tossing a complete-game shutout in a series-clinching win over Arkansas-Monticello at home. He totaled 11 of his 54 career strikeouts in that game. Burson graduated from Ouachita in May of 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and sport administration. He is originally from Smackover, Arkansas, where he was a two-time all-state selection and a four-time all-conference honoree playing for the Buckaroos. He played two seasons at Three Rivers Community College before transferring to Ouachita.  

Tallon Heine is in his first season as assistant coach for the Tigers. He was a three-year letterman for the Tigers from 2022-24 and was a part of the program's back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament in 2023 and 2024. In addition to his performance on the field, including a selection to the 2024 All-GAC Defensive Team, Heine was a two-time selection to the Academic All-District Team and a three-time member of the GAC Academic Honor Roll. He graduated from Ouachita in May of 2024 with a bachelor's degree in history. After graduation, he was an assistant coach at Athens High School in Texas for one season.

David Brown joined the Ouachita baseball staff as a pitching coach for the 2021 season and added recruiting coordinator to his title prior to the 2023 season. During his tenure at Ouachita, Brown has helped the program secure two 30-plus win seasons, set a new school record in conference wins, and qualify for the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. Under his coaching, the Tigers have earned nine All-Great American Conference selections as pitchers, including four-time all-conference starter Cooper Timmons and All-America two-way player Dustin Bermudez. He also coached Chase Oberle, who earned All-GAC First Team honors in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025 and was named the league's newcomer of the year after leading the GAC and ranking 10th nationally in ERA at 2.23. In 2025, the Tiger pitchers led the GAC and ranked 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings at 9.0. In 2024, the Tigers had the third best pitching staff in the GAC in terms of ERA at 4.50. In 2023, Brown led the Tiger pitching staff to the best ERA in the GAC at 4.22 and the top spot in fewest homeruns allowed (31), as well as top three rankings in strikeouts, wins, saves, runs allowed, and earned runs allowed. In previous seasons, he helped lead the Tigers to the top five in 10 different GAC pitching categories, including including first in doubles allowed (2021), second in walks allowed (2021), third in strikeouts (2022), third in walks allowed (2022), and third in hits allowed (2021).  Brown joined the Tigers after two seasons as the assistant pitching coach at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, New Jersey. Mercer County was 44-19 in Brown's two seasons, reaching a No. 11 national ranking in 2019. The Vikings' team ERA of 3.71 under Brown in 2019 was 12th in NJCAA DII. Brown also spent two seasons as the Pitching Coach for the High Point-Thomasville HiToms of the Coastal Plain League. The HiToms reached the final round of the Pettit Cup Playoffs, the CPL's championship. Prior to coaching, Brown played four years at Kutztown University, graduating in 2018. He struck out 50 batters in 59.0 career innings and homered in his only career at-bat. Brown and his wife, Emma, were married in June of 2023.