Rochester Institute of Technology Men's Baseball

Grow, RITs all-time leader in coaching wins and 2006 RIT Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, begins his 25th season at the helm of the Tiger baseball squad in 2016-17. On April 15, 2015, Grow won his 400th career game at RIT and enters the 2017 season with 428 victories. He has led the Tigers to eight seasons with at least 20 wins, while averaging 19 wins per season since 1999. In 2015, Grow and the Tigers enjoyed one of their finest seasons in program history, finishing with a 23-15 record, while advancing to the Liberty League Championship game for the first time. The Tigers set countless school records, including most runs scored (289), runs batted in (250), and walks (186). A school record eight players earned All-Liberty League honors, while a trio of Tigers earned ABCA/Rawlings All-New York Region accolades. Last season, RIT won 18 games, as Will Gorman set single-season records for home runs, RBIs, hits, and total bases, while pitcher Brandon Cohall broke the university all-time mark for career shutouts.   In recent seasons, Grow has coached several players who have smashed countless single-season and career-records, including two-time CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American Justin Smith, who is RITs all-time leader in stolen bases. Grow recruited and coached Geoff Dornes (2007-10), who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year three times in four seasons, a conference record.  Dornes holds RIT career records for hits (199), at-bats (518), runs scored (138), runs batted in (111), total bases (279), walks (75), and triples (14). Walt Roman was hit by pitch a school record 68 times, sixth most in Division III history.   Skip Flanagan, a 2015 graduate, signed a professional contract with the Old Orchard Beach Surge for their inaugural season in the newly formed North Country Baseball League (NCBL). The Tigers finished the 2006 season with a 24-16 record, which set a program record, and won the ECAC Upstate Championship for the second time in school history. In 2007, the Tigers tied the school record with 24 wins and had the best winning percentage (.667) since 1971.    On March 24, 2002, Grow became the programs all-time leader in coaching victories with an 8-4 victory over Catholic, breaking Bruce Propers record of 154 wins. On May 5, 2004, he recorded his 200th victory at RIT, with an 11-3 win over Keuka. Grow notched his 250th win at RIT on March 31, 2007, defeating Utica 4-3.  On April 19, 2009, Grow earned his 300th career coaching win at RIT, leading the Tigers to a 7-2 win over Utica. Grow earned his 350th career win on April 15, 2012, leading the squad to a 6-5 win over Skidmore. His 400th victory came in grand fashion, as Will Gorman slammed a go-ahead grand slam in a 7-5 victory over Clarkson. Under Grow, the Tigers have re-written the record book. In 2006, RIT broke team records for most wins (24), team batting average (.337), at bats (1,251), hits (422), triples (20), total bases (552), assists (408) and putouts (884). During the 2007 season, the Tigers tied the wins record. The following season, five players entered the top ten in single season records. In 2009, RIT shattered the school mark with 77 stolen bases for the third consecutive season. Since the Tigers moved to the Empire 8 conference in 2000, Grow has coached 100 All-Empire 8 selections.  He has also mentored 23 ABCA/Rawlings All-Stars and the 2007 Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year, Dylan Rees. Twenty-two players have been honored in four Liberty League seasons. Grow is a 1988 graduate of RIT, where he played three years of baseball for the Tigers as an outfielder. He is among the career leaders in runs scored, walks and on-base percentage. In 1988, he set the Tiger single-season record with a .554 on-base percentage. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business, Grow was an assistant coach at Rush-Henrietta High School. In 1990, he helped guide the squad to a Section V title. In addition to his duties as full-time head baseball coach, Grow is also the athletics department liaison to the alumni relations department at RIT and chairperson of the RIT Athletics Hall of Fame. He resides in Victor with his wife Suzanne, sons, Casey and Brady, and daughter Riley.