Clarksville, TN – College baseball moves quickly and new Austin Peay State University (APSU) head baseball coach Roland Fanning has kept pace, finishing his inaugural coaching staff by adding former Northeastern State head coach Jake Hendrick as associate head coach and pitching coach.
“Getting Jake Hendrick on staff is an absolute home run for our program,” said Fanning. “I’ve known Jake for 10 years and all he does is make people better. As a head coach, Jake is coming off the best season in school history! The fact he is willing to sacrifice being a head coach shows his unselfishness, high-level character, and that he wanted to be at Austin Peay.
“I’m very excited to be joining Austin Peay baseball,” said Hendrick. “This is a great move for me and my family. It will be fun to see my three boys running around ‘The Hand’ in their red and white! I can’t wait for August to get here and get rolling with the team.”
Hendrick, originally from Naperville, Illinois, recently completed his seventh season as head coach at Division II Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He led the RiverHawks to a back-to-back second-place regular-season finishes in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association in his final season.
Last season, the Riverhawks were selected to their first-ever NCAA Division II Baseball Championship and also earned their first-ever national ranking during the season and finished the year with a 38-18 overall mark. NSU was led by a pair of Consensus Division II All-Americans in MIAA Player of the Year Brock Reller and Blake Freeman. Northeastern State also was the only team in Division II to finish the season with 120 or more home runs, doubles, and stolen bases.
In 2021, Hendrick earned MIAA Coach of the Year honors after leading Northeastern State to a 23-10 MIAA record, which formed the bulk of their 40-game regular-season slate, and second-place finish in the league.
Prior to the pandemic, the RiverHawks posted a 28-win season – their most wins since 2002 – while playing Division II’s seventh-toughest schedule. That team was led by pitcher Ben Strahm, who was selected in the 23rd round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants.
Hendrick took over the RiverHawks program in 2016 and promptly led the team to its fourth-consecutive trip to the MIAA tournament thanks to a 27-23 record. NSU was 22-25 in his second season as the head coach.
Prior to becoming head coach, Hendrick was a pitching coach at NSU for two seasons (2014-15). The 2015 RiverHawks pitching staff became the first in program’s NCAA history to post a sub-5.00 ERA (4.86) while setting a program record with 350 strikeouts.
He coached pitcher Ryan Helsley who became NSU’s highest-ever drafted player when he was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Helsley needed just four years to reach the majors, debuting with the Cardinals in April 2019.
In nine seasons at Tahlequah, Hendrick coached three pitchers who were drafted in the MLB Draft with pitcher Nic Swanson’s 16th-round selection in 2021 joining Strahm and Helsley. He coached four Division II All-Americans, 2 Academic All-Americans, 12 All-MIAA selections and 28 honorable mention All-MIAA picks.
Hendrick began his coaching career at Stillwater High School where he was an assistant for three seasons (2009-12). He helped lead the Pioneers to a state tournament appearance in his final season. Hendrick then moved to the junior college ranks as an assistant coach at Marion Military Institute in Alabama for a season (2013) before joining the Northeastern State staff for the 2014 season.
In addition, Hendrick coached two seasons in collegiate summer leagues. In 2012 he was the pitching coach for the Winchester Royals of the Valley Baseball League which won the North Division regular-season title and pennant en route to the Lineweaver Cup Playoffs. The following summer he was an assistant coach for the Charles Town Cannons of the Valley Baseball League which finished second in the North Division.
Hendrick earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a focus in marketing from Oklahoma State University in 2011. He also received a master of science degree in health and human performance with a focus in sports administration from Fort Hays State University in 2014.
Hendrick is married to Dr. Danielle Hendrick (neé Nichols) and the couple has three sons: Cooper and twins Cade and Carson.
