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Kellen Walker

Kellen Walker enters his 14th season as the head coach of the Western Oregon baseball team in 2025-26, leading the team to an impressive 351-233 (.601) overall record, 267-143 (.651) GNAC record, five GNAC regular season championships, six GNAC Championships titles and three NCAA appearances to go along with him earning four GNAC Coach of the Year honors.

The 2024 season saw turnover in several key positions, but the Wolves still found success in going 29-21 overall and 21-11 in GNAC play (taking second). WOU saw Arturo Alvarez earn his second GNAC Pitcher of the Year honor while AJ Cortese was named NCBWA West All-Region Honorable Mention and All-GNAC First Team at designated hitter while 2023 GNAC Pitcher of the Year Dylan Chalmers also earned All-GNAC First Team honors. John Oleson also earned honors, being named ABCA All-Defensive West Region. 

In 2023, the Wolves for the third season in a row made it to the NCAA West Regional tournament along with winning its second-straight GNAC regular season and Championships titles after going 30-15 overall and 20-9 in conference play. Shortstop Derek Maiben was named the GNAC Player of the Year while Dylan Chalmers was named GNAC Co-Pitcher of the Year. Walker earned GNAC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.

In 2022, Walker led the Wolves to the NCAA regionals and GNAC regular season and postseason titles while going 34-20 overall and 21-11 in GNAC play. Arturo Alvarez was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year while Walker was named GNAC Coach of the Year.

The 2021 season was one for the record books, as the Wolves reached the NCAA West Regional and advanced to the championship game in the process. The team finished the season ranked No. 22 in the NCBWA National Poll. WOU entered the regional field riding an eight-game winning streak and won the first two games of the regional to hold a 10-game winning streak. The Wolves opened the regional with a solid 2-1 win over host Northwest Nazarene and then knocked out top-seed Azusa Pacific with a convincing 16-5 victory. WOU ended up advancing to the championship game of the regional and won two games in the west region for the third time in program history. Connor McCord was named the GNAC Player of the Year and Mike Peterson was tabbed the GNAC Pitcher of the Year. Both were named ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region and D2CCA All-West Region. Derek Maiben, Blayze Arcano and Matthew Dunaway all earned D2CCA All-West Region accolades as well.

 Connor McCord led the way in almost every offensive category including average (.418), doubles (12), home runs (11), RBI (41), slugging (.912), on-base percentage (.537) and OPS (1.449). Derek Maiben gave the Wolves two players to hit at least .400 checking in right at .400. He led the team in hits (50), runs scored (34) and stolen bases (7). Josh Berman hit .354 with six doubles, eight home runs and 26 RBI. He was second on the team in home runs. Blayze Arcano tallied a .342 average with 38 hits, seven home runs, four doubles, two triples and was second on the team in RBI with 39. Jacob Maiben tallied a .337 average and was second on the team in doubles with seven. Off the bench, the Wolves had several other players that hit over .300 on the season. Hunter Johnson finished with a .344 average, David Gibons tallied a .341 average, Sam Jones collected a .324 average and Anthony Zellner held a .320 average. Overall, WOU had 11 players post double digits in hits and had a least a home run, while 16 drove in at least a run.

On the mound, Mike Peterson led the team in multiple categories including wins (6-0), starts (8), innings pitched (49), tied for the team lead in appearances (9) and had a combined shutout. He posted 35 strikeouts to just 13 walks and held a 3.31 ERA. Matthew Dunaway had the top ERA of the starters at 3.06 in 32.1 innings of work. He went 3-1 on the season in eight appearances that included seven starts. He posted a shutout and had 49 strikeouts to just 12 walks on the season. Nick Parr held a 3.24 ERA appearing in seven games that included five starts. He went 4-0 in 33.1 innings of work, collecting 38 strikeouts to just nine walks. Reliever Michael Moore had the lowest ERA on the team at 1.42 in 6.1 innings of work. Ryan Shipley added a 3.07 ERA and Nathan Bonck was at 3.48. Bonck was tied for the team lead in saves with Alan Vasquez with both tallying three. Vasquez appeared in nine games and tossed 15.2 innings, recording 21 strikeouts to just eight walks. Trae Perkins gave the Wolves three pitchers with multiple saves adding two on the season. As a staff, WOU had a 4.78 ERA in 241 innings of work. They tallied 262 strikeouts to just 107 walks.

The 2020 season was an abbreviated one where the Wolves were only able to play 12 games before the season was suspended due to COVID-19. WOU went 6-6, 4-4 in GNAC play, splitting all three series against Fresno Pacific, MSU Billings and Central Washington. 

Connor McCord was well on his way to setting several records early on in the year jumping out to a .484 batting average. Jacob Maiben added a .368 average and Joshua McIntyre hit .302. The pitching staff held teams to a .212 batting average with Logan Hatley leading the way with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings of work while going 1-0 with a save. Seth Kuykendall was solid in relief with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of work. McCord held a 2.00 ERA in nine innings of work and Alan Vasquez posted a 3.46 ERA to go along with a 2-1 record in three starts.

The 2019 season not only saw the Wolves put together a 30-win season and 26 GNAC victories, but WOU ended up with four players being drafted in the MLB Draft (Jared McDonald in 19th round by Oakland Athletics, Alex Roth in 21st round by Pittsburgh Pirates, Austin Crowson in 39th round by Philadelphia Phillies and Koty Fallon in 40th round by San Diego Padres), while Gabe Benavides signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent. Eleven were named the All-GNAC Team with Roth tabbed as Pitcher of the Year and Jacob Maiben as Freshman of the Year. Roth, Crowson, McDonald, Patrick Chung, Collin Runge, Connor McCord and Griddey Halle were all named to the first team. WOU won the final four games of the regular season and opened the GNAC Tournament with a solid win over Northwest Nazarene. The Wolves dominated at home going 15-3. McDonald was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team, while seven players were tabbed to the NCBWA All-West Region Team. McDonald, Roth and McCord all landed on the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team and both McCord and Roth earned All-American status from the NCBWA. Austin Crowson tossed the fifth no-hitter in GNAC history and the third since WOU joined NCAA Division II and the Wolves needed the gem picking up the 2-0 win over Concordia.

A GNAC Tournament title followed in 2018 when the Wolves opened the tournament with a win over Central Washington and then after splitting a pair of games with MSU Billings, WOU won the championship game with a convincing 8-4 win over the ‘Jackets for back-to-back GNAC crowns. WOU won 27 games during the season and added 24 wins in conference, including a 12-9 record at home and did just as well on the road with a 13-10 road record. Thirteen were named to the All-GNAC team with Roth earning Pitcher of the Year honors and Kolbe Bales as Freshman of the Year. Roth, McDonald and Jay Leverett were all named to the first team. Leverett and McDonald were also selected to the NCBWA All-West Region teams, while Leverett was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team. Seven landed on the Academic GNAC Team. The team was coached that year by Mike McInerney.

Walker coached the Wolves to the GNAC title in 2017 as Western Oregon went 27-12 in conference and then added to that a perfect run in the GNAC Tournament winning all three games by outscoring their opponents 26-9. WOU went 31-15 overall and played just four games at home during the season going 2-2. The Wolves put together an impressive 14-3 record in neutral site games and then added a 15-10 overall road record. WOU opened the conference slate winning their first seven games and didn’t play a true home game until the final series of the season against Northwest Nazarene in the beginning of May. During the run to the GNAC Tournament title, pitcher Cam Walker helped set a GNAC record at the time with 10 strikeouts for not only a career-high, but also a single game high for any game in GNAC Championship history. Ten were named to the All-GNAC team with Walker tabbed as Coach of the Year, Connor McCord Freshman of the Year and Nyles Nygaard Newcomer of the Year. Three landed on the first team in Brady Miller, Justin Wakem and Jay Leverett. Six others were tabbed to the Academic GNAC Team. Miller was drafted by the Chicago Cubs, while six were named to the NCBWA All-West Region teams with Kade Mechals landing on the first team.

In 2015, the Wolves went 29-24 as Walker led the Western Oregon baseball program to a GNAC Tournament title. Under his guidance, Matt Taylor and Jesse Pratt earned All-West Region honors. GNAC Pitcher of the Year went to Jesse Pratt and GNAC Freshman of the Year went to Brady Miller. Overall, 10 student-athletes earned All-GNAC selections.

The Wolves won the 2014 GNAC regular season title and hosted the conference tournament for the second straight year. Walker guided 11 student-athletes to All-Conference performance seasons. Daniel McNabb was named All-Region, and Spenser Watkins was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 30th round.

In 2013, he led the Western Oregon baseball program to its 13th straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title. As the interim head coach during the 2013 season, Walker led the Wolves to a 34-20 overall record as WOU captured the regular season GNAC title while winning the inaugural GNAC postseason tournament championship. Walker was named GNAC Coach of the Year in 2013 and in his eight seasons with the WOU baseball program, the Wolves have amassed an overall record of 276-134 while advancing to the NCAA West Regional Baseball Championship four times.

Under his guidance in 2013, WOU had 10 student-athletes named to the GNAC all-conference squad while shortstop Blake Miller earned a pair of All-American honors and was named Daktronics, Inc., West Region Player of the Year. In addition, Miller and pitcher AJ Burke were selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Prior to serving as the program's head coach, Walker spent six seasons as an assistant coach at WOU. During his time in the position, Walker worked with the WOU infielders and served as the program's hitting instructor.

Walker also served as the lead recruiter for the program and was involved in organizing and running practices. Walker also handled administrative duties for the baseball program, including scheduling travel, coordinating camps and other fundraising activities.

Walker is married to Tyler Sutherland, an outstanding softball student-athlete for the Wolves from 2007-10. The couple was married in the summer of 2010, and they have two daughters, Grace and Lucy.
 
WALKER AT WOU
Overall GNAC
W L % W L % Postseason Season
2013* 34 20 .630 23 8 .750 GNAC Tournament (1st) 1
2014* 30 21 .588 22 10 .688 GNAC Tournament (2nd) 2
2015 29 24 .547 21 11 .656 GNAC Tournament (1st) 3
2016 31 23 .574 24 16 .600 GNAC Tournament (2nd) 4
2017* 31 15 .674 27 12 .692 GNAC Tournament (1st) 5
2018$ 27 21 .519 24 16 .600 GNAC Tournament (1st) 6
2019    30 13   .698 26 11 .703 GNAC Tournament (2nd)  7
2020 6 6 .500 4 4 .500 Season suspended early 8
2021 22 8 .733 19 5 .792 GNAC Runner-Up
(Advanced to the NCAA West Regional championship game, 2-2)		 9
2022* 34 20 .630 21 11 .656 GNAC Tournament (1st)
NCAA West Regional (0-2)
2023* 30 15 .667 20 9 .689 GNAC Tournament (1st)
NCAA West Regional (0-2)
2024 29 21 .580 21 12 .656 GNAC Tournament (2nd)
2025 18 26 .409 14 18 .438
Totals 351 243 .601 267 143 .651 6 GNAC Tournament Titles
5 Regular Season GNAC Titles
3 NCAA West Regional Appearances
*GNAC regular-season title
$- WOU was coached by Mike McInerney during the 2018 season