Ryan Edward Overland (born October 25, 1985) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

coach and former

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

, who is the current head baseball coach of the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at Fresno State from 2005 to 2008.

Early life and education

Overland was born in

Atascadero, California Atascadero (Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, which e ...

, one of two children of Dale and Jean Overland, who both worked as teachers. At

Atascadero High School Atascadero High School (formerly Margarita Black Union High School) is an American public high school located in Atascadero, California. Atascadero High School is 1 of 2 high schools in the Atascadero Unified School District. The school receives i ...

, Overland graduated in 2004 as a two-sport athlete, with two letters in basketball as a guard and three letters in baseball as pitcher and catcher. In 2003 and 2004, Overland earned first-team all-league honors and was part of league championship baseball teams, as a junior and senior at Atascadero High. After high school, Overland attended

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, where he played at catcher for

Fresno State Bulldogs baseball The Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team represents Fresno State in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Fresno State athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Mountain West Conference. The Bulldogs play their home ...

from 2005 to 2008 under head coach

Mike Batesole Michael Harold Batesole (born March 28, 1964) is an American former baseball coach. He previously served as coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors (1996–2002) and the Fresno State Bulldogs (2003–2022). Early life, playing career, and edu ...

. As a freshman in 2005, Overland started all 30

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

games at catcher, with a .992 fielding percentage and .265 batting average. Overland later played primarily in backup roles, with five starts in 23 games in 2006 and 19 starts in 45 games in 2007. He had a .267 batting average in 2006 and .253 batting average in 2007. As a senior in 2008, Overland had a breakthrough season with career highs in games played (65), starts (41), and batting average (.291), in a season where Fresno State had an unexpected run to the

2008 College World Series The 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 25, 2008 and was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 26, ...

national championship. Overland completed his bachelor's degree in communication studies at Fresno State in 2008 and master's degree in health, physical education, and recreation at

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

in 2010.

Coaching career

From 2009 to 2010, Overland was a graduate assistant at

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. ...

specializing in hitting and catching; South Dakota State won the regular season

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

championship in 2010. Reuniting with Batesole, Overland returned to Fresno State in 2011 as a coaching intern for Batesole and became a volunteer assistant coach in 2012. In the fall of 2012, Overland took his first full-time assistant coaching job at

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, but Overland returned to Fresno State the following spring for the 2013 baseball season and remained in the job for ten seasons, with Fresno State winning the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

regular season title in 2016 and conference tournament in 2019. Beginning in 2018, Overland was the pitching coach for Fresno State. On January 15, 2023, Overland was named the interim head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs about two weeks after Batesole retired. Overland led Fresno State to a 30–27 record, including 16–14 and fourth place in Mountain West Conference standings. Fresno State elevated Overland from interim status on May 31, 2023, signing him to a long-term contract.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overland, Ryan Living people 1985 births Fresno State Bulldogs baseball coaches Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Nevada Wolf Pack baseball coaches South Dakota State Jackrabbits baseball coaches People from Atascadero, California Baseball players from San Luis Obispo County, California Baseball coaches from California Baseball catchers South Dakota State University alumni