Drew Bailey is leaving Bluefield State University to return to his alma mater, Concord University, as its next head baseball coach. He was a pitcher from 2008-2010 and a two-time All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) performer during his collegiate baseball career.
Bailey was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 35th round of the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft. He is second in career saves and is tied for first in appearances with 59 while at Concord. Bailey played two seasons for the Athletics’ organization where he posted a 5-0 record and recorded 48 strikeouts in 54 innings.
Bailey’s hiring comes just days after Bluefield State won the 2024 Black College World Series (BCWS) in Montgomery, AL, in a hard fought 5-1 over Talladega College with a late four-run eighth inning in the championship game.
Coach Bailey led Big Blue to four straight Black College World Series appearances, winning two HBCU Baseball National Championships including the inaugural BCWS in 2021, the programs first-ever national title. This year, Bluefield State set the school’s wins record with 33 wins on the year going 33-15. The 33 wins tops last year’s 25 win mark.
After his professional baseball playing career ended, the Christiansburg, Virginia native chose the path of coaching college baseball from 2014-2017 as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Bluefield College now known as Bluefield State University. Coach Bailey became the head coach at Averett University from 2017-2018 and then Concord University’s pitching coach in 2020, before becoming Bluefield State head baseball coach in 2021.
Under Drew Bailey’s tenure, Big Blue turned the corner and ended the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. In the last four seasons Bluefield State has been consistently ranked in Black College Nines HBCU Baseball top 10 Polls. This past season, Bailey’s Big Blue baseball club also received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 10 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Poll.
He holds a coaching record of 95-79 at Bluefield State.