Lincoln University of Missouri has hired its first head coach after a national job search for a full-time head baseball coach. In hiring Grant Reynolds, formerly an assistant at Albany State, the Lincoln University Athletic Department has made a big splash as he helped head coach Scott Hemmings build Albany State into an HBCU Baseball NCAA DII powerhouse.
Reynolds will resurrect the baseball program that was cut in 2016 due to budget cuts after starting up in 1970. The institution decided to bring back baseball in 2022 and announced this past January 26th that Lincoln University of Missouri has been admitted to the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for full-time membership, following a vote of approval by the GLVC Council of Presidents.
The Vice President for Advancement and Athletics announced the hiring on Thursday, June 1st that Grant Reynolds will be the new head baseball coach at Lincoln University.
Reynolds was a big cog in developing Albany State into a winning HBCU baseball program. He helped develop the offense into a top notch run producing baseball program in the NCAA Division II during his time as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the program since the fall of 2018.
His offensive input had Albany State in the NCAA DII top 10 statistical category in batting average, on-base percentage and scoring output per game. This also included assembling a top pitching staff that had the lowest ERA in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Reynolds was a part of the coaching staff that led Albany State to back-to-back appearances in the Black College World Series this past May where they were defeated in a thrilling 5-4, 19 inning affair in the championship game won by Florida Memorial University. ASU finished this past season with a record of 38-11 overall and 30-2 in conference. During Reynolds’ five seasons on the staff, Albany State posted a combined record of 122-64.
Before his hire at Albany State, Reynolds was the head coach at Ohio Christian University and as an assistant coach at Wheaton College in Illinois and at Davenport University in Michigan. He also coached high school baseball at Lemon Bay High School in Florida, The Seven Hills School in Ohio and at Caledonia High School in Michigan.
Reynolds collegiate baseball career started at Wallace State Community College and continued at Kennesaw State University, where he set a school record 18 strikeouts in 2002 and broke his own record and tied the Peach Belt record by striking out 19 players in 2003. He also set the school record for strikeouts in a season with 134 in 103 innings and holds the two highest single season strikeout totals. He holds the Peach Belt Record for single season conference strikeouts at 105. He was twice named Peach Belt Pitcher of the year and was also named South Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year, earning All-American status in both his junior and senior seasons.
After completing his collegiate career, Reynolds was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 9th Round of the 2003 draft. He spent 3 years with the A’s organization. Reynolds graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education and graduated from Concordia University Irvine in 2015 with a Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration.