Todd Asalon is entering his 11th season as the baseball head coach at Northern Kentucky University. Asalon owns a 362-229-1 record in 10 years as the Norse head coach and has led NKU to the NCAA Division II Tournament five times. His 220 wins in Great Lakes Valley Conference play are the most by any league coach over the last 10 years.
During his tenure, 10 players, including nine pitchers, have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Dave Middendorf (44th round, Yankees) and Jarrett Casey (32nd round, White Sox) were selected in the 2010 MLB Draft.
Last season, Asalon returned to the NCAA Tournament on the heels of a 43-17 season and topped the GLVC East division for the second consecutive season with a 24-6 league record. The Norse saw several offensive records broken, both individually and at the team level, and led the nation in doubles and doubles per game.
Two years ago, Asalon earned his first back-to-back GLVC championships as the Norse finished 41-22, earning Asalon his third GLVC Coach of the Year award. The five conference championships over the past eight seasons are equaled only by ABCA Hall of Fame
coach Irish O’Reilly, who accomplished the feat while coaching Lewis between 1985 and 1992. Additionally, Asalon’s squad led the GLVC
in both team hitting and team pitching on the season while 11 players earned All-GLVC honors, including GLVC Player of the Year Evan McDole.
In 2008, Asalon led the Norse to a 38-24 record and their fourth Great Lakes Valley Conference title in the previous seven years. The Norse did so in dramatic fashion, losing in the opening game of the GLVC tournament before rallying back to victory. Asalon is the first coach in GLVC history to amass four titles so quickly into his tenure and only the second coach in GLVC history to accumulate four conference titles such a short span.
In 2007, the Norse finished 27-26 and claimed the GLVC Pitcher of the Year in Matt Marksbury. The Norse challenged themselves early, taking on the previous three national champions – Delta State, Florida Southern and Tampa – in the first three weeks of the season. Asalon guided NKU to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship in 2006 and an appearance in the NCAA Division II
Tournament. The Norse finished 42-20-1 overall, 36-11-1 in the GLVC. The 42 wins are the most for NKU since 1989, when the Norse finished 45-9.
Five years ago, Asalon led NKU to a 31-26 record. It marked the fourth time in five years that Asalon led the Norse to at least 30 victories. In 2004, Asalon guided NKU to a 37-25 record and its second Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship in three years. The Norse also advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament and featured GLVC Pitcher of the Year Derrik Moeves, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005.
In 2002, Asalon led NKU to a 37-24 record and guided the Norse to their first-ever GLVC Tournament championship. Asalon was named GLVC Coach of the Year in 2002, and he guided the Norse to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1990.
Asalon, who spent six years as the baseball head coach at Thomas More College prior to taking the NKU position in 2000, is a 1994 graduate of NKU. Asalon played baseball for the Norse from 1980-83, and he was a three-year starter at catcher.
Asalon earned All-Region honors in 1981 and served as team captain in both 1982 and ‘83.
He later was an assistant baseball coach for the Norse from 1991-94, before taking the Thomas More coaching job in 1994.
“This is a great opportunity to go back and coach where I played college baseball, and it is a dream come true to coach the baseball program at Northern Kentucky University,” said Asalon, who posted a 144-92 record in six years at Thomas More.
Asalon led Thomas More to a school-record 32 victories in 2000 and its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. He was named Association of Mideast Colleges Conference Coach of the Year in 1995. In addition to being the baseball coach, Asalon also served as Thomas More’s athletic director for two years.
