Mike Collins closed out his 20th season as the Huskies' head baseball coach in the spring of 2025.
Collins, who is a three-time PSAC East Coach of the Year and an National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (2018), is currently the Huskies all-time wins leader with 422. Collins earned his 400th career win on May 2, 2024, when the Huskies swept Mansfield in a PSAC doubleheader at Danny Litwhiler Field. All told, Collins has an overall record of 422-453-2 in 20 seasons as the Huskies' skipper, which includes a 108-114-1 record over the last five seasons.
All told, Collins has guided Bloomsburg to back-to-back PSAC Championships (2019, 2021), three-straight NCAA Atlantic Regional tournaments (2018, 2019, 2021), and has had a pair of players selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft over the last nine seasons.
Last season, Bloomsburg finished 21-28 while going 10-18 in conference play. The Huskies went 10-10 at home with several impressive victories, such as a and extra-innings victory over the PSAC Champions Millersville highlighted by a walk-off home run. Mike Miller earned All-PSAC East First Team honors as the designated hitter. Miller finished the year with eight home runs, 35 hits, 27 RBIs, 26 runs and nine doubles and ranked sixth in the conference in OPS (1.092) and tenth in slugging percentage (0624) and on-base percentage (.468). Additionally, Miller posted a .351 batting average and seven home runs in PSAC play.
In 2024, the Huskies went 16-32 overall and 11-21 in PSAC competition. Bloomsburg finished the season fourth in the PSAC in home runs with 41. Wyatt Metzger led the conference in home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.693) while ending the year seventh in runs batted in (45).
In 2023, Bloomsburg went 22-17 overall and 12-12 in conference play. The Huskies' season was highlighted by some sharp play down the stretch, which included a record of 15-3 in 18 games from March 24 to April 29. Collins guided six players to postseason honors as Jared Marshman, Eli Riley, Brandon Ernst, Dansby Keenan, Brady Ebbert and Wyatt Metzger all landed spots on the PSAC All-Conference teams. Additionally, Marshman became the program's all-time leader in career wins (25) and strikeouts (230). Carter Chasanov also became the sixth player in schools history to record 200 hits and closed out his career with 222, which ranks third all-time.
In 2022, the Huskies went 25-19-1 overall and that included a conference slate of 14-9-1. The winning record was just shy of making the postseason, but the team did have several accomplishments, which included several records and some postseason accolades. Kyle OFier broke the all-time marks for career home runs (47) and RBI (171) while Ben Newbert shattered single-season records with his 22 homers and his 59 RBI ranks second all-time. In addition, Jared Marshman was named a D2CCA Second Team All-American after posting a 1.81 ERA and Newbert was an ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-American.
The 2021 Huskies won their second-straight PSAC Championship by defeating sixth-ranked Seton Hill on the road in the best of three championship series. Freshman Mike Standen was named PSAC Tournament MVP after tossing a complete-game gem in game two to force game three against the Griffins. Standen allowed two runs on five hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out a career-high 11. He retired 22 of the last 24 batters he faced to continue the Huskies' title run.
The Huskies were off to a blistering start in 2020 after winning nine of their first ten games before the COVID pandemic shut down the remainder of the season. Bloomsburg outscored its opponents, 74-33, in the first ten contests and posted a .323 batting average while limiting the opposition to a .220 clip. Cole Swiger was named a CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American® following the season while he and Chad Cooperman were honored with CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team accolades. Cooperman was also named to the PSAC Spring Top Ten list.
In 2019, Collins guided the Huskies to a 35-16 overall record and coached the team to the program's first PSAC Championship since 1965 as Bloomsburg went a perfect 3-0 during the conference tournament with wins over Mercyhurst, Millersville, and West Chester. The Huskies went on to compete in the Atlantic Regional tournament for the second consecutive season but bowed to eventual regional champion, Mercyhurst, on the final day for an opportunity to advance to the Super Regional. The 35 victories were two shy of tying the program record of 37 set during the 1995 campaign. The Huskies had five All-Conference selections, including First Team members Ashton Raines and Chad Cooperman. Raines went on to earn All-Region honors from three different organizations while Cooperman and Zach Newmyer also collected single All-Region laurels. Raines went on to sign with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League following the season.
2018 was a season to remember for the Huskies as they went 31-20 including a 17-11 mark in the PSAC. After a 2-2 performance in the conference tournament, five Huskies were named All-Conference in Edgette, Raines, Cole Swiger, Shane Woelfel, and Cooperman. Collins himself was named the PSAC East Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and led the Huskies to their second trip to the NCAA tournament in program history (1995), securing the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Regional. Edgette was selected NCBWA All-Region, while Collins was named the NCBWA Regional Coach of the Year. Edgette would go on to collect D2CCA All-Atlantic Region honors along with Trey Hinkle, before he was named to the All-American Third Team by the NCBWA, and also to the All-American Third Team by the ABCA and Rawlings.
Edgette became the second Bloomsburg player drafted in two seasons as he was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 33rd round of the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft. He joined Tyler Benson, who was chosen by the San Diego Padres in the 31st round following the 2017 campaign.
In 2016, Bloomsburg missed out on the playoffs for a second consecutive season, going 23-23 overall, and 10-18 in the PSAC. Collins helped mentor Austin Edgette to a .444 batting average, which was good for eighth-best in Division II. Edgette garnered an All-Conference berth on the First Team, while Joey Casselbery and Damin Muth took spots on the Second Team.
Collins earned PSAC East Coach of the Year honors for the second time following the 2014 season after leading the Huskies to a 28-19 record including a 20-8 mark in the PSAC East, the most conference wins in school history. The 28 victories were also third-most in Bloomsburg history. The Huskies had four all-conference selections as well with Casey Cooperman and Eric Frain named to the All-PSAC East first team while Tyler Hill and Damin Muth earned spots on the second team with Muth also being named PSAC East Freshman of the Year. Both Cooperman and Frain also achieved All-Region honors. The Huskies finished the year with a .302 team batting average while posting a staff ERA of 3.16.
The 2013 squad started slowly before winning 17 of its last 21 contests, including a nine-game winning streak that matched the second longest in school history. The strong finish gave Bloomsburg at least 20 wins for the third consecutive year. Middle infielder Brian Almand was named the PSAC East Freshman of the Year and earned a place on the all-conference second team. The team scored 30 runs on the final day of the season to break a 52-year old record for runs in a game. The team's 28-run margin of victory was also a school record, as were its totals of 29 hits and 28 RBIs.
In 2012, the Huskies missed the PSAC playoffs by a half-game, edged out of the four spot by Millersville. However, Bloomsburg’s 25 wins was the most since 1999 and their 12-12 mark in the PSAC East snapped a 14 year streak of below .500 conference records. Bloomsburg posted a 25-20 record, their second straight winning season and Collins led the Huskies to a number six regional ranking on April 25.
Collins also coached six Huskies to All-PSAC East honors, including two first team selections in seniors Vince Smarrelli and Vinny Voorhees. His 13 total All-PSAC selections during 2011 and 2012 were more than any other school in the division. He also placed two players on All-Region teams for the second consecutive season in 2012.
Bloomsburg finished third in the Eastern Division in 2011 with a record of 11-13, earning its first postseason appearance in 13 years. The Huskies trailed the league for much of the season but were powered a late-season run, including wins in six of the final eight division games. Bloomsburg went 2-2 in the PSAC tournament, earning the program's first postseason wins since advancing to the D-II National Championship round in 1995.
Among the team's wins in 2011 were victories over nationally-ranked Millersville and regionally-ranked East Stroudsburg, Kutztown and Mansfield. Collins also led Kyle Hunter to PSAC East Freshman of the Year honors, marking the team's first major award winner in Collins' tenure.
Collins also oversaw the renovation of Danny Litwhiler Field that included new dugouts, brick backstop, new elevated seating behind home plate and installation of a warning track as well as walkways.
In addition, Collins directs the Huskies baseball camp programs. The Huskies offer three weeks of summer camp as well as seven clinics throughout the academic year.
Collins came to Bloomsburg after spending four seasons as the top assistant at the Binghamton University.
A former Division I player, Collins was instrumental in the recruiting process for Binghamton, and played a prominent role in the success of the Bearcats program, helping the team to a berth in the America East playoffs in just their fourth season of Division One competition. He also held a successful Crack of the Bat summer and winter camps for youngsters in the Greater Binghamton area.
Collins previously served as head coach at Keystone College, compiling a 90-75 overall mark for the junior college in La Plume, Pa. His 2001 team won a school-record 18 consecutive games en route to a 28-12 record and runner-up finish in Region 19. In 2000 and 2001, Collins-coached teams earned pre-season national rankings, and he produced 11 all-region and two All-America players during his tenure at Keystone.
Collins played Division I baseball at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in politics in 1996. He was a two-time team captain and four-year letterwinner.
He resides in Riverside, Pa., with his wife Angie, his sons Graham and Landon, and his dogs Griffin and Sylvia.
Updated on 5/25/2025
