HEAD COACH SCOTT NASBY

Scott Nasby will enter his 11th year as head coach of the Drury baseball program in 2023. He has guided the Panthers to five GLVC division titles, two conference championships, and five NCAA-II tournament appearances in his decade at the helm.

On Feb. 16, 2019, he earned his 200th career coaching victory, and he enters the 2023 season five wins away from 300 career victories as he carries a record of 295-205-1, and his teams have gone 176-111-1 in the GLVC.

In 2022, Nasby was named the GLVC Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to the Green Division championship in the league with a 21-7 record in the conference. Drury went 38-16 overall, had a 29-6 record at home, and spent part of the season nationally ranked, peaking at number 20. Four Panthers were named to the All-GLVC team, Nikko Calabro was named an All-American as a utility player by the D2CCA, and Calabro, Brant Schaffitzel, and Aaron Mann all earned All-Midwest Region honors.

Nasby led Drury to their second NCAA-II tournament in three years in 2019 as the Panthers won 14 of their last 18 regular season games to finish 32-25. DU went 2-2 in the Midwest Regional tournament. Four Drury players were named All-GLVC performers that season, including two freshmen (Aaron Mann, and Kaden Helsel) that received league honors.

The Panthers won their second straight division championship going 20-8 in conference play in 2018. Drury recovered from an 0-6 start and was 8-14 entering league play on March 24th. The Panthers reeled off 10 straight wins in late March and early April and won 14 out of 15 during a month-long hot streak.

The year before, his team produced a 37-20 record, won the GLVC West Division title going 19-9 in the conference, and advanced to the NCAA-II tournament.

The 2017 squad featured pitcher and infielder Ryan Colombo, who won the Josh Willingham Award as the national MVP in NCAA-II. Colombo was also the GLVC Player of the Year and was named 1st Team All-GLVC, 1st Team All-Region by the D2CAA, the NCBWA, and the ABCA. He also was the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in baseball.

Nasby’s 2015 Panthers completed a 33-24-1 campaign that featured a dramatic turnaround within the season itself. Drury was 17-20-1 in mid-April but then reeled off 14 wins in a 16 game span and defeated Quincy 7-2 in the GLVC championship game in Westfield, Indiana.

In 2014, Nasby led Drury to a record-setting 44-13 season, capturing the best winning percentage in program history. The Panthers were division champions and took the GLVC title with a 2-1 win over Quincy. Drury advanced to the regional finals but fell to host and eventual national champion Southern Indiana 2-1.

Nasby’s first season as head coach produced a 39-17 record in 2013, a 25-9 mark in the GLVC, and an NCAA-II tournament appearance. He was elevated to interim head coach when former head coach Mark Stratton stepped down due to health reasons a month before the season began and was named as the permanent head coach later that year.

Under Nasby’s leadership, the Panthers have produced 50 all-conference performers, 23 all-region selections, and seven All-Americans. Two have been named GLVC Player of the Year, with Ryan Colombo winning the award in 2017 and Nick Thimesch was honored as the league’s top player in 2014. Thimesch was also the 2014 Midwest Region Player of the Year. Will Landsheft was the Pitcher of the Year in the GLVC in 2014 in addition to being named the NCAA-II Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year.

The Panthers have had three players selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and four players have gone on to play professionally with MLB-affiliated teams since Nasby took the helm. Nic Perkins was a 28th round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2017, Sterling Sharp was taken by the Nationals in the 22nd round in ’16, and Will Landsheft was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 36th round in 2014.

Former Drury pitcher Trevor Richards (’15) reached the major leagues in 2018 pitching for the Miami Marlins. Richards was signed as a free agent by the Marlins and was that organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2017.

Five of Nasby’s teams have earned GLVC Team Academic Awards for having a team cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better, and their 2019 team had the best GPA of any baseball squad in the conference.

Nasby served as an assistant coach under Stratton during the program’s first six seasons, 2007-12, and has had a role with the team since it was revived after being dormant for more than 40 years.

He played collegiate baseball for Missouri State and, during his career, started at every defensive position except pitcher. Nasby was the Bears starting first baseman for the team’s 2003 College World Series appearance in Omaha. He graduated from MSU with a degree in Marketing in 2005 and, following college, picked up experience coaching in Italy’s professional league.

Nasby is a graduate of Glendale High School in Springfield and played three varsity seasons under Stratton as a member of the Falcons.

Nasby and his wife Andrea have two children, son Cole, and daughter Caroline.