OMAHA, Nebraska (NCBWA) – After tying the program record with 51 wins and leading the program to its first College World Series appearance since 1978, Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar has been named the 2023 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Mike Martin National Coach of the Year.
The Golden Eagles (51-12 entering the 2023 CWS) have checked every box this season, winning The Summit League regular season and tournament titles, sweeping through the Stillwater Regional, and edging Oregon in three games in the Eugene Super Regional to punch their second-ever ticket to Omaha.
Folmar led Oral Roberts to becoming just the third No. 4 seed in NCAA Division I history to advance to the College World Series and the first in more than a decade.
Oral Roberts took a 21-game winning streak into its Super Regional after taking down all three foes in Stillwater. First, the Golden Eagles defeated Folmar’s alma mater, host and No. 11 overall seed Oklahoma State, 6-4. In the winner’s bracket, ORU erased an early 8-0 deficit to defeat Washington, 15-12. The Golden Eagles clinched their Super Regional spot with a 6-5 win over Dallas Baptist in the Regional final.
In the opening Super Regional game, Oral Roberts surrendered an 8-0 lead in a 9-8 defeat. The Golden Eagles bounced back quickly, earning a come-from-behind, walk-off 8-7 victory of their own in game two to even the series, then clinched it with an 11-6 triumph in game three. Now, Oral Roberts will square off against TCU in its opening game of the College World Series.
“Ryan Folmar has been a pacesetter in college baseball as well as to the Oral Roberts program,” NCBWA executive director Bo Carter said. “The job he did during the regular season and then going 5-1 on the road in NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals attests to the leadership he has provided for the Golden Eagles. Congratulations go to one of the outstanding coaches for 10-plus seasons at ORU. He also led his team that was seeded No. 4 in the NCAA Stillwater Regional to the World Series – one of three teams to accomplish this in NCAA history.”
In his 11th year as the head coach at Oral Roberts, Folmar has won Summit League Coach of the Year honors six times and reached five NCAA Regionals. He was also an assistant on the staff for a decade before that, reaching 10 Regionals and a Super Regional in 2006. As head coach, he has a 370-222 overall record.
This year, Folmar has guided Cade Denton to NCBWA Stopper of the Year and first team All-America honors, as well as outfielders Jonah Cox (second team), and Matt Hogan (third team) to All-America recognition by the NCBWA.
About the Mike Martin National Coach of the Year Award
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Coach of the Year Award, introduced in 2008, is voted on by the NCBWA Board of Directors, and chosen from a list that includes all Division I conference coaches of the year and the coaches of the eight NCAA College World Series teams.
In 2020, the NCBWA board of directors voted unanimously to name the annual award after Mike Martin, the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history after he retired at Florida State in 2019 with a 2,029-736-4 mark over 40 seasons in leading the FSU program from 1980-2019.
“When I heard about it,” he said with a smile, “I was simply flabbergasted. It is such an honor to have my name associated with this award, and it is a tribute to all the players and coaches who worked with me at Florida State.”
"We could not think of any other coach historically to associate a name for this annual award besides coach Mike Martin," said NCBWA executive director Bo Carter. "He has meant so much to college baseball as it has continued year-by-year to gain additional national popularity."
NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.
All-Time NCBWA Coaches of the Year
2023: Ryan Folmar, Oral Roberts
2022: Link Jarrett, Notre Dame
2021: Tony Vitello, Tennessee
2020: None
2019: Eric Bakich, Michigan
2018: Gary Henderson, Mississippi State
2017: Pat Casey, Oregon State
2016: Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina
2015: Paul Mainieri, LSU
2014: Mike Gillespie, UC Irvine
2013: Tracy Smith, Indiana
2012: Matt Senk, Stony Brook
2011: David Esquer, California
2010: Jim Schlossnagle, TCU
2009: Brian O’Connor, Virginia
2008: Mike Batesole, Fresno State