The first northern team to be ranked number one in the nation in the NCAA Division II preseason poll in 1995, Mansfield University has one of the oldest collegiate baseball programs in the nation. Since its very first game in 1867 when Mansfield dropped a 143-30 decision to the Wellsboro Athletic Club, the baseball program has been on the rise at MU.
Baseball is the oldest and most successful organized sport at Mansfield University. In its first 129 years, the program has produced more than 100 players who went on to professional careers, including at least six who made the big leagues.
Over the past 25 years, the success of the Mountaineer program has paid off with conference, regional and national tournament honors.
Mansfield has appeared in post-season play 21 of the last 25 seasons, including trips to both the NCAA Division II and III World Series. The Mounties were PSAC East division champions in 1960, 1970, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996. They were PSAC state champions in 1960, 1970, 1976, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997.
MU baseball teams have had 18 winning seasons over the past two decades. The 1979 squad finished third at the Division III World series while the 1992 team was runner-up at the NCAA Division II World series and finished the season as the second ranked team in the country. In 1993 the Mountaineers repeated their trip to Montgomery with a fifth place showing at the NCAA Division II World Series and made a third straight trip to the World Series with a fifth place finish in 1994.
Over the years, the Mountaineer baseball program has produced more major league baseball players than any other PSAC school. Mansfield won numerous baseball championships in its first 100 years, but became a national power when Dr. John Heaps took over the helm in 1967.
In the next 16 years, Heaps would build an organization that would post a 287-178 record and send 24 players to the professional ranks. Heaps would direct his teams to appearances in the PSAC, ECAC, NAIA, and NCAA championship tournaments including a final four showing in the 1979 NCAA Division III World Series.
In 1987, Harry Hillson assumed the reigns and has directed the Mountaineers to nine PSAC, six NCAA Division II regional, and three Division II World Series appearances in his first eleven seasons.
