Darrin Lenhart will be entering his fifth season with the Warriors in 2024-2025. Lenhart spent 11 seasons as the head baseball coach at Lehigh Carbon Community College and helped guide the program to five NJCAA Regional Playoff appearances (2013-14 and 2016-18).
ESU's pitching staff dominated once again in 2024 as the Warriors were the NCAA Statistcal Champion for shutouts with 12 while ranking fifth in ERA (3.63), 11th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.27), 15th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.32) and 22nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.29). The Warriors had three All-PSAC East selections including Brent Francisco, who was named the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year, and Caden Parker on the First Team, while Ryan Dewees landed on the Second Team. Francisco went on to become the eighth All-American selection in program history earning First Team recognition by the ABCA, D2CCA and NCBWA after being named the Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year by those same organizations. Additionally, Parker and Dewees (NCBWA) earned All-Region honors alongside Francisco, who departed with school records for innings pitched (292.1), strikeouts (326), wins (30) and games started (53) as well as single-season marks for strikeouts (116 – 2022), innings pitched (89.1 – 2022, 2024), games started (16 – 2022) and wins (12 – 2024).
Lenhart continued to elevate ESU's pitching staff to new heights in 2023 as the Warriors were the NCAA Statistical Champion in earned run average after pitching to a 3.24 clip over 402.1 innings. Additionally, the Warriors' arms ranked among the nation's best in numerous statistical categories including 10th in WHIP (1.32), 12th in strikeout-to-walk-ratio (2.56), 13th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.23), 14th in shutouts (6), 22nd in strikeouts per nine innings (9.3) and 30th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.62).
ESU had a trio of First Team All-PSAC East selections including Chase Nowak, who was the Pitcher of the Year, as well as Tom Reisinger (SP) and Nick McAuliffe (RP). Nowak was tabbed as NCBWA All-Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year while also earning First Team recognition from ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA and NCBWA. Reisinger garnered First Team honors from ABCA/Rawlings as well as Second Team laurels from the D2CCA and NCBWA.
In the 2022 season, the pitching staff helped guide the Warriors to the PSAC Championship Game and NCAA Atlantic Super Regional after setting school records with 502.1 innings pitched and 522 strikeouts while compiling a 3.87 ERA, the third lowest since 1980. ESU was anchored by All-PSAC East First Team selections Brent Francisco and Chase Nowak, who each earned additional recognition on the ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA & NCBWA All-Atlantic Region teams. Francisco set the single-season records for innings pitched (89.1) and strikeouts (116), while Nowak tied for the best winning percentage with a perfect 9-0 record.
In his first year (2021) working with the ESU pitching staff, the Warriors had an All-PSAC East Second Team selection in Connor Johnson and on April 16, Chase Nowak became the ninth pitcher in program history to throw a no-hitter as the Warriors defeated Kutztown.
During his time at LCCC, Lenhart amassed 165 victories at the NJCAA level and was responsible for all aspects of player recruiting, program schedules, and practice/game management. He also was tasked with managing budgeting and fundraising responsibilities along with academic oversight and eligibility.
Lenhart coached nine NJCAA Academic All-Americans at LCCC and had 98% of his student-athletes continue their education at the NCAA level. LCCC also captured the 2018 Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championship.
Lenhart spent several summers managing the Northern Yankees of the Blue Mountain League, a collegiate wooden bat league, from 2007-14. During his time with the team, he helped area collegiate athletes from NCAA Division I, II, and III program's work on their individual skills.
He also has experience coaching at the high school level, guiding William Allen from 2003-07 before assisting Emmaus from 2007-08. While in the high school ranks, Lenhart worked primarily with hitters, infielders, and pitchers during games and practices.
Lenhart graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience. He received his master's degree in Exercise Science from ESU in 2018. Lenhart completed his Ph.D. in Health Science (Movement Science) at Seton Hall University in June 2021.
