Matt Ellinghuysen enters his fifth season as head coach of the Bemidji State Baseball program and 12th season connected to the program after previously serving as an assistant coach from 2014-16 and played four seasons from 2010-13. He has compiled an 18-173 record as head coach of the Beavers.
Ellinghuysen has helped guide 37 Beavers to NSIC All-Academic Team status, 12 to NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence and five CSC Academic All-District.
The Beavers took a step in the right direction in 2025 totaling the most wins under Ellinghuysen finishing with a 7-40 record. The Beavers finished 15th in the NSIC with a 6-34 record and the most conference wins since 2021. 10 student-athletes were named to the NSIC All-Academic Team while two were tabbed as NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Junior Adrian Falcon earned CSC Academic All-District honors as one of the nation's top student-athletes on the field and in the classroom. Freshman pitcher Matt Greiner pitcher Daniel Pobuda led the NSIC with 28 appearances on the mound. Junior Noah Drusch tied for the fifth most walks by batter at BSU with 27. Sophomore Matt Filippi stole 14 bases, the fourth most in program history. Senior Brandon Lind's K/9 average of 10.65 was the sixth best at BSU and he earned the 10th most strikeouts. He was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on April 21 becoming the first Beaver to earn the distinction since 2022. The Beavers hit 32 home runs as a team, the fifth most in program history and tied for the fifth most stolen bases (49).Â
The Beavers went 3-47 in 2024 and finished 15th in the NSIC with a 2-38 league record. Eight Beavers were recognized by the conference as NSIC All-Academic Team while four earned NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence honors. Junior pitcher Derek Hoffman earned CSC Academic All-District honors as one of the nation's top student-athletes on the field and in the classroom. Sophomore pitcher Daniel Pobuda led the NSIC with 28 appearances on the mound. Senior Jack Munson hit nine home runs during the season to tie for the fifth most in program history. He ended his career tied for sixth in games started, sixth in at bats, tied for seventh in hits, eighth in doubles, fourth in home runs, tied for ninth in RBI and seventh in total bases. Junior Brandon Lind set a new program record in strikeouts per nine innings average 11.61 K/9. As a team, the Beavers tied for the second most home runs in a season in program history.
The Beavers went 2-46 during the 2023 season and finished 15th in the NSIC with a 1-32 league record. Following the season, 13 Beavers earned spring NSIC All-Academic team honors with four earning NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. Three Beavers also were named CSC Academic All-District in Logan Barrick, Derek Hoffman and Konrad Kisch, which recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom. Senior pitcher Will Lavin agreed to play for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League during the summer in one of the top amateur development leagues in the nation becoming the first Beaver since Joey Hanowski (2014) to play in the league. Junior Jack Munson recorded the sixth most total bases (95) in season in program history in 2023 while Lavin's strikeouts per nine innings (11.54) was a program record at the time.
Bemidji State finished the 2022 season 6-40 overall and 3-29 in the NSIC. The Beavers recorded three of its wins during the team’s spring trip to Tucson, Ariz., and totaled 19 games decided by two runs or less. Senior pitcher Travis Carruth ended his career with the most appearances on the mound in BSU history, third in saves, fifth in fewest walks allowed/9 innings and 10th in opposing batting average. Senior pitcher Jackson Back ended his career in 2022 with 100 strikeouts, which ranks ninth all-time at BSU, while senior Parker Borg finished with 15 home runs to, which ranks seventh in program history. The Beavers totaled six selections to the 2022 Spring NSIC All-Academic Team, including multiple career selections by Stephane Lagasse, John Perkins and Carter Simon.
The Beavers returned to a full schedule in 2021 to finish with an 8-32 record overall and 7-28 mark in the NSIC. Junior first baseman/designated hitter Sam Kalberer earned a spot on the 2021 NSIC All-Conference Second Team, the program's first selection to the team since 2018. Kalberer ranked 10th in the NSIC in walks and 16th in total hits. BSU won a season series against the University of Mary, 6-4 and 13-8, on Wednesday, April 28 and finished the season with an 11-10 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth.
During a shortened season in 2020 due to COVID-19, Bemidji State opened the season with back-to-back wins over Rockhurst University at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Beavers fell in the following 10 games while the season was canceled following its spring trip that was completed on March 11. At the conclusion of the shortened season, senior outfielder Noah Boser ranked among the top 10 in the NSIC in triples (4/t-1st), on-base percentage (.509/5th), and batting average (.409/8th).
Ellinghuysen spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach for Southwest Minnesota State from 2017-18. During his time at SMSU, the Mustangs totaled three all-conference players and won 32 games.
Prior to joining SMSU, Ellinghuysen began his intercollegiate coaching career at BSU as an assistant coach from 2014-16. He coached two-time all-conference selection Tyler Nelson and all-conference selection Gunner Olszewski during his first stint with BSU. Ellinghuysen also served as the head coach for the Steamboat Storm summer baseball team in Steamboat Springs, Colo., during the summers of 2015 and 2016.
Ellinghuysen, a St. Charles, Minn., native, played third base for Bemidji State from 2010-13. In 124 games (113 starts) at third for the Beavers, Ellinghuysen was a career .283 hitter and compiled 100 hits, 58 RBIs and 30 runs scored. In the field he totaled 149 assists with 64 putouts. His most productive season at the plate came his senior season when he started 47 games and batted .333 with 49 hits, 31 runs, 30 RBIs and 10 doubles. He was hit by a pitch more than any other player in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (24) and owned a .438 on-base percentage to rank 15th in the NSIC.
Ellinghuysen graduated from BSU in May 2013 with a degree in sport management and a minor in mass communications. He earned his master's degree in physical education from Southwest Minnesota State in 2018. He and his wife Jessica, a BSU grad and former Beaver Women's Hockey student-athlete, reside in Bemidji with their sons.
