Southern Arkansas Baseball Camps

Head Coach | Justin Pettigrew

Justin Pettigrew is in his eighth year as head baseball coach at Southern Arkansas University after being promoted from associate head coach following the conclusion of the 2016 season. Overall, Pettigrew, a three-time Great American Conference Coach of the Year (2017, 2022, 2023), is in his 19th year with the Muleriders.

Under his leadership, the Muleriders have enjoyed five 30-win seasons, three 40-win seasons, the 11th, 12th and 13th such campaigns in program history, and have won nearly 70% of the 351 games played since Pettigrew’s first season of 2017. Southern Arkansas has earned five NCAA Tournament berths under Pettigrew, including three-straight, to go along with four GAC regular season championships and three GAC Tournament titles.

The Muleriders enter the 2024 campaign having won 40+ games in consecutive seasons. Last spring, Southern Arkansas won the GAC regular season championship outright, the program's seventh as a league member, and then carried the top seed into the GAC Tournament where it took two of three from (8) Southeastern Oklahoma State in the opening round. SAU then went on to win three-straight games from inside Arvest Ballpark in Springdale to earn its seventh league tournament title and claim the GAC's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason. Pettigrew saw five members of the 2023 squad garner all-region acclaim, nine receive all-conference honors, with three all-defensive team selections, five all-tournament team members and the tournament MVP to go along with four that were named to all-academic teams.

Pettigrew’s tenure has been highlighted by the program’s historic run to the 2022 NCAA DII College World Series after winning the Central Region title for the first time in the program’s NCAA history. SAU won 47 games that season, the second-most in a single season in program history, and its journey to Cary, North Carolina was a wild one to say the least. Southern Arkansas, GAC regular season champions, won 10 of its 11 league series which included 11 straight wins to open GAC action and six series sweeps. The Muleriders posted a 4-0 record at the league tournament in Hot Springs to capture the program's sixth tournament title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament; the program's 14th NCAA regional berth. SAU was selected as the No. 2 seed and hosted NCAA postseason action for the third time in program history (2009, 2018) and for the second time under Pettigrew.

Four times in the 2022 NCAA postseason, SAU hit a go-ahead home run in its final at bat of the game, while its seven runs in the ninth inning of the Central Region title game marked the fourth time that postseason that the Muleriders manufactured five or more runs in either the seventh, eighth or ninth innings.
Nine Muleriders landed on All-GAC teams in 2022 and SAU was represented by the conference’s Newcomer and Pitcher of the Year as well as four all-defensive team selections and three distinguished scholar-athletes. Four players were named GAC All-Tournament which also included the Tournament MVP. Four players were named all-region with one named the region’s consensus pitcher of the year, two garnered All-America plaudits with a third named an academic All-American and one was named National Pitcher of the Year from two different outlets.

In 2021, the Muleriders advanced to the final day of action at the Central Region Tournament before falling to Central Missouri and finishing as regional runner-up behind an overall record of 30-16. SAU won 23 games in GAC play to finish second in the regular season. Six players earned All-GAC honors, one was named both all-region and an All-America honoree and four players were tabbed to Natural State Baseball’s All-Arkansas Team.

SAU combined to win 48 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons which included a 19-4 record and a top 20 ranking nationally before the ‘20 campaign was halted due to the pandemic. The 2019 team saw four players named All-GAC, three earned all-region acclaim, two named to NSB’s All-Arkansas Team and one tabbed as an academic all-district selection.

In 2018, Pettigrew and the Muleriders staked claim to the program's fifth GAC Tournament Championship of the past seven years after battling back out of the loser's bracket for the first championship win since the 2015 season. With the tournament title, Southern Arkansas served as the top seed and host of the Central Region Tournament, the 12th regional appearance for the program since 2004, and came a game away from reaching the DII World Series as they finished as Runner-Up in the Central Region. During the postseason run, Pettigrew's Muleriders went 9-1 when facing elimination.

Pettigrew led an SAU Baseball team that posted 41 wins; the most by the program since the 2013 season, which included a 22-11 mark in GAC play as well as eight wins over nationally-ranked opponents. It marked the 18th season that Southern Arkansas won at least 30 games.

The 2018 Muleriders received several individual postseason honors as seven players were named All-GAC, including "..of the Year" awards for both Player and Pitcher of the Year. Three players were awarded academic honors, with one being named a Google Cloud Academic All-America Third-Team selection. Additionally, four players were named All-Region honorees with two earning consensus recognition, while one player garnered All-America status from all three major DII Baseball outlets.

Pettigrew also coached the Natural State Player of the Year and saw three players sign pro baseball contracts, including a pair of draft picks in the 2018 Major League Baseball June Amateur First-Year Player Draft.

In his first season as head coach in 2017, Pettigrew was named the GAC’s Coach of the Year as he continued the storied winning tradition of the Mulerider Baseball program. In doing so, Pettigrew led the team to its fourth GAC Regular Season championship in six years after posting an impressive 28-5 record in league play.

Overall, Pettigrew’s first year at the helm saw the Muleriders register a 39-16 record to extend a program-record of 30 or more victories to 17, while also advancing the team to their 11th NCAA Regional Tournament since 2004.

The team's success in 2017 led to numerous individual awards and accolades that saw a total of eight All-GAC selections with “… of the Year” awards for Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Regionally, SAU had the consensus Central Region Player of the Year and a total of six Muleriders received all-region consideration. Finally, Pettigrew’s 2017 team featured a pair of All-America honorees with one being a first-team selection; the program’s first since 2010.

Prior to becoming the head coach, Pettigrew accrued over a decade of coaching experience with the Muleriders as he first joined the program in August of 2005 as the team’s pitching coach, a role he served in for 11 years through the 2016 season. Beginning in the 2011 campaign, Pettigrew added the title of associate head coach.

With Pettigrew as the pitching coach, the Mulerider pitching staff consistently ranked in the top of the conference in many key statistical categories. Additionally, Pettigrew mentored 11 pitchers that moved on to play professional baseball. Of those 11 pitchers to move on past SAU, eight were drafted in the Major League Baseball draft.

In 2010, Pettigrew served as the pitching coach for a first-round MLB draft pick, who was also named the National Pitcher of the Year and runner up for the Tino Martinez Award (Top Division II player).

Prior to his appointment at SAU, Pettigrew was at GAC-rival Arkansas Tech University where he was the pitching coach for five years (2001-2005).

A graduate of Lake Hamilton High School, Pettigrew played junior college baseball at Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City, La., and Connors State College in Warner, Okla., before transferring to play for the Wonder Boys, where he finished his career in 2000.

Pettigrew received his B.S.E. in health and physical education and his M.Ed. in physical education (2003), both from Arkansas Tech. He is married to the former Corrie O’Dell of Magnolia. The couple have a son, Maddox, and a daughter, Emma.