BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Bridgewater State University Head Coach Rick Smith has been named as the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Coach of the Year.

Smith guided the Bears to both the MASCAC regular season and tournament championships in 2012.  Bridgewater will compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 14th time in program history next week with regional play getting underway on Wednesday, May 16th.

The Bears are currently 30-13 on the season as they reached the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in program history (1992, 1996, 2000, 2012).  The MASCAC regular season championship is Bridgewater’s 15th overall and the tournament title marks the Bears’ fifth since the tournament began in 2001.

In 19 seasons as the Bears’ skipper beginning with the 1994 campaign, Smith has guided his teams to an overall record of 479-255-4 (.652) as he is the all-time winningest coach in program history.  In 1996 and again in 1997, the BSU baseball team captured NCAA Regional championships and advanced to the College World Series with the 1996 squad finishing in third place.

Under his guidance this season, five players earned all-conference honors led by MASCAC Player of the Year, junior second baseman Sean Riley (Fairhaven, Mass.).  Joining Riley on the All-MASCAC First Team are junior first baseman David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and junior catcher Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.).  Second Team honorees are senior left fielder Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.) and junior third baseman Craig Stewart (Brockton, Mass.).

This marks the third time that Smith was selected as the conference coach of the year and first since 2000.  He also garnered the honor in 1998.  Rick was the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) New England Division III Coach of the Year in 1996 and 2000.