Bob Bennett

Bobby Gene Bennett

• School Fresno State University
• High School Roosevelt High School (Fresno)

• Born June 22, 1933 in Atwood, OK USA
• Died May 31, 2020

Biographical Information

Bob Bennett was a longtime college coach.

In college, Bob caught for Fresno State University, setting a school record for fielding in 1953 by going 224 chances without an error. Bennett began his coaching career in 1956 after graduating from college with a degree in physical education. He was 41-19 from 1956-1957 at Kingsburg High School. He then spent 11 seasons coaching Bullard High School.

Bennett took a break from Bullard in 1967 to coach Fresno State when Pete Beiden took a sabbatical; the team went 38-10. When Beiden retired after 1969, Bennett became head coach, a job he held until his retirement in 2002. He would go 1,302-759-4 to finish 7th in NCAA Division I history in career victories; he only had two losing seasons in his career. He won 14 Conference Coach of the Year honors and was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1988 by The Sporting News.

Bob coached for Team USA in 1977 and 1979 and managed the team in the 1983 Intercontinental Cup (when they won a Silver Medal), 1983 Pan American Games (Bronze) and 1986 Amateur World Series.

Bennett took Fresno State to the 1988 College World Series and 1991 College World Series.

He helped develop Dick Ruthven, Ron Johnson, Terry Pendleton, Eric Fox, Mark Gardner, Tom Goodwin, Steve Hosey, Bobby Jones, Todd Johnson, Jeff Weaver, Dan Gladden, Adam Pettyjohn and Dennis Springer, among other major leaguers.

Bennett's #26 was the first number ever retired by Fresno State. He was once president of the American Baseball Coaches Association as well. He was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame and College Baseball Hall of Fame (2010).

Main Source: Fresno State bio

Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record	Notes
1967	Fresno State College	38-10		CWS District Tournaments
1970	Fresno State College	35-20	5-9
1971	Fresno State College	35-24	13-8
1972	Fresno State College	31-26	6-12
1973	California State University, Fresno	31-24	9-9
1974	California State University, Fresno	38-20	15-9
1975	California State University, Fresno	26-33	7-14
1976	California State University, Fresno	28-29	7-14
1977	California State University, Fresno	39-21	26-10	CWS Regionals
1978	California State University, Fresno	38-20	21-3
1979	California State University, Fresno	37-27	24-12	CWS Regionals
1980	California State University, Fresno	43-12	21-3	CWS Regionals
1981	California State University, Fresno	43-22	26-10	CWS Regionals
1982	California State University, Fresno	45-13	30-6	CWS Regionals
1983	California State University, Fresno	45-19	22-8	CWS Regionals
1984	California State University, Fresno	54-12-2	28-2	CWS Regionals
1985	California State University, Fresno	43-22	23-7	CWS Regionals
1986	California State University, Fresno	29-27-1	12-9
1987	California State University, Fresno	34-26	9-12
1988	California State University, Fresno	56-12	20-1	CWS Regionals / CWS
1989	California State University, Fresno	44-19	17-4	CWS Regionals
1990	California State University, Fresno	38-24	13-8	CWS Regionals
1991	California State University, Fresno	42-23	15-6	CWS Regionals / CWS
1992	California State University, Fresno	37-20	16-8	CWS Regionals
1993	California State University, Fresno	41-22	14-8	WAC / CWS Regionals
1994	California State University, Fresno	36-27	15-9	WAC / CWS Regionals
1995	California State University, Fresno	41-22	20-10	WAC / CWS Regionals
1996	California State University, Fresno	36-24	20-10	CWS Regionals
1997	California State University, Fresno	40-28	19-11	WAC / CWS Regionals
1998	California State University, Fresno	33-28-1	19-11	WAC
1999	California State University, Fresno	33-30	14-16
2000	California State University, Fresno	40-21	18-12	CWS Regionals
2001	California State University, Fresno	41-25	22-14	CWS Regionals
2002	California State University, Fresno	32-27	19-11