OBU baseball coach resigns

ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist Athletic Director David Sharp announced this week Kyle Hope, head coach of the Tigers baseball team for the past three seasons, has resigned effective May 31.

“I would like to thank Kyle Hope for his service as baseball coach here at Ouachita,” Sharp said. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Prior to being named head coach, Hope was the team’s pitching coach for three years and recruiting coordinator. Hope has 35 years of coaching experience on the high school and collegiate levels, including a state championship in 1998 at Highland Park High School in Dallas. He also coached at Allen High School, Garland High School and Richardson High School in Texas, where he earned Coach of the Year honors in 2010.

Hope played college baseball at Richland Community College in Dallas before earning his bachelor’s degree at North Texas State University. He holds a Master of Science in Education degree from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, where he was also an assistant coach for two years.

Ouachita finished 15-35 overall this season and 10-23 in the Great American Conference, failing by eight games to qualify for the league tournament this week in Enid, Okla. The Tigers went 5-3 in their final eight games of the season, including a doubleheader sweep over Battle of the Ravine rival Henderson State (29-18, 21-12) on the final day of the regular season, after enduring a 15-game losing streak over four weeks.

The team went 47-103 over the past three seasons.

Sharp said Ouachita will immediately begin a search for a new head baseball coach.