Sam Riggleman will enter his third season as an assistant coach with the Lakers and will work primarily with the pitchers. Riggleman joins the GVSU staff after a two-year hiatus from coaching after retiring from Spring Arbor University (Mich.) in 2016.
Riggleman, who has been inducted into five Hall of Fame's for his baseball accomplishments, retired from Spring Arbor University in 2016 after an illustrious 40-year coaching career in which he recorded a career record of 1,023-661-2 at six college institutions. He guided Dallas Baptist to the 2000 and 2001 NAIA World Series, before taking Spring Arbor to the 2007 NAIA World Series title game. SAU, which posted a 48-5 record, including a 36-game winning streak during that 2007 campaign, also advanced to the 2008 NAIA World Series. Riggleman was named NAIA National Coach of the Year twice (2000, 2007) during his coaching career. Throughout his career Riggleman has coached several major league players, including Tim Belcher who was selected first overall in the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft.
In addition to his tenure at Spring Arbor where he tallied a record of 377-212, Riggleman coached at John Wesley College (42-46), Mt. Vernon Nazarene (226-144), Southern Illinois University (81-115-1), Bethel College (176-86) and Dallas Baptist (121-58-1).
