Justin Wechsler

Biography

Justin Wechsler was named the pitching coach in June of 2023. He begins his third season as an assistant coach in 2026. Ball State had a pair of All-Conference pitchers in 2025 under Wechsler's tutelage, as sophomore Keegan Johnson was voted First Team All-MAC, and senior Jacob Hartlaub landed on the Second Team. The Cardinals has the second-best strikeouts per nine innings rate (8.8) in the Mid-American Conference. Wechsler also developed right-handers Garrett Harker and Owen Quinn into one of the top relief duos in the league. Wechsler developed 2024 Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Merritt Beeker and Freshman Pitcher of the Year Johnson in his first year at the helm. Both were also voted First Team All-MAC, while Beeker's 128 strikeouts were the third-most in a single season in program history. Beeker would later be drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 11th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Wechsler is no stranger to Ball State, as he was a pitcher for the Cardinals from 1999-2001. During his time at BSU, he was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and was tabbed to the Baseball America Freshman All-American Second Team. He was voted the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 1999. He was a two-time All-MAC Second Team honoree and pitched on two teams that won MAC regular season titles (1999 and 2001). The 1999 team was recently inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame. During his 1999 season, Wechsler recorded the most wins