Steve Kline was named the IUP baseball program's 14th head coach in June 2021. He enters his fourth season at the helm going into the 2024-25 school year.
Kline helped lead the IUP baseball program to a remarkable turnaround in just three short seasons, culminating in a trip to the 2024 NCAA DII National Semifinals. The Crimson Hawks won a school record 41 games in 2024, led by All-PSAC West honorees Harrison Pontoli and Ricardo Aponte.
Kline was named the 2024 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/ATEC NCAA DII Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in June 2024. The 2024 season saw IUP record back-to-back appearances in the conference tournament for the first time since 2010-2011. The impressive run and turnaround of the program did not stop there as IUP earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament for the first time since 1990, rolling past West Chester and Charleston (W.Va.) to earn a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals.
Hosting the NCAA Super Regionals against perennial postseason regulars Seton Hill at Dougherty Field, the Crimson Hawks rallied from one game down to secure their first regional championship in program history during the best-of-three series against the Griffins.
IUP dropped its opening game of the 2024 NCAA DII College World Series, falling 2-1 in the program's debut against Point Loma on June 1. Facing elimination throughout, the
cardiac Crimson Hawks eliminated top-seeded Central Missouri and offensive juggernaut Point Loma in a rematch against the Sea Lions four days later with a shutout victory. IUP got within one win of a spot in the national championship with a 10-8 victory against defending national champion Angelo State on June 6. The Rams posted a 7-3 win against the Crimson Hawks the following day in an elimination game, the fourth of the DII College World Series for IUP.
Kline helped guide IUP to its deepest run in the PSAC Tournament in over a decade in 2023, finishing with a 25-29 mark. The Hawks landed a trio of student-athletes on the All-PSAC West First Team (Markus Cestra, Harrison Pontoli, Jeremiah Williams), while Cestra picked up three all-region accolades during the season.
IUP swept Gannon in a three-game series at the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, clinching a spot in the conference tournament. From there, Kline and the Hawks dispatched top-seeded and eighth-ranked Millersville by an 8-1 count in the opening round of the conference tournament.
Kline and the Hawks had a big turnaround during his first season at the helm of the program in 2022. IUP recorded an improvement of 25 victories, going 27-22 following a two-win season in 2021. IUP placed three on the All-PSAC West teams, including Markus Cestra (1st), Harrison Pontoli (2nd) and Austin Mueller (2nd).
| Steve Kline | Head Coaching Record |
| Year |
School |
W |
L |
Win % |
Notes |
| 2022 |
IUP |
27 |
22 |
.551 |
|
| 2023 |
IUP |
25 |
29 |
.463 |
PSAC Tournament |
| 2024 |
IUP |
41 |
18 |
.695 |
PSAC Tournament, NCAA Tournament, NCAA DII Super Regional Champions, NCAA DII College World Series, NCAA DII National Semifinalists, School record for wins/games played |
| CAREER |
|
93 |
69 |
.574 |
Kline comes to the Crimson Hawks with 11 years of experience as a Major League pitcher and 15 years as a pitching coach and in player development at a variety of levels of professional baseball.
Kline has spent his entire professional coaching career in the San Francisco Giants organization, coaching more than 100 players who would go on to appear in the Major Leagues. He’s won three World Series rings as an organizational coach and has been part of two minor league championship teams.
Kline has been the pitching coach for the Giants Double-A affiliate, the Richmond (Va.) Flying Squirrels, since 2020, while also serving as a member of the staff from 2015-17. He was with the big club in 2019 and also spent time with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats (2018-19), Single-A Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets (2009-11, 13-14), and Single-A San Jose Giants (2012). Kline got his start in 2008 with the Giants, serving as a roving pitching instructor with the organization.
In addition to his time with the Giants, Kline was New Zealand’s pitching coach for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and was an instructional league pitching instructor in the Dominican Republic from 2008-18.
Current Major Leaguers Kline has coached include:
- Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Arizona
- Luis Castillo, RHP, Cincinnati
- Sam Coonrod, RHP, Philadelphia
- Brandon Crawford, SS, Giants
- Kyle Crick, RHP, Pittsburgh
- Matt Duffy, INF, Cubs
- Adam Duvall, OF, Miami
- Heath Hembree, RHP, Cincinnati
- Joe Panik, 2B, Toronto
- Buster Posey, C, Giants
- Chris Stratton, RHP, Pittsburgh
- Stephen Vogt, C, Arizona
- Zack Wheeler, RHP, Philadelphia
Kline’s Major League pitching career spanned from his 1997 debut with the Cleveland Indians to his final game in 2007 with the Giants. The left-hander appeared in 796 games over his 11 seasons with Cleveland, the Montreal Expos, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, and San Francisco.
He led the league in appearances for three straight seasons (1999-2001), even earning an MVP vote in 2001 with the Cardinals. At the time of his retirement, his 89 appearances in 2001 were the most in a single season by a left-handed pitcher in MLB history.
Kline is also the only pitcher to appear in a game for seven straight days, he’s one of with 94 pitchers to tally four strikeouts in one inning, and he posted a save on five consecutive days.
He was part of two league championship teams (Cleveland, St. Louis) and pitched for the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series.
Kline was selected in the eighth round of the 1993 MLB June Amateur Draft by Cleveland out of West Virginia University, where he was the Atlantic-10 Pitcher of the Year. Before his MLB debut he would earn two minor league All-Star nods, lead the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) to a minor league championship, and win the 1994 Bob Feller Award as Cleveland’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Kline has hosted or helped coach several camps and clinics over the years from ages 7 thru college and has coached high school football and wrestling.
He has always been extremely active in the community, helping with organizations such as the YMCA, Women in Transition, the Baseball Assistance Team (BATS), Pennsylvania State Police Camp Cadet Summer Program, and the MLB Players Alumni Association, among many others.
