Ubbenga had his hands in the offensive and defensive game plans for the 2022 season and helped lead the Texans to a 14-17 home record at the Tarleton Baseball Complex. The Texans compiled 69 home runs on the season which was good for third best in the WAC. He coached up London Green to an All-WAC defensive team honor and Kemuel Thomas-Rivera to All-WAC second team honors as a second baseman.
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Ubbenga helped lead the Texans in their first Division I season to a 20-35 record finishing 7th in the WAC. As Ubbenga focused on the offense, he helped coach two WAC Players of the Week in Bryan Aguilar and London Green. Green also finished 4th in the conference in stolen bases with 14. The Texans finished the season with a combined .269 batting average and a .366 on base percentage.
His debut season as the coach in charge of offense was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tarleton finished that shortened season with a 14-10 record and were ranked No. 3 in the Lone Star Conference with a .313 team batting average. Blake Burns was the team and conference’s leading hitter with a .452 batting average.
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Ubbenga, pronounced uh-beng-ay, came to Tarleton after spending the previous two seasons as the head coach of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Oklahoma City. During his time at the high school ranks, Ubbenga quickly turned around a program that went 8-27 prior to his arrival to one game shy of the state tournament in 2019.
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Ubbenga’s collegiate baseball history dates back to 2005 as a shortstop for William Jewell College. He was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-America selection and a four-year starter for the Cardinals before graduating in 2009. During his time at William Jewell, the Cardinals went 168-70 with Ubbenga in the lineup.
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After playing one summer of professional baseball for the River City Rascals in the Frontier League, he moved on to Missouri State University as a volunteer assistant coach for Meade’s alma mater. He spent two seasons with MSU before one year at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M where he recruited and coached OF Ramon Laureano, currently of the Oakland A’s. Over the next five seasons, Ubbenga spent time as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at five different stops – his longest tenure at Arkansas-Fort Smith from 2014-16. His final coaching position was at Central Arkansas for the 2017 season before taking the head job at McGuinness.
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During his time at UAFS, Ubbenga recruited Dion Williams and Logan Allen. Williams would go on to earn Newcomer of the Year honors in the Heartland Conference while Allen developed into the first Major League Baseball draft pick in UAFS’ NCAA era. He was a 14th round selection of the Tampa Bay Rays in June.
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He and his wife, Jessica, reside in Stephenville with their son, Jaxon and daughter, Jaden.
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