Kutztown University Athletics

Chris Blum is in his first year as an assistant coach with the Golden Bear softball team and embarks on his 27th year at Kutztown University overall in 2020-21
 
Blum previously served KU as head baseball coach for 17 seasons between 2003-19, totaling 504 victories, four Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships, three NCAA regional titles and 10 NCAA Division II Championship tournament appearances.
 
From 2004-14, Kutztown won 30 or more games 10 times in 11 seasons, including 40-plus wins three times. The 2007 Golden Bears won a school-record 49 games (49-7), reached No. 1 in the Division II national poll and captured the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region championship before ending the year ranked seventh in the nation.
 
Prior to his tenure as head coach, Blum spent eight seasons as an assistant at KU under former head coach and mentor, Matt Royer. Seven of Blum’s student-athletes were selected in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft between 2005-16. Additionally, four Golden Bears were drafted during his time as an assistant.
 
A lifelong Berks Countian, Blum attended Muhlenberg High School before heading to Elizabethtown College. He earned a Bachelor of Science in communications from Elizabethtown in 1993.
 

COACHING CAREER

Chris Blum, the all-time winningest baseball coach in Kutztown University history, coached the Golden Bears for 17 seasons.

Blum amassed a 504-338 overall record and a 213-192 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), while guiding KU to four PSAC Championships, three regional titles, and 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears won PSAC titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2014, and won regional crowns in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

A three-time PSAC Coach of the Year, Blum mentored three PSAC Athlete of the Year honorees, two Pitchers of the Year, three Freshmen of the Year and 59 All-PSAC selections.

On the regional stage, Blum was recognized twice as the ABCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. He coached the regional Player of the Year in 2010, had three regional Pitchers of the Year and 66 All-Atlantic Region selections (22 ABCA, 17 Daktronics/D2CCA, 27 NCBWA).

Nationally, Blum's players earned nine All-America honors (two ABCA, four Daktronics/D2CCA, three NCBWA).

During the 2019 season, Blum claimed career win No. 500 with the Golden Bears’ 2-1 game two triumph at Bloomsburg on March 30. He became just the fifth coach in PSAC history to reach the milestone and third fastest to do it.

Blum was crowned the "King of Baseballtown" by the Reading Fightin' Phils on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, for his contributions, support and progression of local baseball.

On March 20, 2014, Blum won his 400th career game when KU twirled a no-hitter against Virginia State. At the time, Blum was just the the ninth coach in PSAC history to win 400.

From 2000-09, no team in the PSAC won more than Kutztown. Nationally, the Golden Bears were 18th in wins among Division II schools during that period. Kutztown held a record of 359-180 for a winning percentage of .666 over those 10 seasons.

In 2014, KU's postseason hopes were at stake for the final two weeks of the regular season, but the Golden Bears responded to earn the final spot in the PSAC Championship tournament. The Maroon and Gold won all three games in the tournament to capture the program's seventh PSAC championship. KU also won two games at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.

Blum surpassed mentor Matt Royer's 270 career victories on March 24, 2010, to move atop KU's coaching wins list. He was the fastest Pennsylvania college baseball coach to reach 200 wins.

Under Blum's direction, the Golden Bears finished 2010 with a 42-15 record, the seventh-straight season of 30 or more wins. The Golden Bears won the NCAA Atlantic Region title with a sweep over West Chester in the championship. The Golden Bears picked up their first win since 2002 at the NCAA Championships, with a 12-inning, 2-1 win over Franklin Pierce.

In the 2009 season, Blum coached the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year (Darin Gorski) and the PSAC East Rookie of the Year (Shayne Houck).

In 2007, Blum guided KU to a school-record 49 wins. The Golden Bears spent the week of April 30 as the top-ranked team in Division II, a first for a KU sports team and for a ball club from the North Atlantic Region. The Golden Bears won the PSAC East regular-season title and the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional, finishing seventh in the nation. KU was 49-7 overall, 19-1 in the PSAC East, and Blum was named the PSAC East and Regional Coach of the Year.

In 2006, KU set a then-school record with a 44-14 overall, 15-5 PSAC East mark. KU won the PSAC title for the program’s first-ever back-to-back conference crowns. Blum was named PSAC East Coach of the Year. In 2004, Blum garnered his first PSAC East and Regional Coach of the Year awards.

Prior to taking over as head coach, Blum served as assistant coach at KU for eight seasons.

As a collegiate player at Elizabethtown College, Blum won multiple division titles, a MAC Championship, and qualified for two NCAA Division III regional tournaments.

Blum began his coaching career with the Muhlenberg Legion program as an assistant for four seasons. Prior to joining Royer's staff at Kutztown as an assistant in 1995, Blum had been head coach of the Berkshire Red Sox of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. Improving from a 13-17 record its first season, Blum led his team to the championship game and 25-12 overall record in 2002.