BYU Baseball Coach Mike Littlewood Resigns
Apr 11, 2022, 1:45 PM | Updated: 2:15 pm
20140402 BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood throws a pitch during practice at the Larry H. Miller Field in Provo on April 18. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU baseball will have a new manager for the first time in a decade.
On Monday, BYU Athletics announced that baseball manager Mike Littlewood had resigned from his position for personal reasons. As a result, associate head coach Trent Pratt assumes the role of interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season. Pratt worked under Littlewood since 2006, from their days at Dixie State. He joined Littlewood at BYU in 2012 and was elevated to associate head coach in 2017.
Breaking: #BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood has resigned from his position for personal reasons, the school announced.
Littlewood has led BYU baseball since 2012.@kslsports
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) April 11, 2022
No other details were provided by BYU as to why Littlewood suddenly resigned from his post as head coach.
Littlewood became BYU’s skipper in June 2012. Since his arrival as head coach, BYU posted a 262-208 record and was 132-93 in West Coast Conference play.
BYU won regular-season WCC titles in 2016, 2017, and 2019 under Littlewood and had one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.
Through 29 games this season, BYU has posted a 17-12 record overall, 6-6 in West Coast Conference play. Over the weekend, BYU completed a home sweep of WCC rival Santa Clara that included a crowd of 3,074 fans at the game on April 8. That was the fourth-highest attended game in the history of Miller Park, BYU’s home venue.
Littlewood put together some top recruiting classes during his time at BYU. In 2019, the Cougars signed a Top 25 recruiting class. Then the 2022 class included nine players from Utah and Hawaii.
BYU baseball is gearing up for a league change
Littlewood’s move comes when BYU is ramping up its efforts to prepare for an upcoming league change.
Beginning in the 2024 baseball season, BYU will be a member of the Big 12 Conference. The Cougars are currently a member of the WCC.
Back in September, when BYU officially accepted an invitation to the Big 12 Conference, Littlewood expressed excitement about moving to a Power Five league.
“Big 12 baseball is one of the top three conferences in the country. And when I first heard about this, I was excited. Then I was really terrified because it’s like ‘go time,'” said Littlewood on September 10, 2021. “Every time you walk on the field, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, one thru 12, you’re going to be playing a good team with a bunch of future big leaguers. It’s time to step it up and make a jump up. I’m elated.”
For now, the current BYU baseball team continues preparations for a four-game series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, beginning on Thursday.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
