Whitworth University

Bill Baber, a softball coach with more than 350 career victories to his name at NCAA Division I, Division II and NAIA levels, takes over as the head softball coach at Whitworth University for the 2025-26 season.

Baber has spent the last 22 seasons at California Baptist University in Riverside.  He was an assistant coach under Mike Smith from 2004 through 2011, during which time the Lancers won an NAIA national championship and appeared in the NAIA title game three consecutive seasons.  Baber was elevated to head coach for the 2012 season following Smith's departure to another school.  His promotion coincided with CBU's transition to NCAA Division II and he went 333-161-1 over ten years.  In 2019 the Lancers moved to NCAA Division I and joined the Western Athletic Conference.

Smith returned to Cal Baptist for the 2022 season and Baber agreed to become the Associate Head Coach under Smith, a role he served through the 2025 season.

Baber's squad won a National Christian College Athletics Association championship in his first year as head coach in 2012.  The Lancers advanced to the NCAA Division II regional playoffs five years in a row from 2014 through 2018. During the 2017 campaign, his team set a school record with a 26-game winning streak. In 2020 CBU claimed its first-ever win over a power 5 school (Ole Miss) and its first doubleheader sweep of a Power 5 school (Michigan State) before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Prior to his time at CBU, Baber coached under Smith for three seasons at Biola University before serving as head coach in 2003 and posting a 25-27 record.  He rejoined Smith at Cal Baptist the following season.