Former Valparaiso University baseball standout Michael Caston enters his fourth season as the head baseball coach and his sixth overall season at Chicago State.

Caston guided the Cougars in his first season to one of the program’s biggest wins in the school’s NCAA Division I-era at then-nationally ranked Pepperdine. He coached a Great West Conference Pitcher of the Week honoree along with three Academic All-Independent selections. Five of his players also captured Spring Academic All-Great West Conference accolades following the season.

Before assuming the head coaching position, Caston spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as an assistant coach for the Cougars, which captured huge wins over perennial Conference USA contender Tulane, Big East Conference member Cincinnati, and Missouri Valley Conference contenders Evansville and Illinois State.

Caston served as the head coach and an assistant coach for the Steel City Giants, a semi-pro baseball team located in Gary, Ind.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Caston was a four-year letterwinner as a pitcher and infielder at Valpo from 1999-2002. The Hammond, Ind., native captured Spring Academic-All Mid Continent Conference accolades after the conclusion of his senior season.