Patrick Hallmark was named the fourth head coach of the UIW baseball program on July 17, 2017.
In his first year with the program, Hallmark guided the Cardinals to unprecedented heights. UIW was 29-26 overall and posted a 13-15 record in Southland Conference action, marking the most overall and conference wins since becoming Division I and joining the Southland Conference.
He guided the team to a league-leading .292 batting average and a conference-best .395 on-base percentage. UIW also had 557 hits, a mark which ranked second in the conference following the regular season. The team also ranked second in runs scored (351), sacrifice flies (30) and stolen bases (70).
After playing in all but one game for the Cardinals and finishing the regular season ranked sixth with a .350 batting average, Ridge Rogers was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. He also received honorable mention honors and was later named Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. This was UIW’s first All-American honoree since joining the Division I ranks in 2014.
Under Hallmark’s tutelage, Kyle Bergeron ranked second in the league with 50 RBI and had a team-high 22 multi-hit games. He recorded 75 hits, good for fifth in the conference. For his efforts, Bergeron was named to the All-SLC first team. Eddy Gonzalez led the conference in hits (80), hits per game (1.51) and the category “toughest to strike out” (13.8) en route to a second team All-SLC selection.
Prior to UIW, Hallmark spent a season in the Southeastern Conference as the pitching coach at Missouri.
Under Hallmark’s leadership the Tigers placed four pitchers in the top-25 in the SEC, including two who cracked the top-10. Missouri posted a 3.67 team earned run average and reached the third round of the SEC tournament, ultimately falling to South Carolina.
Prior to his time with the Tigers, Hallmark spent a 11 seasons with Rice, where he helped transform Owls baseball into a nationally-recognized program. In addition to reaching NCAA Regional play in all 11 seasons, Rice made three trips to the College World Series (2006-2008) with five Super Regional appearances.
A former catcher, Hallmark transitioned to the Owls pitching coach role prior to the 2013 season and the team saw immediate success under his guidance. In 2015, Rice pitching finished 12th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (8.8) and registered the fifth-highest single-season saves total in school history (18) while also finishing among the NCAA's top teams for ERA (3.16), hits allowed per 9.0 innings (8.2) and WHIP (1.27). A total of five Rice pitchers were selected in the 2015 Major League Draft.
In 2014, Rice pitching finished 13th in the NCAA with a new school record for ERA (2.56). The Owls were also 20th in the nation in both fewest hits allowed per game (7.7) and WHIP (1.19). Rice pitchers registered 18 saves while also finishing with the program's lowest number of walks since the mid-1980s (192 walks in 573.1 inn., 3.0 per game). He mentored LHP Blake Fox to consensus All-America honors and 2014 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year accolades that year as well.
In his first year as pitching coach at Rice in 2013, his Owls set a Rice single season record with 12 shutouts, ranking second in the NCAA that year. Hallmark's versatility as a coach was paramount to Rice's success and appealed to Bieser, who was the model of versatility during his major league playing career. Before coaching pitchers, Hallmark was the Owls hitting coach and trained catchers and outfielders defensively.
Hallmark was a successful player, earning All-Southwest Conference honors in 1995 while guiding Rice to its first 40-win season in 11 years. He played nine years of professional baseball after being drafted by the Royals in 1995. He saw action in two minor league all-star games and was part of three consecutive minor league champion teams from 1997-99.
A Houston native, Hallmark was a two-time all-district honoree in baseball in 1991 and 1992 at Westbury High School. He went on to earn all-conference honors at Alvin Community College in 1993 and 1994, and was named to the All-Southwest Conference team in 1995.
Hallmark is married to the former Jada Sanders of Kingwood, Texas, a 2001 Rice graduate and four-year letterwinner, who set school records for the Owls’ swim team. The couple have four children, Christian, Tanner, Grayson and Georgia.
