Chris Bodishbaugh (bo-DISH-baugh) is in his fourth season with the Cal baseball program and his third campaign as the Golden Bears' pitching coach in 2026.
A young and inexperienced staff that returned just 14% of its' innings pitched from a stellar 2024 group was still able to produce several highlights in Bodishbaugh's second season as the team's pitching coach in 2025. The highlight came in the second to last series of the ACC schedule when Oliver de la Torre and Gavin Eddy combined on a six-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over then No. 2 Florida State on May 10, while the best stretch also came late in the campaign with a 4.55 earned run average in May that helped the Bears win a pair of ACC Championship games, their final ACC regular-season series of the season against Boston College and six of their final 10 games overall. Other highlights included a shut out against Nevada on Feb. 17 to wrap up a series victory against the Wolf Pack, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a 5-1 victory over Houston five days later and posting a 4.93 ERA during the team's season-long five game-win streak in late March, capped by a single-game school-record-tying 19-strikeout performance March 24 at San Francisco when Ethan Foley fanned a career-high and individual team season-best 13 Dons. Four different pitchers - Eddy (4-4, 5.74 ERA, 58.0 IP, 50 SO), Cole Tremain (4-6, 3.38 ERA, 1 SV, 45.1 IP, 40 SO) and Austin Turkington (4-5, 5.27 ERA, 54.2 IP, 62 SO) - tied for the team lead with four victories. Tremain also led the club with 24 appearances, while Eddy paced the squad in innings pitched. Turkington was the team leader in strikeouts (62) despite missing the final month of the season due to injury and had both of the team's complete games when he went the distance in wins at Duke and Stanford in two of his first three ACC starts. Turkington's two complete games ranked tied for first in the ACC and tied for 16th nationally. De la Torre had several memorable performances in addition to his combined shutout against Florida State including winning efforts against NCAA Super Regional team Miami with 6.0 two-hit shutout innings to earn the win against the Hurricanes in the ACC Championship opener and 5.2 innings of two-hit work (one run) in a March 29 relief outing to win at CWS participant Louisville. De la Torre, Eddy, Foley and Turkington are among 10 pitchers slated to return in 2026 that combined for 303.1 (64%) of the team's innings in 2025.
In his first campaign in charge of the team's pitchers in 2024, Bodishbaugh's staff played a key role for a team that was arguably the hottest club in college baseball at the end of the regular season with wins in 20 of its final 25 games before finishing 36-19 for a .655 winning percentage that was the program's best since the 1966 squad was 32-14 (.696). The Bears' late-season run included wins in each of their first two games at the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament that put them in the semifinals and nearly earned them a spot in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The staff posted a 4.84 earned run average that ranked third in the Pac-12 and 42nd nationally on the season and was even better in the final 25 games with a 4.54 ERA in that stretch. Other top numbers included a 2.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio (No. 28 NCAA), 1.41 WHIP (No. 30 NCAA) and 8.80 hits allowed per nine innings (No. 44 NCAA) that were all third in the Pac-12 in addition to being among the national leaders. The Bears were also fourth in the Pac-12 and No. 41 nationally with 3.88 walks allowed per nine frames. Individually, a pair of pitchers from Bodishbaugh's first Cal staff were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft in right-handers Christian Becerra (Minnesota Twins, 12th round) and Andres Galan (Tampa Bay Rays, 17th round). In addition, RHP Tyler Stasiowski signed an undrafted free agent contract with Minnesota, while LHP Luke Short and RHP Connor Sullivan caught on with the independent Oakland Ballers. Stasiowski and Becerra were both honorable mention All-Pac-12 selections, while the five pitchers combined for a 23-7 record and a 3.98 ERA for the Bears in 2024.
Bodishbaugh spent his first season at Cal in 2022 as the team's director of player development, where he oversaw the team's analytics and supported the Cal coaching staff – specifically head coach Mike Neu.
Bodishbaugh began his coaching career in 2012 and has worked with pitchers at all levels. Before his 2023 arrival at Cal, he most recently spent two seasons as the pitching coach and strength and conditioning coach at Los Medanos College (2021-22). While at LMC, he oversaw 50 pitchers move on to four-year schools and helped the Mustangs capture three league titles while advancing to the California Community College Baseball playoffs eight times. His pitching staff led the Bay Valley Conference in earned run average on six occasions and he coached a pair of pitchers to Bay Valley Pitcher of the Year honors. In his last season at Los Medanos, his squad led the league in strikeouts.
A graduate of Chico State, Bodishbaugh pitched for one season for the Wildcats before embarking on an eight-year professional career, which most notably included pitching in the minor league system for the Florida Marlins and Chicago White Sox.
Bodishbaugh and his wife Kristina reside in Brentwood with their daughter, Savannah, and son, Nolan.
Last Updated
July 27, 2025
