Stu Fritz began serving as a Hope College Athletics philanthropy liaison in the 2024-25 academic year.
Previously, he guided the Flying Dutchmen baseball team to 674 victories, 10 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships and four NCAA Division III tournament appearances over 31 seasons before retiring in 2024.
The Flying Dutchmen won MIAA Championships in 2022, 2013, 2007, 2006, 2003, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1997, and 1994. The 10 league championships are the second-most in MIAA history. The Flying Dutchmen appeared in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships in 1998, 2001, 2003, and 2007.
Fritz finished with a collegiate coaching record of 674-500-3 (.574). His teams have won nearly two-thirds of their MIAA conference games (453-247, .647).
Fritz reached the 600-win mark on May 7, 2021, with a 6-4 victory at Boeve Stadium in Game 1 of a doubleheader vs. Trine University.
Academically, Fritz was an associate professor of kinesiology with a specialty in assessing Hope's future physical educators.
Fritz served the game of baseball at the national level as well. He became president for the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2020 after serving several terms as a vice-president. He also has chaired the NCAA championships national committee.
During the summers from 1996 to 1998, he coached a youth team through the Roberto Clemente All-Stars program in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the summer of 2001, he coached a U.S. youth all-star team in Australia. The Hope baseball team played in the 26th annual "Prague Baseball Week" tournament in the Czech Republic during the summer of 2007.
Prior to coming to Hope, Fritz taught in the Humboldt, Iowa, school system. He was an elementary physical education teacher, the high school baseball coach and offensive coordinator for the high school football team. He led the Humboldt High School baseball team to a 72-30 record over four seasons, including a trip to the state semifinals in 1990.
Fritz is a 1988 graduate of Wartburg College where he lettered in football and baseball. In 1998, his alma mater honored him as Wartburg's Alumni Coach of the Year. Fritz received a master's degree in sports administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1992.
His wife, Carol, is a member of the Hope College admissions staff. They have a son, Tucker.
