Head Coach Aaron Rushing (beginning fourth season)
Record at Carleton: 30-74 (three years)
Career Record: 44-93 (four years)
Email: arushing@carleton.edu
Phone: (507)222-4051

Aaron Rushing moves into his fourth season as Carleton’s head baseball coach. In his first three-seasons, he has led the team to the best three-year win total since 1993-95. The 2007 team got off to the best start to a season in 75 years. In Rushing’s brief tenure the team boasts nine academic all-MIAC players, four all-MIAC players, an all-region player, an academic all-district player, and an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar.

Formerly an assistant baseball and football coach at his alma mater, Grinnell College (Iowa), Rushing brings a wide variety of experiences to Carleton’s baseball program.

In his only year as head coach at Minot State University, he inherited a team that had only six wins the previous season. He led that Beavers squad to the 2003 DAC-10 Tournament Championship and their first NAIA regional tournament berth since resurrecting the program in 1988.

He also served as pitching and catching coach for two summers with the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Catz, a summer collegiate league in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. Rushing’s pitching staff set a Catz record with a 2.23 era, helping them to the 2003 ACBL regular season and tournament Championship. Ten pitchers and two catchers from those teams have gone on to play professionally.

A 2001 graduate of Grinnell with a degree in economics, Rushing was a pitcher and catcher for the Pioneers and captained the two winningest teams in school history. Following his collegiate career, Rushing played baseball for a season in France, pitching and playing infield for the Toulouse Tigers. He earned his master’s degree in management from Minot State in 2004.

Rushing is married to Naomi Rushing, a 2002 Grinnell graduate. They live in Northfield with their daughter, Bella, and son, Tori. He also serves as an assistant football coach and assistant professor in the physical education, athletics and recreation department.

Assistant Coach Neal Jeppson (third season)

Neal Jeppson begins his third year as hitting coach for the Knights. Jeppson recently retired after 29 seasons as head coach at Burnsville (Minn.) High School. His long, successful tenure was recently recognized by his induction into by the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. During his tenure he won one conference championship and three section titles. Jeppson also assists with the Carleton football team as the offensive line coach.

Assistant Coach Jim Christensen (11th season)
Jim Christensen moves into his 11th season on the baseball coaching staff. A longtime Carleton assistant football coach, he graduated from St. Olaf College, where he played both football and baseball. Christensen is a local insurance representative as well as an experienced high school and college basketball official. He was a pitcher and outfielder for the Northfield Millers, a local amateur age 35-and-over ball club that captured the 1997 and 1998 state championships. He will work with Carleton's defense in 2008.