Ryan Bowen was hired on as the Head Baseball Coach in June 2017 and is heading into his ninth year at the helm of the Ranger Baseball program.
In his eight years at Northwestern, his team has compiled a record of 189-176.
The 2025 season was another solid season for Ranger Baseball as the Rangers secured a GAC playoff berth and eclipsed the 30-game win total for the second year in a row. This would be the first time with back-to-back 30-win seasons in the NCAA era and the first time in Ranger Baseball history in over 20 years. The 2025 team would also set another new school record, having nine Ranger players named to GAC All-Conference Honors.
The 2024 season was a very good season for the program as Ranger Baseball amassed a 31-20 record, securing a playoff berth, and finishing the regular season 3 games back from a share of the GAC regular season title. The 31 wins would set a new NCAA record for single-season wins in the NCAA era. The 2024 team would also set a then-school record, having eight Ranger players named to GAC All-Conference Honors, as well as having 25 players named to the GAC All-Academic team.
The 2022 and 2023 seasons were competitive seasons for the Rangers, with both years finishing just short of a playoff berth.
The 2021 season was a breakthrough season for the Ranger program as they finished with an overall record of 26-15 and a conference record of 21-12, finishing fourth in the Great American Conference, just two games shy of a share of the regular season conference title. The conference record of 21-12 is still the top single-season record since the Rangers joined the NCAA and GAC. The 2021 Rangers would be the first team to qualify for the postseason since joining the NCAA and would host the first NCAA playoff game at Glass Family Field at Myers Stadium. The 2021 team would also set a then-school record with seven Ranger players being named to GAC All-Conference honors. Seven Ranger players would also be named Distinguished Scholar Athletes, the most for any team in the conference.
In 2021, Bowen was also named GAC Coach of the Year, as well as, Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association Collegiate Coach of the Year.
The 2020 season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Rangers sitting in 4th place in the GAC at the conclusion of the season. The 2019 season saw the Rangers ranked 5th in the Central Region rankings before a late season slide. The 2018 season, Bowen’s first as the Ranger Head Coach, the Rangers would have a great turnaround, improving their overall win total by 10 games and their conference win total by 8 games.
Bowen has coached 34 players receiving Great American Conference accolades, including Johnnuelle Ponce, the 2019 GAC Player of the Year. He has coached six All-Central Region Players: Johnnuelle Ponce, Blake Hoffman, Marques Paige, Dylan Bradford, Carson Wright, and Will Kates. Ponce and Hoffman would both be named to the NCBWA Honorable Mention All-American team in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Before arriving at Northwestern, Bowen was the lead assistant at Great American Conference foe, Southeastern Oklahoma State for five seasons.
Bowen was the Recruiting Coordinator where he developed many solid contacts across the state at the high school level and numerous junior colleges around the country. He was also very instrumental in the overall program leadership at Southeastern as he was highly involved in practice and game preparation, handled team academics and did a majority of the field maintenance as well. While a part of the Savage Storm coaching staff, Bowen assisted in the team getting to three-straight postseason appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017. 2016 was a big year for the program as they finished third in a tough Great American Conference.
Prior to joining the Southeastern staff, Bowen spent three seasons with Carl Albert State College in Poteau, Okla. where they built a very successful program and made the National Junior College Athletic Association Region II title game along the way in 2011, the first for the school in eight years.
During his time at CASC, Bowen coached a plethora of talent, including five All-Region players, two Academic All-Americans, a first team Rawlings' All America Gold Glove player and the first NJCAA All-American in five years for the program. His last season with the program in 2012 was perhaps the most successful as they reached 37 wins during the year, the most for the program in 11 years. They also climbed into the national polls being ranked for a total of six weeks that season. During the summers, Bowen has been the head coach of the SEOK Yellowjackets 16 and under as well as 17 and under for the summers of 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Not only has Bowen been an outstanding coach, but he was also a tremendous player as he began his playing career at CASC. Bowen was a first-team NJCAA All-Region II player twice, and was named the Region II Player of the Year in his final season as a Viking. That same year in 2007 he was honored with a second team NJCAA All-American selection as well.
He continued his playing career at Southeastern for his final two seasons of college baseball. Bowen was named the SOSU Male Athlete of the Year in 2009. During that same season, Bowen was honored as a Lone Star Conference All-League selection. He was also an Academic All-Conference honoree that same year.
Bowen is a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State, where he attained his Bachelor's degree in Recreation in 2009. While assisting at Carl Albert, he earned his Master's degree in 2010 in Education with an emphasis in Sports Administration from East Central University.
Bowen and his wife Alyssa now reside in Alva.
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