Nick Barese

Head Coach

Nick Barese enters his first year as head coach of UMass Lowell baseball after serving on staff for two seasons. He was promoted to associate head coach during the 2023 season. Prior to UMass Lowell, he served seven years as head baseball coach at Merrimack College, and oversaw the school’s transition to Division I. He held a 153-129 career record (.543) and garnered success both on and off the field.

In just two years with the River Hawks, Barese helped guide the program to their first America East Conference Championship game since joining the league in 2014. He coached eight All-Conference players, including First Team pitcher Josh Becker, All-Tournament Team Matt Draper, and four All-Rookie Team selections. In 2022, his pitching staff led virtually every statistical category in the conference, including earned run average, opponent batting average, runs allowed and walks allowed. The 2022 pitching staff notched 444 strikeouts, and 509.2 innings pitched, both of which stand as River Hawk program records.

During Barese’s tenure as Merrimack’s head coach, the team reached unprecedented success on the field. He reached 100 wins faster than any coach in program history and is currently second on the all-time wins list with 153. Barese was the NEIBA Division II Coach of the Year award winner. He coached 30 All-Conference selections, 19 All-Region selections, six Academic All-District recipients, a Conference Player of the Year award winner (Joey Porricelli), and the 2018 Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove Award Winner (Nick Shumski). Merrimack joined the Northeast Conference in 2021 and made an immediate impact, winning five of nine conference series. The team also had multiple out of conference wins, including a 7-5 victory over ACC opponent Boston College.

The first three years of Barese's tenure (2015-17) saw the manager accumulate 69 total victories and a berth in the NE10 Championship in each campaign. The Warriors finished above .500 in both 2016 and 2017. Merrimack narrowly missed out on an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, winning 29 games - the second most ever in school history at the time. Highlights of his first three years included the first nine-inning no-hitter in school history (2016) and five all-conference selections in each year.

Barese capped off a run of four straight postseason appearances to start his tenure, culminating with a NE10 Championship in 2018 and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It marked the program's first conference title of any kind since 1999 and first tournament crown since 1996. The victory delivered the program its fourth NE10 Tournament title overall. The NCAA Tournament berth snapped a 19-year drought from the East Regional for the program and Barese became just the third head coach in school history to guide the program to the national tourney.

The 2018 season will go down as one of the best years ever for the Merrimack baseball program, winning a school record 31 games, and registering just the third 30-win campaign ever. The Warriors won 13 of their first 15 games in April, catapulting the squad towards the postseason. Merrimack picked up a pair of wins against nationally ranked programs during the regular season, and three more during the NE10 Championship. The Warriors' dramatic playoff run began with a 5-3 win in 11 innings at Franklin Pierce, where Merrimack snapped a three-game losing streak in the opening round of the conference tournament.

Barese saw the Warriors excel both on the field and in the classroom. In Barese’s time at the helm at Merrimack, his teams achieved a 3.0 semester GPA or higher in every semester. Seven individual student-athletes earned various all-region, all-conference, and academic all-league honors. Matthew Ronai headlined the group with an Academic All-American selection, while he joined Tyler Lyne and Matt Nicholson as all-region honorees from the ABCA, D2CCA and NCBWA. As a team, the Warriors won the Team GPA Award (3.214) by owning the highest collective GPA of any NE10 baseball program.

Barese has worked with two of Merrimack's eight all-time MLB draft selections. He served as pitching coach in 2013, guiding Joe Mantoni to his 18th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds. Following his first season as head coach, Frank Crinella went in the 39th round to the Baltimore Orioles. In his four years as head coach, Barese helped developed lefty PJ Browne into one of the top pitchers in program history, resulting in a professional contract at seasons end with the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Barese also spent time as Assistant Athletic Director for Operations from October of 2016 to 2019. Barese previously served as Director of Operations and Operations Coordinator, respectively, after being elevated to full-time status in the summer of 2015. In his role within the operations department, Barese directed all aspects of operations, including management at home athletic events, scheduling, team travel, and more.

Barese came to Merrimack after serving in the same capacity at Saint Anselm College. He is a 2008 graduate of Saint Anselm where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. He then earned his Master of Science in Sport Science and Recreation from Ohio University in May of 2014. He was a four-year member of both the Hawks’ football and baseball teams, serving as team captain with each program.

Barese has also enjoyed summer collegiate baseball coaching stints, serving as the head coach of the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in both 2012 and 2013.

A native of Braintree, Mass., Barese currently lives in Manchester, N.H. with his wife Ashley, daughter Camryn, and their dog, Gus.

Drew Guldin

Assistant Coach

Bio coming soon

Joe Consolmagno

Assistant Coach

Bio coming soon