Bio

A former Division I baseball player and long-tenured assistant coach at the Division II level, Ryan Van Amburg brings a wealth of experience to the assistant coaching position with the Hillsdale College baseball team. Van Amburg was hired in the fall of 2021 and is entering his third season with the Chargers in 2023, looking to continue a long streak of developing successful power hitters at Hillsdale, as well as shoring up the team's infield defense.

In just two seasons at Hillsdale under Van Amburg, Hillsdale has remained one of the top power hitting teams in the G-MAC, leading the conference with 77 home runs in 2023, and continued to put up numbers that rank among the top 10 all time offensively in the history of the program. While maintaining Hillsdale's offensive production, Van Amburg also has helped the Chargers make dramatic strides defensively, posting a fielding percentage of .966 in 2023 that broke the school record for single season fielding percentage by nearly a full tenth of a point.

He arrived at Hillsdale after six successful seasons as the infield and hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Limestone University in Gaffney, South Carolina. During his tenure with the Saints, Van Amburg helped build up Limestone into one of the most feared hitting teams in the South Atlantic Conference in 2021, ranking second in the league with a .311 batting average and finishing with a top five mark in home runs with 43. The Saints also boasted the South Atlantic Conference batting champion, Benjamin Huber, in 2021, and the conference leader in triples, Alex Cornell.

Throughout Van Amburg's tenure at Limestone, the Saints were one of the best power-hitting teams in Division II, finishing with 50 or more home runs in 2017, 2018 and 2019 while falling just short of that mark in fewer games in 2021. All told, Van Amburg coached 11 athletes who combined for 16 All-Conference selections at Limestone, as well five All-Region players and one Division II All-American, Chase Allen.

Prior to joining the Limestone staff, Van Amburg was the hitting coach at DeAnza Junior College (CA), and has also spent time as the hitting coach for multiple collegiate prospects leagues, most recently with the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League.

Van Amburg was a key player for Division I Pepperdine University throughout his four years in Malibu, California, starting 71 games with a career .242 batting average, four home runs, 16 doubles and 54 RBIs. During his senior season in 2012, Van Amburg helped guide the Waves to a 36-23 record, a West Coast Conference title and a NCAA Division I Regional appearance. While playing for Pepperdine, Van Amburg graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 2012 as well.