Marcus Hinkle is in his sixth season as a member of Mark Wasikowski’s staff at Oregon after spending four seasons at Tacoma Community College. Hinkle coaches the infielders while assisting with the hitters and recruiting. He also organized and ran all Oregon baseball camps from 2020 to 2023.
Oregon (2020-present)
During Hinkle’s five years at Oregon, the Ducks have compiled a 165-90 (64.7 winning percentage) record. The Ducks have advanced to the postseason in each of Hinkle’s four full seasons at UO with Super Regional appearance in 2023 and 2024, and a pair of NCAA Regional berths in 2021 and 2022. The four consecutive postseason appearances match the longest streak in school history (2012-15). The Ducks also won the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Tournament.
In 2024, Oregon became just the eighth team in the super regional era of college baseball (1999-2024) to advance to a super regional with back-to-back regional tournament wins on the road. On the way to the super regional berth, the Ducks compiled a 40-20 record including a 19-11 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. The Ducks finished third in the Pac-12 standings, just one game behind first-place Arizona, marking the third time in the last four seasons that the Ducks finished in the top four of the league.
In 2023, Oregon put together a pair of the longest winning streaks in school history. Oregon won 11 in a row from March 18 to April 7, marking the third longest streak of victories in school history and the best streak since the 1964 team won 12 straight. At the end of the season, Oregon put together a 10-game win streak from May 19 to June 9 that included going 4-0 in the Pac-12 Tournament and 3-0 in the Nashville Regional allowing the Ducks to claim both tournament titles.
In his first five years at Oregon, Hinkle has had three infielders earn All-America honors, and two more claim freshman All-America recognition. First baseman Gabe Matthews earned Collegiate Baseball third-team All-America honors in 2021, Aaron Zavala claimed third-team recognition at third base from CB following the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season and shortstop Drew Cowley was named to both the Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game third team in 2023. Collegiate Baseball named first baseman Jacob Walsh a freshman All-American in 2022 and the NCBWA honored shortstop Maddox Molony as a second-team freshman All-American last year.
In addition to the infielders, Oregon had two other hitters earn All-America honors during Hinkle’s time as assistant hitting coach. Kenyon Yovan was a Collegiate Baseball first-team pick in 2020 while Tanner Smith claimed Collegiate Baseball third-team honors in 2021.
In 2023, Hinkle coached Oregon’s fourth ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove honoree all time. Third baseman Sabin Ceballos was named to the team, joining Matthews (1B, 2019), Austin Grebeck (OF, 2016) and Mitchell Tolman (3B, 2015) as gold glove winners. Bryce Boettcher (OF) added a fifth gold glove to Oregon’s trophy case in 2024.
In five seasons, Hinkle has had 18 Ducks’ infielders or hitters earn All-Pac-12 recognition. Molony became just Oregon’s second true freshman, and first freshman position player, to claim first-team All-Pac-12 recognition last season. Molony was joined by honorable mention all-league selections Bryce Boettcher, Chase Meggers, Mason Neville and Jacob Walsh.
In 2023, Ceballos and Cowley claimed first-team honors while outfielders Rikuu Nishida, Colby Shade and Tanner Smith were named honorable mention selections.
In 2022, shortstop Josh Kasevich and designated hitter Brennan Milone claimed first-team honors while Matthews, Yovan and Zavala were all first-team honorees in 2021.
Outfielder Anthony Hall claimed honorable mention all-league honors in 2022 after setting a new school record for slugging percentage (.640), while Smith and Kasevich were both named honorable mention in 2021.
A year after Hall set the program record, Ceballos bested it finishing with a .643 slugging percentage in 2023. It was not the only individual single-season record to fall in 2023. Ceballos added the home runs (18) and multiple-RBI games (20) records to his resume while matching Cowley’s 70 RBI to share the school runs batted in record. Cowley also etched his name atop the single-season multiple-hit games (28) list, while Nishida posted new school bests for runs scored (67) and stolen bases (25).
Ceballos did not own the slugging percentage record for long and his home run record is no longer his alone. Neville bested Ceballos slugging .664 last season, while Walsh matched the home run record blasting 18 long balls during his junior campaign. Walsh also added the career home run record to his resume, running his total to 38 by the end of the 2024 season (nine more than runner-up Tanner Smith).
Over the last four seasons with Hinkle assisting with hitters, Oregon’s offense has rewritten the school record books setting 16 new school records in eight major hitting categories.
After setting 11 program records in 2021 and 2022 combined, the 2023 Ducks’ squad bested the 2022 team in four different categories. The Super Regional team blasted 101 home runs, 26 more than the NCAA Regional team in 2022, while finishing with 23 more doubles, 75 more total bases and seven more at-bats. At the end of the 2023 season, the home run record had more than doubled since the start of the 2021 season going from 48 to 101 homers. During that time, the doubles record grew by 25 two baggers while the total bases record went from 864 to 1,116 – an increase of 252 total bases.
The 2023 team also finished one run scored and three RBI shy of the 2022 squad’s records, as well as one stolen base short of the record set by the 2013 club. The 2023 team also finished second all-time in hits (646), fourth all-time in batting average (.298) and ninth all-time in walks (227).
While last year’s squad did not break any team offensive records, it did finish in the top five in school history in five different categories and in the top 10 in two more. The 2024 team finished just three home runs shy of tying the 2023 club for home runs, hitting 98 over its 60-game schedule. The team also finished third in runs scored (420), third in total bases (996), third in RBI (575), fourth in walks (254), sixth in doubles (107) and seventh in at-bats (2,042).
In 2022, a year after setting three new offensive records, the Ducks broke eight school records including all three the team had set the previous season. Oregon notched new school records for batting average (.310), at-bats (2,160), runs scored (452), hits (670), doubles (122), home runs (75) and total bases (1,041). The club also finished sixth all-time in both base on balls (243) and stolen bases (66) in school history.
Despite playing just the sixth-most games (61) in school history in 2022, the Ducks did not just set school records they shattered them. Prior to Hinkle joining the coaching staff, Oregon’s record for home runs in a season was 48 by the 1974 team. The 2022 squad finished with 27 more homers than the ’74 team and 19 more than the 2021 squad.
It was not just the home run record that was relegated to a distant second place in the record books after the 2022 season. Oregon bested the old record for runs by 73, hits by 54, RBI by 82 and total bases by 177. The team also broke the school record for batting average that was set 64 years earlier (1958).
Oregon’s potent offense led the Ducks to a 36-25 record, including an 18-12 mark and a fourth-place finish in Pac-12 play. The top-four finish marked the first time the Ducks had finished in the top four of the league standings in back-to-back years since the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The Ducks also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, a feat not done at Oregon since the 2014 and 2015 clubs made regional tournament appearances.
In 2021, Oregon’s offensive attack helped the Ducks finish 39-16, making their first NCAA Regional Tournament appearance since 2015. UO hosted its first regional tournament since 2013. Oregon battled into the final weekend for the Pac-12 title eventually finishing in second, one game out of first place with a 20-10 Pac-12 record.
During his tenure at Oregon, Hinkle has coached nine of the top 14 highest-drafted position players in Oregon’s modern era history, including the top two. In the 2021 MLB Draft, Zavala became the first modern-era Duck position player picked in the first or second rounds when the Texas Rangers selected him in the second round with the 38th overall pick. Kasevich joined Zavala as a second-round pick in 2022 when the Toronto Blue Jays picked him with the 60th overall selection.
Hall became the fifth-highest position player draft pick in 2022 when the New York Yankees selected him in the fourth round (130 overall) before falling to sixth after Ceballos moved into the four slot after the Atlanta Braves selected him in the third round (94 overall) of the 2023 draft. Milone is the seventh highest after the Oakland A’s picked him in the sixth round (184 overall) in 2022. Shade ranks as the 10th highest drafted Oregon position player after the Miami Marlins picked him in the ninth round (263 overall) in 2023, just before Nishida became the 12th highest when the Chicago White Sox selected him in the 11th round (329 overall). Bennett Thompson became the 13th highest when he was selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the 13th round (385 overall) last July, while Bryce Boettcher is now the 14th highest after he was picked 18 picks after Thompson in the 13th round (403 overall) by the Houston Astros.
Including the nine draft picks, Hinkle has coached 11 Ducks who have gone on to play professional baseball. Both Matthews and Yovan signed free agent contracts with the Los Angeles Angels after finishing their collegiate careers.
Tacoma Community College (2016-19)
While at Tacoma, Hinkle served as the teams’ recruiting coordinator, infield coach and third base coach. He also spearheaded the program’s strength and conditioning program while handling the duties as the equipment manager and working on the grounds crew.
During his four seasons at TCC, Hinkle coached 26 players that earned All-Northwest Athletic Conference honors including Jake Vieth who also claimed All-America and conference player of the year recognition.
Playing Career and Personal
Before starting his career at TCC, Hinkle played two seasons at Western Oregon, where he earned all-conference honors, after a pair of seasons at Tacoma Community College.
Hinkle graduated from Western Oregon in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science. He also earned an associate degree at Tacoma.
Hinkle and his wife, Tori, have two sons (Jackson and Anthony).
