SUNY Old Westbury Athletics

Rod Stephan enters his 16th season as head baseball coach at SUNY Old Westbury and 20th overall season on the Panther coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season. Stephan has led Old Westbury to the Skyline Conference Championship game in seven seasons. Stephan captured his 200th-career win with a 10-1 game one win over Maritime College on April 6, 2019. He will enter the 2026 campaign with a 293-230-3 record.

In 2024, the Panthers returned to their new baseball facility after three years of only playing on the road. 

Most recently, Stephan was recognized for the fourth time by the ABCA for team Academic Excellence, recording an overall team GPA of 3.4.

For the 14th-straight year, the team also volunteered their time at the Special Olympics Long Island Fall Classic, a yearly tradition Stephan is proud to have his program participate in. The baseball program was recognized in the NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight and SUNY 30 Days of Giving for their volunteer efforts. In 2024 and 2025, the baseball team was awarded with the Community Service Recognition Award at the OW Athletics End of Year Banquet.

In 2021, Old Westbury led the nation in fielding percentage (.981) for NCAA Division III. The team earned the American Baseball Coaches Association Academic Excellence Award for the second year in a row. Entering the 2021 season, the program was ranked 34th in the 2021 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division III Top-40 Preseason Poll.

In 2015, Old Westbury advanced to the Skyline Conference Championship game for the sixth-straight season.  Stephan's squad went on to capture its first-ever Skyline Conference Championship to advance to the NCAA New York Regional Tournament for the first time since 2001. The Panthers opened tournament play with a convincing 7-5 win over No. 2 Baldwin Wallace to capture the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 2000.  Along the way the Panthers reeled off a 12-game winning streak from April 12-May 2.  Senior right-handed pitcher Tim Ingram capped off a historic season when the Tampa Bay Rays made him their 31st round selection in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft. Ingram also became Stephan's second All-America selection in four seasons, and second-ever back-to-back Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year honoree.   

It was a record-setting 2012 season for Old Westbury baseball under Stephan, who was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year.  Stephan guided the Panthers to a program-best 30-12 record in just his second season in 2012 and was selected as the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year for the second-straight season. In 2024 and 2025, there were four CSC Academic All-District Honorees from the baseball program. 

In 15 seasons as head coach, Stephan's players have racked up honors ranging from All-American (3), ABCA/Rawlings All-New York Region (26), D3Baseball.com All-New York Region (20), ECAC Metro Region All-Stars (2), Skyline Conference Player of the Year (2), Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year (2), Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year (1), All-Skyline Conference First-Team (37) and All-Skyline Conference Second-Team (21).  As head coach, Stephan is proud of his four SUNY Chancellor Scholar-Athletes in Jacob Coners (2015), Joey Walsh (2016), Tommy Ziegen (2017) and John Condon (2018).  During his time as Old Westbury's pitching coach, Stephan saw two of his hurlers (Dan Fordyce in 2010 / George Pagan in 2008) earn SUNY Chancellor Scholar-Athlete honors.     

Nationally, Old Westbury ranked fifth or better in stolen bases per game from 2011-16 under the guidance of Stephan.  From 2011-14, Old Westbury led the nation in stolen bases, including a stretch of three consecutive NCAA Statistical Championships from 2011-13 in stolen bases and stolen bases per game.  In 2012, the Panthers earned additional statistical titles with the highest batting and runs scored averages in the nation.  The 2016 squad led the nation in stolen bases per game, triples and triples per game.  Stephan has also developed three NCAA Division III Statistical Championships in Paul Valerio (2012, stolen bases per game) and Tommy Ziegen (2016, triples per game).

In his first four seasons as pitching coach, Stephan's hurlers totaled three Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year awards, 13 Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Week and nine ECAC Pitcher of the Week citations.  Stephan also was responsible for the program's first-ever MLB draftee in 2009, when the Chicago Cubs selected Robert Whitenack, a two-time back-to-back Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year (2008 & 2009) and 2009 ECAC Pitcher of the Year, in the eighth round.  

During his tenure at Old Westbury, Stephan has contributed to 20 of his players advancing their careers to play professionally.  

Stephan served as the Queens College pitching coach in 1982 and 1983. In 1988 Stephan was named player/coach of the United States Nike World Masters Team. In 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2014, Stephan was a player/coach of four World Championship teams in the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL). In 2001, Stephan was inducted into the MSBL World Series Hall of Fame, and in 1998, he was inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame.

Stephan played collegiate baseball at Queens College where he was selected to the All-Conference Team four times.  He received All-Conference selections twice as an infielder and twice as a pitcher. Coach Stephan was a three-sport athlete at Queens College.  In 1981, he was selected to the New York State All-Star Team.

In 2005, coach Stephan retired after 20 years from the NYC Department of Corrections, where he served as a highly decorated Correction Officer. Coach Stephan resides in Bellerose with his wife, Susan. They have three children: Robert (retired NYPD), Jennifer (Special Education Teacher) and Matthew (Financial Analyst).  Stephan and his wife are proud grandparents of five, Jackson, Grayson, Harper, Avery, and Cameron.