In 2019 —  his second season as head coach of the Cal baseball program — Mike Neu led the Bears to their first postseason appearance since 2015. It marked the second straight year Cal won 32 games, an improvement upon former head coach David Esquer’s final two seasons at UC Berkeley. 

On Monday, Neu was rewarded with a contract extension through the 2024 season, as announced by athletic director Jim Knowlton in a press release. 

“Mike has done an outstanding job over his first two years leading Cal baseball,” Knowlton said in the release. “It is important that we make this investment in our program to both solidify his leadership in Berkeley and ensure that we can continue to be successful over the long term. Mike has demonstrated an ability to develop student-athletes on and off the field, and I believe we have a very bright future with him at the helm.”

Neu returned to UC Berkeley in 2017 after serving as Cal’s pitching coach from 2012-15. For two seasons, he was head coach at the University of the Pacific, guiding the Tigers to 40 wins across two years. Since his return to the blue and gold, 12 of his student athletes have been selected in the annual MLB draft. 

“I want to thank Jim Knowlton and our athletics administration for their continued trust in me to lead Cal baseball,” Neu said in Monday’s press release. “While we’ve celebrated successes over the last two years, I’m excited to see what lies ahead as our great group of student-athletes continue to build toward a standard of championship-level success.”

The Bears concluded the 2019 season with back-to-back losses to TCU and Central Connecticut State in postseason play. The 2020 campaign will begin in February, when Cal will seek to replace the services of infielder Andrew Vaughn and catcher Korey Lee, who were drafted last June.