Ryan Schalk completed his third year as the head coach at Saginaw Valley State in 2025, where he accumulated a 121-53 overall record and a 53-20 conference mark.

Schalk has led 21 Cardinals to All-GLIAC honors, including 12 first team selections and five SVSU players earning the honor twice (Ella Reifschneider in 2025 and 2024, Aalana Kimble in 2025 and 2024, Kate Pnacek in 2025 and 2023, Sydney Herioux in 2024 and 2023, and Emily Depew in 2024 and 2023).

The 2025 team finished 49-15 overall and earned its way to the NCAA Division II Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after hosting and winning both the Midwest Regional and Super Regional. The team also won its second consecutive GLIAC Regular season championship, first outright, and fourth-straight GLIAC Tournament titles, earning the top spot in the region and hosting NCAA Postseason Brackets.

The 49 wins are the second-most in program history, one victory away from tying the program record and just the fifth time the team has reached 40 wins in a season.

The Cardinals won the most conference games in program history with a 23-5 mark, the first 20-win season in conference play.

Schalk was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and has coached back-to-back GLIAC Pitchers of the Year with Macy Irelan this season and Emily Depew last season. Irelan and fellow pitcher Aalana Kimble became the first pair of Cardinal players to be selected as All-Americans in the same season with third team selections by the NFCA.

In addition to the GLIAC Coach of the Year award, Schalk and the SVSU softball coaching staff were named the 2025 ATEC/NFCA Midwest Coaching Staff of the Year. This was the first time the SVSU staff had received the honor.

The team finished the season ranked in the top five nationally in walks with 215 (4^th). SVSU was top 10 in total sacrifice flies (7^th, 25), RBI (8^th, 350), total runs (9^th, 392), and WHIP (10^th, 1.06). The runs and walk totals were single-season team records for the squad. The 215 walks shattered the record of 190 set by the team in 2023.

In addition, the Cardinals finished in the top 15 for hit by pitch (11^th, 46), strikeouts-to-walk ratio (11^th, 3.55), and WL Percentage (13^th, .766). The team was top 25 in team strikeouts per seven innings (16^th, 6.76), hits (17^th, 513, single-season record), shutouts (18^th, 13), home runs (19^th, 53, single-season record), scoring (24^th, 6.13), and RBI per game (25^th, 5.47).

Schalk capped his year as an inductee into the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame on June 14, 2025, as a member of the coaching staff for the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Champion Muskegon Community College.

The 2024 Cardinals celebrated a season of thirds. The team won its third-straight GLIAC Tournament Championship and 30 or more games for the third year in a row, finishing 35-22. SVSU also grabbed a share of the GLIAC regular season title on the way to its third consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.

2023 saw similar success as 2022, with Schalk leading the team to a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA DII Softball Regional, where the team made the finals. The Cardinals compiled a 37-16 overall record and a 14-7 mark in league play.

The 2023 team recorded the most walks in a season, with 190, while several players set career marks and placed in the top 10 in the SVSU record book.

Schalk helped lead nine Cardinal softball players to conference awards, including three first-team honors, four second-team honorees, and two honorable mentions. SVSU had three players make the NFCA Midwest Second Team, and four make the College Sports Communicators All-District squad.

Schalk joined SVSU after serving as the assistant coach for Grand Valley State University in 2022. Schalk helped guide GVSU to the GLIAC regular season championship and a berth in the NCAA DII Super Regionals. GVSU fell to SVSU in the GLIAC postseason tournament championship game in 2022.

Before his 2022 season with GVSU, Schalk was an assistant coach at the University of Toledo from 2019 to 2021. He was the head coach at Alverno College in 2018 and led the softball program at Muskegon Community College from 2009 to 2016 in both assistant and head coaching roles.

Career Highlights

• 2025 DII Midwest Regional Championship
• 2019 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship
• 2010 NJCAA National Championship
• Three GLIAC Tournament Championships
• Four GLIAC Regular Season Championships
• Two NJCAA Division II District G Regional Championships, three MCCAA State Championships, and two MCCAA Western Conference Championships
• Coached the 2024 and 2025 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year
• Coached the 2021 MAC Player of the Year
• 2024 and 2025 GLIAC Coach of the Year
• 2025 NFCA Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year
• 2016 MCCAA Coach of the Year
• 2014 and 2016 MCCAA Western Conference Coach of the Year
• 2012 NFCA Division II East Coaching Staff of the Year
• 2010 NJCAA Division II National Coaching Staff of the Year