Coaching Staff

Ross Learnard
Assistant Coach

Ross Learnard joined the Butler baseball program in the summer of 2022 as the Bulldog pitching coach. The Bulldogs topped 400 strikeouts as a team in 2023 and were led by the trio of Tyler Banks, Cole Graverson and Ben Whiteside in 2024.

Before arriving in Indianapolis, Learnard coached at Purdue, specializing in pitching analytics and team operations. A two-time All-American at Purdue, Learnard returned to the Boilermaker dugout in 2022 as an assistant coach. He worked alongside Chris Marx and John Madia in preparing Purdue’s players for competition and enhancing the overall student-athlete experience. Purdue found success in 2022, opening the year with 15-straight wins. The Boilers set the program’s strikeout record (479) and returned to the Big Ten Tournament. Learnard worked with Jackson Smeltz and Troy Wansing throughout the 2022 campaign. Smeltz was recognized as a third team All-Big Ten selection and Wansing earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher.

After graduating from Purdue in 2018, Learnard pursued a coaching career and held assistant positions at Illinois State and Parkland College. While with the Redbirds, Learnard was ISU’s director of operations as a graduate assistant during the 2018-19 school year. The Redbirds won the Missouri Valley Conference that season. The following year he was ISU’s volunteer assistant coach and director of camps.

As a student-athlete in West Lafayette, Learnard became the Boilermakers’ single-season saves record holder. He pitched in 56 games over two seasons from 2017 to 2018, earning eight victories and 19 saves while compiling a 1.78 ERA, ranking second in program history in saves and ERA. More importantly, the Boilermakers were 67-48 in his two seasons, their best two-year stretch since the move to Alexander Field in the fall of 2012.

As a senior, Learnard helped lead Purdue to a runner-up showing in the Big Ten standings and an NCAA Regional bid, both of which came to fruition thanks in a part to a memorable 21-2 stretch from mid-April through Memorial Day Weekend. The lefty racked up 12 saves during that time.

Learnard was Purdue’s pitcher of the year honoree in 2017 after a consecutive scoreless innings streak of 35 2/3 helped him post an ERA of 0.58, eclipsing a team benchmark that had stood since 1965. He was a Second-Team All-American that year as announced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

The following year when his team-record 15 saves earned him All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball, the lefty became the first player in Purdue program history to be a full-fledged All-American in multiple seasons. Learnard was also a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, All-Big Ten performer, Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week.

Before transferring to Purdue, Learnard helped Parkland qualify for the NJCAA DII World Series in 2016. He was Parkland’s Male Athlete of the Year and later selected to the Cobras’ All-Decade Team. He returned to Champaign as an assistant coach with Parkland for the 2021 season and helped guide the Cobras to 36 wins, a 23-9 record in conference play and the No. 2 seed in the Region 24 Tournament.

Bladen Bales
Assistant Coach

Bladen Bales joined the Butler baseball program as an assistant coach in July of 2022. Prior to the 2024 season, Bales was promoted as a full-time coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs.

Bales has helped Butler recruit the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Joey Urban earned the honor in 2023 and Kade Lewis was the recipient in 2024. The Bulldog offense flourished in 2024 setting single-season school records in home runs (62) and total bases (856).

Carter Dorighi set the school’s single-season hit record with 90 in 2024. He tied the single-game school record with six hits at Morehead State and BU outfielder Jack Moroknek tied the single-game home run record with three in a win at Eastern Michigan.

Before arriving on campus, Bales coached with Blake Beemer at Ball State during the 2022 season. While with the Cardinals, Bales worked as the outfield coach and assisted with the hitters.

Bales helped Ball State reach the Mid-American Conference Championship game in 2022. The Cardinals won the MAC regular season title and were just the third team in program history to reach 40 wins in a season (40-19). BSU hit .295 as a team with four every day starters batting over .300. The Cardinals ranked second in the MAC in hits (566) and third in home runs (69).

Zach Cole and Amir Wright were standout student-athletes in the outfield for BSU in 2022. Bales saw Cole receive First Team All-MAC honors, while Wright landed on the All-MAC Second Team. Cole led the Cardinals with a .361 batting average. He hit fifth in the order and set a new program record with nine triples in 2022. Wright led-off for Ball State and roamed centerfield defensively. He hit .350 a year ago and only struck out 14 times in 209 at-bats. Wright reached base safely in 53 of 55 games and never made an error in the field.

Bales traveled to Muncie after a four-year stint as the top assistant coach for Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. During his time with Northeast, he served as the Hawks’ hitting coach, infield coach, and recruiting coordinator. Bales was an instrumental piece in helping start the program in 2017 and guiding the Hawks to their first-ever NJCAA DII World Series appearance in 2019. He also helped over 20 student-athletes sign with four-year schools, led by former NJCAA DII Baseball Player of the Year, NJCAA All-American and current Milwaukee Brewer infielder Drew Smith.

Under Bales' guidance, the Hawks hit .312 as a team in 2021 and crushed 47 home runs, while recording a .407 on-base percentage and a .471 slugging percentage.  At the helm of the hitters in 2019, Northeast held a .299 team average, bashing 56 home runs, and getting on base at a .402 clip with a .469 slugging percentage.

Prior to his time at Northeast, Bales coached high school baseball where he took over the Nebraska City Junior Legion program. In his first stint as head coach, he took the Juniors to the Nebraska State Tournament while posting a regular season record of 27-2. Coach Bales also helped lead the Nebraska City Seniors team to a state tournament runner-up finish in 2017.

Bales played collegiately at McCook Community College, where he posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder. After finishing his Associate’s degree, Bales transferred to play and continue his education at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. A native of Nebraska City, Neb., Bales graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in General Studies from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2019.

Seth Petry
Assistant Coach

Seth Petry joined the Butler baseball coaching staff in the fall of 2024. Prior to joining the Bullogs, Petry worked at UT Martin as a graduate assistant.

UT Martin had a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher earn all-conference honors during Petry's lone season with the Skyhawks. The team made the Ohio Valley Conference Championship field and won a game before being eliminated.

Petry joined UT Martin as a graduate assistant after a stellar career on the mound for head coach Ryan Jenkins from 2019-23. He ranks sixth in school history with 36 games started and seventh all-time with 67 appearances. Petry ranks just outside the program’s top-10 in innings pitched (206) and strikeouts (148), winning 10 games in his career while serving as UT Martin’s Friday night starter for a majority of his final two seasons.

As a senior, Petry was part of the Skyhawks’ record-setting squad that set a new program benchmark with 14 Ohio Valley Conference victories. The righty ranked fourth in the OVC in fewest doubles allowed (nine), sixth in games started (team-high 14) and 10th in fewest walks allowed (32) in 2023, ranking second on the squad in victories (three), innings pitched (67.1) and strikeouts (50). The best outing of his collegiate career came in his season debut on Feb. 19, spinning a perfect game through 5.1 innings before ending his day with seven frames and zero earned runs on three hits allowed at Belmont.

Petry topped UT Martin in innings pitched (59.1) in 2022 and established himself as one of the team’s most trusted arms in 2021 – making 19 appearances with 32 strikeouts over 30.2 innings of work. He was on track for a big campaign in 2020 – ranking eighth in the OVC with seven appearances in the season’s first 16 games – before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the year. As a freshman in 2019, he thrived as the Skyhawks’ primary midweek starter – going 4-2 while conceding just eight extra-base hits in 35.1 frames as a collegiate rookie.

A Murfreesboro, Tenn. native, Petry was an all-state performer for head coach Craig Reavis at Siegel High School. He helped the Stars to the 2016 state championship and was also a member of the 2018 regional championship squad.

A two-time UT Martin Athletic Director Honor Roll recipient and a member of the 2022-23 OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Petry graduated in December 2022 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and is currently pursing a Master’s degree in sports coaching and performance.