CHICAGO, Ill. – Thursday, January 6^th Campbellsville University baseball head coach Beauford Sanders was presented the Robert E. Smith Achievement Award at the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Association Annual Business Meeting.
 
The Robert E. "Ish" Smith Achievement Award is bestowed upon individuals who demonstrate unselfish devotion to the promotion of NAIA Baseball throughout a distinguished career. The award iis named for the first recipient of the award in 1999: legendary coach Robert E. "Ish" Smith. Smith, an NAIA Hall of Fame baseball coach and former President of Greenville College (Ill.), also served as the President of the International Baseball Association. He is the person most credited with baseball becoming an Olympic sport.
 
In 2021-22, Beauford Sanders enters his 32^nd season at the helm of Tiger Baseball and is the active all-time wins leader in the state of Kentucky with a 960-625 (.605) record at Campbellsville. In the past 20 years, the Tigers have won 10 Mid-South Conference Championships, including five straight tournament championships from 2005-2009. Sanders also serves as the Associate Director of Athletics under the direction of Jim Hardy. Sanders' main responsibilities include game day operations and facility maintenance and improvements. 
 
Sanders has an overall head coaching record of 1228-872 (.584) having coached at North Greenville Junior College before coming to Campbellsville. Sanders has seen around 70 percent of his players that reach senior status graduate and many of those players have been selected as Academic All-Conference and All-Americans. The team also involves itself in community service projects including visiting local nursing homes and lending hands to the Operation Christmas Child and Angel Tree organizations. The Tigers are also an integral part of Kid's Spot in Campbellsville, Ky. Coach Sanders and the team hosts events each year to have less fortunate children on the field that also provides community outreach opportunities.
 
The first baseball game of the 2022 season will be in less than a month on February 11^th at the University of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama.