Cruise steps down as Ripon baseball coach

Veteran Ripon College baseball coach Eric Cruise is stepping down after 14 years as head coach of the Red Hawks.  He also assisted in the Ripon program for 11 years before becoming head coach.  Cruise earned 224 wins at Ripon, placing him third on the Red Hawks’ career wins list behind Hall of Famers Gordie and Bob Gillespie.  He is a native of Oregon, Wisconsin, and played college baseball at UW-Oshkosh.  In addition, Ripon is naming Rich Warren as its new Athletic Director.  Warren comes to Ripon after working in sports administration at Hanover College of Indiana for the last three years.  During his college playing career, Warren won three national championships in the high jump for Bethel University.  He is also a former head track coach at the University of Hartford.  At Ripon, Warren succeeds outgoing Athletic Director and former Wausau-East High School sports standout Chris Schumacher.