Indiana native Chris Marx joined Purdue baseball as the Boilermakers’ pitching coach in June 2019. The 2023 campaign was his fourth season with the Boilermakers. He transitioned back to coaching position players for the 2022-23 school year while assisting with the pitchers and recruiting.
Marx has 16 seasons of collegiate coaching experience. He has served as both a pitching coach and hitting coach, and was the recruiting coordinator at both Arkansas-Little Rock and Campbell. The Evansville native was also an assistant at Southern Indiana when USI won the 2010 NCAA Division II national title.
Marx helped lead Campbell to back-to-back Big South Conference regular-season and tournament titles from 2018 to 2019. The Fighting Camels represented the Big South at NCAA Regionals hosted by Georgia and East Carolina. They were Regional finalists in 2019 after winning their first two games in Greenville. In his first year with Purdue, he helped the Boilermakers win the four-team Campbell Invitational the weekend Feb. 21 to 23.
“I would like to thank Coach Goff for the opportunity to join such a prestigious program and university,” Marx says. “I am honored and humbled at the belief that he has shown in me. I’m extremely excited to be working with the great people on his staff and student-athletes at Purdue.”
The Boilermakers set team records for strikeouts (479) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.57) during a successful 2022 campaign, which featured a program-record 15-0 start as the final unbeaten team remaining in the country. Jackson Smeltz enjoyed a breakout season and earned All-Big Ten and Academic All-America honors after posting a 2.83 ERA and .198 batting average against along with 79 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings, good for a program-record clip of 12.40 Ks per nine innings. Newcomers carried the pitching staff's starting rotation after Smeltz went down with injury in late April. Wyatt Wendell (56 2/3), CJ Backer (54 2/3) and Troy Wansing (51 1/3) all pitched over 50 innings while combining for 173 strikeouts. Wendell became the first newcomer since future big leaguer Josh Lindblom in 2007 to start the season opener.
The 2023 Boilermakers went 6-2 on Fridays in Big Ten play, enjoyed an elite stretch in which they won five of six weekend series from March 31 to May 7 and had four different position players enjoy a 20-game on-base streak. Led by Mike Bolton Jr. and Couper Cornblum, who both ranked among the top three in the league, Purdue led the conference in stolen bases (99) through the end of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Boilermakers opened their unique 2021 season by racking up 46 strikeouts over 32 innings (12.94 K/9) in the season-opening series vs. eventual league champion Nebraska, Purdue's most Ks ever in a four-game series. In mid-April, the Boilermakers became the first Big Ten team to sweep one of the league's three-team pod weekends -- beating Michigan State and Illinois twice in Champaign. They did it while surrendering only 24 hits in 38 innings (5.68 H/9), registering their fewest hits allowed per nine innings in a four-game weekend since 2006.
Senior Cory Brooks enjoyed an impressive April, puncuated by eight scoreless innings April 25 vs. Illinois. He became the first Boilermaker since 2017 and just the 17th since 2001 to pitch eight scoreless innings in an outing. Classmate Trent Johnson closed out his Purdue career as a four-year member of the weekend rotation, setting team records for career strikeouts per nine innings in all games (9.297, minimum 125 IP) and Big Ten play (9.265, minimum 80 IP).
Marx was part of Justin Haire’s staff at Campbell. Haire spent seven seasons on Greg Goff’s staff at Campbell, succeeding Goff as head coach after Louisiana Tech hired Goff in the summer of 2014. Marx joined Campbell that same summer. Originally serving as the hitting coach, Marx made the transition to pitching coach in time for the 2018 campaign. The Camels compiled a 72-47 record (40-13 Big South) from 2018 to 2019, winning at least 35 games both seasons.
“It’s great having Chris, Niki, Clayton and Maddox as part of the Purdue baseball family,” Goff says. “Chris was highly recommended by one of my closest friends in Justin Haire at Campbell. Coach Marx has a proven track record of developing young men into high draft picks and winning championships. We're very blessed to welcome the Marx family back home to the state of Indiana, helping us continue the success of Boilermaker baseball.”
Campbell had a program-record four players selected in the 2019 MLB Draft. Led by first-rounder Seth Johnson, a right-handed pitcher selected 40th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays, three were picked in the first nine rounds. Closer Tyson Messer was drafted in the ninth round by the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros selected 2019 Big South Pitcher of the Year Michael Horrell in the 30th round. The Astros also drafted Campbell’s top hitter, Matthew Barefoot, in the sixth round. Along with racking up 30 home runs and 228 hits over his three seasons at CU, Barefoot also pitched in 16 games.
Marx’s recruits earned Freshman All-American honors each of the last three seasons. He coached Allan Winans to Big South Pitcher of the Year honors in 2018. Winans was drafted in the 17th round by the New York Mets.
Campbell’s pitching staff led the Big South in eight statistical categories in both 2018 and 2019. The 2018 team set a program record with 543 strikeouts, racking up 111 more than the previous benchmark. The staff had 511 Ks in 2019. As the pitching coach at Little Rock in 2014, the Trojans set a program record for team ERA. His final recruiting class at UALR featured three MLB draft picks, a feat he duplicated two years later at Campbell.
Marx began his coaching career in his hometown as a graduate assistant at Southern Indiana in the fall of 2007. USI’s national championship team won a school-record 52 games and set team benchmarks for hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and runs scored. The Screaming Eagles hit 48 home runs in 2009 and 49 in 2010.
Marx made the move to Little Rock in time for the 2012 season. UALR led the nation in home runs per game in 2012 while hitting a program-record 66 (in 54 games) and leading the Sun Belt Conference in nine statistical categories. The Trojans were again among the top 10 nationally in homers (55) the following year.
Marx’s move to Campbell coincided with a power surge for the Camels. They won 32 games in 2015 while posting the program’s top home run total since 2010. Cole Hallum was named the Big South Player of the Year after hitting 12 homers. Outfielder Cedric Mullins (80 hits) and catcher Steven Leonard (29 steals) were both drafted. Drew Butler led the nation with 39 stolen bases in 2017.
Marx played collegiately at Olney Central College (2004-05) and Ouachita Baptist University (2006-07). Highlighted by a 50-win season for an OBU team that climbed to No. 1 in the NCAA DII rankings in 2007, he contributed to multiple seasons that featured school-record win totals. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Indiana.
Marx and his wife, Niki, have two children, Clayton and Maddox.
MARX’S COACHING CAREER BY SEASON
Purdue – Hired in June 2019
Campbell – 2015-19
Little Rock – 2012-14
Southern Indiana – 2008-11
Marx has 16 seasons of collegiate coaching experience. He has served as both a pitching coach and hitting coach, and was the recruiting coordinator at both Arkansas-Little Rock and Campbell. The Evansville native was also an assistant at Southern Indiana when USI won the 2010 NCAA Division II national title.
Marx helped lead Campbell to back-to-back Big South Conference regular-season and tournament titles from 2018 to 2019. The Fighting Camels represented the Big South at NCAA Regionals hosted by Georgia and East Carolina. They were Regional finalists in 2019 after winning their first two games in Greenville. In his first year with Purdue, he helped the Boilermakers win the four-team Campbell Invitational the weekend Feb. 21 to 23.
“I would like to thank Coach Goff for the opportunity to join such a prestigious program and university,” Marx says. “I am honored and humbled at the belief that he has shown in me. I’m extremely excited to be working with the great people on his staff and student-athletes at Purdue.”
The Boilermakers set team records for strikeouts (479) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.57) during a successful 2022 campaign, which featured a program-record 15-0 start as the final unbeaten team remaining in the country. Jackson Smeltz enjoyed a breakout season and earned All-Big Ten and Academic All-America honors after posting a 2.83 ERA and .198 batting average against along with 79 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings, good for a program-record clip of 12.40 Ks per nine innings. Newcomers carried the pitching staff's starting rotation after Smeltz went down with injury in late April. Wyatt Wendell (56 2/3), CJ Backer (54 2/3) and Troy Wansing (51 1/3) all pitched over 50 innings while combining for 173 strikeouts. Wendell became the first newcomer since future big leaguer Josh Lindblom in 2007 to start the season opener.
The 2023 Boilermakers went 6-2 on Fridays in Big Ten play, enjoyed an elite stretch in which they won five of six weekend series from March 31 to May 7 and had four different position players enjoy a 20-game on-base streak. Led by Mike Bolton Jr. and Couper Cornblum, who both ranked among the top three in the league, Purdue led the conference in stolen bases (99) through the end of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Boilermakers opened their unique 2021 season by racking up 46 strikeouts over 32 innings (12.94 K/9) in the season-opening series vs. eventual league champion Nebraska, Purdue's most Ks ever in a four-game series. In mid-April, the Boilermakers became the first Big Ten team to sweep one of the league's three-team pod weekends -- beating Michigan State and Illinois twice in Champaign. They did it while surrendering only 24 hits in 38 innings (5.68 H/9), registering their fewest hits allowed per nine innings in a four-game weekend since 2006.
Senior Cory Brooks enjoyed an impressive April, puncuated by eight scoreless innings April 25 vs. Illinois. He became the first Boilermaker since 2017 and just the 17th since 2001 to pitch eight scoreless innings in an outing. Classmate Trent Johnson closed out his Purdue career as a four-year member of the weekend rotation, setting team records for career strikeouts per nine innings in all games (9.297, minimum 125 IP) and Big Ten play (9.265, minimum 80 IP).
Marx was part of Justin Haire’s staff at Campbell. Haire spent seven seasons on Greg Goff’s staff at Campbell, succeeding Goff as head coach after Louisiana Tech hired Goff in the summer of 2014. Marx joined Campbell that same summer. Originally serving as the hitting coach, Marx made the transition to pitching coach in time for the 2018 campaign. The Camels compiled a 72-47 record (40-13 Big South) from 2018 to 2019, winning at least 35 games both seasons.
“It’s great having Chris, Niki, Clayton and Maddox as part of the Purdue baseball family,” Goff says. “Chris was highly recommended by one of my closest friends in Justin Haire at Campbell. Coach Marx has a proven track record of developing young men into high draft picks and winning championships. We're very blessed to welcome the Marx family back home to the state of Indiana, helping us continue the success of Boilermaker baseball.”
Campbell had a program-record four players selected in the 2019 MLB Draft. Led by first-rounder Seth Johnson, a right-handed pitcher selected 40th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays, three were picked in the first nine rounds. Closer Tyson Messer was drafted in the ninth round by the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros selected 2019 Big South Pitcher of the Year Michael Horrell in the 30th round. The Astros also drafted Campbell’s top hitter, Matthew Barefoot, in the sixth round. Along with racking up 30 home runs and 228 hits over his three seasons at CU, Barefoot also pitched in 16 games.
Marx’s recruits earned Freshman All-American honors each of the last three seasons. He coached Allan Winans to Big South Pitcher of the Year honors in 2018. Winans was drafted in the 17th round by the New York Mets.
Campbell’s pitching staff led the Big South in eight statistical categories in both 2018 and 2019. The 2018 team set a program record with 543 strikeouts, racking up 111 more than the previous benchmark. The staff had 511 Ks in 2019. As the pitching coach at Little Rock in 2014, the Trojans set a program record for team ERA. His final recruiting class at UALR featured three MLB draft picks, a feat he duplicated two years later at Campbell.
Marx began his coaching career in his hometown as a graduate assistant at Southern Indiana in the fall of 2007. USI’s national championship team won a school-record 52 games and set team benchmarks for hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and runs scored. The Screaming Eagles hit 48 home runs in 2009 and 49 in 2010.
Marx made the move to Little Rock in time for the 2012 season. UALR led the nation in home runs per game in 2012 while hitting a program-record 66 (in 54 games) and leading the Sun Belt Conference in nine statistical categories. The Trojans were again among the top 10 nationally in homers (55) the following year.
Marx’s move to Campbell coincided with a power surge for the Camels. They won 32 games in 2015 while posting the program’s top home run total since 2010. Cole Hallum was named the Big South Player of the Year after hitting 12 homers. Outfielder Cedric Mullins (80 hits) and catcher Steven Leonard (29 steals) were both drafted. Drew Butler led the nation with 39 stolen bases in 2017.
Marx played collegiately at Olney Central College (2004-05) and Ouachita Baptist University (2006-07). Highlighted by a 50-win season for an OBU team that climbed to No. 1 in the NCAA DII rankings in 2007, he contributed to multiple seasons that featured school-record win totals. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Indiana.
Marx and his wife, Niki, have two children, Clayton and Maddox.
MARX’S COACHING CAREER BY SEASON
Purdue – Hired in June 2019
Campbell – 2015-19
Little Rock – 2012-14
Southern Indiana – 2008-11