Constructing a Career in Baseball and Beyond: Nate Kress
by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics
6/24/2026
From a local high school product to a rising star for BGSU Baseball, Nate Kress is using his time at Bowling Green to build his life after baseball.
For anyone that has ventured to Steller Field over the last year, the renovations to the facility are nothing short of incredible. However, the stories behind the details are what makes the project so special. Stories that connect the players directly to their new playing surface. Stories like Nate Kress’.
A Bowling Green High School alum and current construction management major at Bowling Green, Kress had his eyes set on BGSU early on. Not just for the location, but for the program.
“[Bowling Green] is in the top five in the country for construction management,” said Kress. “The other colleges with construction management are thousands of miles away. I was like ‘If I want to play baseball, I have to get an offer there first.’ [Once] I had an offer from Bowling Green and they had construction management, it was a win-win. I’m also local, so I can have parents, friends, and family come watch.”
Kress’ decision was one rooted in the education he could receive at Bowling Green. Within the construction management major, BGSU’s co-op program is one of just three in the country recognized for meeting the gold standard of excellence by the Accreditation and Council for Co-Op & Internship (ACCI). So when the time came for Kress to pair his major with his sport, he jumped at the opportunity.
During the fall season, as the team was prepping for the 2026 campaign while simultaneously watching construction unfold at Steller Field, head baseball coach Kyle Hallock approached Kress about being part of the new look Steller Field. Knowing Kress’ major, Hallock asked him to build plyo walls, a reinforced surface used for throwing weighted plyometric balls during warmups, for the new bullpens. From there, Kress ran with the idea. He developed the design for two plyo walls, one for the home bullpen and one for the visiting bullpen, and presented them to Hallock.
“During the fall, I went home on weekends, found a design and built two [plyo walls] for the new field,” said Kress. “My major taught me to read blueprints and designs and to be precise with measurements from the blueprints to the actual building. Read the blueprints twice, read the tape twice and cut once.”
“My major taught me to read blueprints and designs and to be precise with measurements from the blueprints to the actual building.”Nate Kress
The introduction of the new bullpen equipment was the next step in the evolution of BGSU Baseball. Having just completed his third season with the Orange and Brown, Kress has been part of a pitching unit that has broken the program’s single-season strikeout record each of the last three seasons after the mark had previously stood since 1999. Kress contributed a mark of nine strikeouts per nine innings this past year before his season was cut short due to an injury.
For Kress, bringing his construction major into baseball, joining two significant parts of his life, was something in the making for a long time. Something that he can trace back to his childhood.
“It all started when I was young,” said Kress. “I grew up as a farm boy, so I worked on the family farm. We would always build and stay busy with our hands. It all started working on the farm and that’s what piqued my interest. When I redid a couple barns with my grandpa, I loved it and I haven’t stopped loving it since.”
“It all started working on the farm and that’s what piqued my interest. When I redid a couple barns with my grandpa, I loved it and I haven’t stopped loving it since.”Nate Kress
At Bowling Green, Kress has been able to harness that love into his major. While still working towards his degree, he is already seeing the impact that construction management will have on his life moving forward.
“It’s already impacted me a lot,” said Kress. “This summer, I started my own business, Kress Builds. Right now I’m about to start building a 900-square foot deck for one of my clients. It’s starting off strong and it’s going the right way. It’s setting me up great.”
While Kress has had experience with co-ops and is actively running his own business during the summer, the experience with BGSU Baseball is unique because of the support felt from the coaches and staff. Something that program has demonstrated with Kress’ involvement with the plyo walls as well as having senior infielder Sam Seidel design the new outfield wall padding look.
“I would say it’s one-in-a-million that coaches care about what you do off the field and have a coach that wants you to succeed in the other parts of life and be successful,” said Kress.
A local product, Kress continues to work towards his degree, coming off his redshirt sophomore season with the Falcons. But he doesn’t see his impact on BGSU or BGSU Baseball ending when he walks across the stage for his diploma. He wants to continue giving back to the program and university that has provided him his start.
“It’s going to mean a lot,” said Kress. “I already graduated from Bowling Green High School, so getting another degree in Bowling Green is going to be huge.
“I hope… maybe I will start building stuff for BGSU, the BGSU Community. I’ve talked with Coach Hallock a little bit about adding some more to the field. I like to give back and with my major at Bowling Green, I can actually give back to the community for what Bowling Green State University has done for me.”
