Graduation Spotlight: Swinging for the fences: Waller finds career in baseball through analytics

Kim Chaudoin  |  04/25/2025

Caleb Waller always dreamed of making it to the big leagues.

Life, however, had other plans — ones that took him across continents, through personal tragedy and ultimately to a new dream shaped by resilience and purpose. This spring, Waller becomes one of the first students to graduate from Lipscomb University’s Master of Science in sport analytics, bringing his passion for baseball to life in a new way.

Lipscomb’s program, housed in the College of Health Sciences, launched last year to meet growing demand for professionals who can apply data science to decision-making in sports, and Waller is helping to chart the course for the program’s future.

“This program gave me exactly what I needed — real-world connections, hands-on experience and professors who believed in me,” said Waller, a native of Spring Hill, Tennessee. “It’s helping me fulfill a dream that I’ve held onto my whole life — to work in professional baseball.”

A journey that spanned continents

Waller’s road to Lipscomb was anything but conventional. At 14, he moved with his mother to Malawi, Africa, where she founded Breaker International, a nonprofit serving vulnerable children. While the relocation disrupted his childhood dream of becoming a professional baseball player, it also broadened his worldview and strengthened his resolve to stay connected to the sport he loves.

“My whole life I've wanted to work in professional baseball. I worked from age 4 to play in the big leagues, but when my family moved to Africa that path was almost impossible,” said Waller, a native of Spring Hill, Tennessee. “I knew that I wanted to get as close to the game as possible from an operations side. If I can't be the one making the plays, I want to be the one who helps others make the plays. I'm inspired by the evolving field of baseball analytics and the ‘Moneyball’ system developed by Billy Bean and the then Oakland Athletics.”

During his time in Malawi, Waller attended Hillview High School, a Cambridge-affiliated expatriate school, and completed his U.S. high school requirements through HomeLife Academy.

“During one of my periodic return trips to the States, I applied to Lipscomb and was accepted shortly after. My mom and I moved back to the US on a Covid-19 evacuation flight so I could return in time to attend Lipscomb,” he explained. “I received a gracious scholarship from Lipscomb for my missionary activities and my dad said he would pay the difference.”

Overcoming tragedy

Waller’s time at Lipscomb was marked by both triumph and profound personal loss. In 2021, his father, Chris, who had remained in the U.S. while Caleb and his mother were in Africa, unexpectedly passed away.

At age 19, Waller suddenly found himself responsible for making life-or-death decisions for his father.

“We fought for weeks for him but, unfortunately, we were told that he would either pass or have to live on a ventilator for the rest of his life. I had to make the difficult decision to take him off life support and he passed away,” Waller recalled. “It broke me and I struggled with my mental and physical health for a long time.”

Waller said he began to recover by getting more intimate in his relationship with God and found a new sense of purpose in developing physically through extensive time in the gym and getting more involved with his church.

With the passing of his father, Waller was also faced with the uncertainty of being able to finance his Lipscomb education.

“My dad worked himself to death to make sure that I graduated college debt-free. Without his support, my continuation at Lipscomb and the threat of having to take large student loans was in jeopardy,” he shared. “To honor my father's legacy, I have worked my tail off for almost four years while going to school to pay for my tuition with my own money via long hours doing retail and other jobs. Thankfully, with the support of friends and Lipscomb University, my undergraduate degree is completely paid off and my graduate degree will be paid off next month.”

Focus on the future

Waller graduated with a Bachelor of Science in sports management in 2024 and will walk across the stage in Allen Arena to claim his graduate degree on May 3. He credits Lipscomb with preparing him well for the future.

“Lipscomb helped me to quickly gain the knowledge I need to work in my field as well as provided me with the professor and employer connections I've needed to succeed,” he said. “I'm ever grateful to my professors and mentors Dr. Andrew Mauldin, Dr. Randy Bostic,and Dr. Matthew Ruiz for helping me to excel in my craft. They didn’t just teach me—they believed in me and gave me opportunities to prove myself.”

Those opportunities included internships with Prep Baseball Tennessee, where he serves as a Video Analytics Assistant, and a promotional role with the Nashville Sounds during the 2024 season.

“The new age of baseball relies so much on sports analytics. Athletes are rarely born with the skills to be professional baseball players,” said Waller. “Sport analytics helps to show which areas of an athlete's skills need further development and how to develop them. There is such a rewarding feeling watching an athlete that you discovered succeed at a high level after showing off the numbers that turn heads of college and professional baseball teams.”

Waller’s long-term goal is to work in baseball operations or scouting or to be a sport analyst for a Major League Baseball franchise or to continue his work with Prep Baseball Tennessee.

As Waller reflected on his time at Lipscomb, he expressed gratitude for those who have supported him: his mother, Melissa Morrison; his grandmother, Jane Linker; pastors Brett and Amy Stewart; his best friend, Isaac Stickles; his church communities—The Nest Church and Hope UC Nashville; and many others who played roles in his journey.

Learn more about Lipscomb’s Master of Science in Sport Analytics.