NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With no home field to play on and the prospect of being a fourth-string catcher, Chris Shearer had little reason to transfer to Penn State Behrend.

He did it anyway.

And after making history there, the 1998 Butler graduate is becoming part of history there.

Shearer, 33, is being inducted into the PSU Behrend Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 28.

“I was doing well at Pitt-Johnstown — a two-year starter — but the coach and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on things and I was looking for a change,” Shearer said.

“My girlfriend’s brother played basketball at Behrend and pitched my name to (baseball coach) Paul Benim. Their new field was under construction and wouldn’t be available that next season. Coach Benim told me he already had three catchers on the roster and I would have to earn my playing time.

“I was up for the challenge,” Shearer added.

After hitting .314 and .301 in successive seasons at UPJ, Shearer became Behrend’s starting catcher shortly after transferring there and hit .337 his junior season. The Lions finished 18-20 that year.

“We played 35 games away from Erie that season. It was a challenging year,” Benim recalled. “Chris was simply tremendous. He became a leader and was critical to our success as a team the following year.”

Playing on a newly constructed home field right on campus, Behrend finished 35-8, set a school record for most wins in a season and won the program’s first-ever ECAC championship.

Shearer did not commit an error behind the plate that year and is still Behrend’s all-time career fielding percentage leader (.993) behind the plate. He hit .411 as a senior, struck out only six times in 146 at bats and joined teammate Jake Boyle on the CoSIDA College Division National Academic All-America Team.

“Jake was the best baseball player ever at Behrend,” Shearer said. “He owns every offensive record there. He died from a brain tumor a few years later.

“Jake went into the Behrend Hall of Fame last year, I had to be there for that. He was a tremendous teammate. Joining him in the Hall the very next year means everything to me.”

Another teammate of Shearer’s, former all-conference pitcher Ryan Seyler, is also being inducted this year.

“We had nine seniors on that team. Ryan owns all of the pitching records ... We had so much talent,” Shearer said.

Shearer lives in Nashville, Tenn., now, married with two small children, and has coached on the high school and collegiate level. His last coaching stint was in 2010 and 2011, when he guided the Nashville Panthers to consecutive Tennessee Summer Collegiate Baseball Association championships.

Shearer has been an assistant baseball coach at three high schools and at the University of St. Thomas, a Division III national power in Minnesota. He’s coached 18 high school players who went on to play college ball, including seven at Division I schools.

“Chris was a tough, fierce competitor ... The biggest compliment I can pay him is that he was a ballplayer,” Benim said. “He could bunt, throw, run, play defense, hit behind the runner — whatever we needed.

“He was willing to do what other people wouldn’t do to be successful. That’s how he’s been in coaching and in life. And he’s an active alum who has remained good to our school.”

Shearer credits baseball for introducing him to “quality people who have shaped my life.”

Going back to his high school days at Butler, Shearer was taught the catching position by Bill “Chookers” Johnson in high school, Legion and Palomino ball. Gene and Ron Zawrotuk coached him during the summer.

“Great baseball men,” Shearer said. “Like several other catchers at Butler High School, I had the opportunity to catch bullpens for Matt Clement during the offseason.

“Being challenged to catch major league breaking balls was an awesome experience in high school.”

Among the head coaches Shearer has coached with is former Oakland A’s catcher Terry Steinbach, “who I idolized growing up.” Shearer was on Steinbach’s staff at Wayzata High School in Minnesota.

Since Shearer left Behrend in 2002, the Lions baseball program has captured five conference titles, two more ECAC crowns and has made four NCAA tourney appearances. Fellow Butler alumnus Ryan Geibel was a catcher on some of those championship Behrend teams and now works with Shearer in Nashville.

“I feel like our teams were on the ground floor of all that,” Shearer said. “It’s a source of pride for me.

“I’m sure I’ll get back into coaching down the road. My wife and I have a 3-year-old and 1-year-old, so family time is precious right now. But I know I’m not done coaching.”