Ohio Valley Conference

Matt Bragga

The new head baseball coach at Tennessee Tech University is Matt Bragga, an assistant coach the past three seasons at Birmingham Southern College and former head coach at Bevill State Community College . A 1994 University of Kentucky graduate and four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats, Bragga was selected for the TTU Head coaching position from among a field of nearly 100 applicants. Bragga's selection was announced Sunday by Tech Athletics Director Mike Hennigan.

"We are extremely pleased and excited about naming Matt Bragga to direct our baseball program," said Hennigan. "He has a strong background with a lot of success in coaching, and we've also found him to be an outstanding person. Everything we learned about him, everything we've heard about him, indicate that we've made the right choice.

"We look forward to working with him, and to watching the way he directs our baseball program," Hennigan added. "We think the student-athletes in our baseball program will really benefit from his energy, his knowledge of the game, and his commitment to the total program and their success on the field, in the classroom, and in life after college."

Bragga was highly successful as a junior college head coach for four seasons, then served the past three years as an assistant coach under Brian Shoop at Birmingham Southern College.

While at Birmingham Southern, Bragga instructed the Panthers' hitters and outfielders, and assisted with recruiting responsibilities. Under his guidance, BSC batters hit a combined .306 in the last two seasons. During the team's 2001 run to the NAIA National Championship, 11 Panthers hit .300 or better. Last season, seven Panthers hit .290 or better, including five who eclipsed the .300 mark.

"After meeting with him, the administration and the search committee were all really excited about Matt Bragga," said Frank Harrell, associate athletic director who directed the search for a coach to replace Aaron Carroll, who resigned last month. "We had a really strong pool of nearly 100 applicants,
narrowed it down to about 20 people, then came up with four exceptional finalists.

"The final decision really was a tribute to the type of person he is, the way he represents himself, the way he relates to the players, and how he'll
represent the program, the athletic department and the university," Harrell said. "He has great coaching credentials, and we think he'll do some exciting
things with the baseball program."

Bragga arrived at Birmingham Southern after spending four years as head coach at Bevill State Community College in Fayette, Alabama. In 1999, he led Bevill State to a 40-19 finish, setting a school record for most wins in a season. His teams went a combined 108-67 in his final three seasons at Bevill-Fayette.

He also served as head coach for the Junior American Legion Baseball Team Post 208 that won the state championship in 1996 and was an assistant baseball coach for Tuscaloosa County High School in 1996.

Bragga received his undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Kentucky in 1994 where he played varsity baseball for four years. He was named second-team All-Southeast Region and was named to the 1993 Southeastern Conference all-tournament first-team.

During the 1993 season, Bragga led the SEC in home runs in inter-league play, and in 1994 he ranked second in the SEC in batting average against league competition, hitting .408.

After graduating from Kentucky, Bragga signed a professional contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He played one year in the Pioneer League with the Butte Copper Kings in Butte, Montana, where he ranked eighth in the league with a .338 batting average. The following year he played with the Reds' Single A affiliate in Charleston, West Virginia.

Bragga is married to the former Elisa Currins, a 1997 graduate of the University of Alabama. A distance runner at Alabama, she is currently head cross country coach at Birmingham Southern.