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UTB has a has new head baseball coach.
Bryan Aughney has been named Head Baseball Coach at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Aughney, a native of Bozeman, Montana, is eager to continue developing the players he has worked with since September 2007.
"I am truly excited for this opportunity, this is a proud program that has a lot of tradition," Aughney said. "I will continue to work hard and serve our student-athletes as we prepare them for their future endeavors."
He previously served as Assistant Coach for the Scorpions in 2007-08. In the 2008 season, the Scorpions went 24-32 and finished third in the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Scorpions return the majority of the team from the 2008 season, and have their sights on more success in 2009.
"We have a great group of players who are hungry to succeed, and we are all excited to continue building and growing what began here a long time ago," Aughney said. "There is great support for athletics campus wide, I want to continue making them proud by recruiting and maintaining quality players that we all can be proud of –- in the classroom, on the field, and in the community."
Aughney replaces his friend and mentor Joel Barta, who resigned in August to accept the position of Head Baseball Coach at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota.
Aughney's announcement was made by Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Vince Solis.
"Bryan is a role model for the student-athletes, and we wish him great success," Solis said. "We are confident that our baseball program will continue to flourish, and that our baseball student-athletes will work just as hard in the classroom as they will in the classroom."
Aughney has been an Assistant Coach at the collegiate level for four years. Previously, he served as Assistant Coach at Northlands College (Wis.) for two years from 2004-06 and at Bellevue University (Neb.) from 2006-07.
He also served as Assistant Coach for the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League for two summers in 2005 and 2006.
Aughney received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from and a Coaching Minor from Northland College in 2004 and a Master of Arts in Leadership degree from Bellevue University in 2007.
Aughney's hiring is contingent upon approval by The University of Texas System.
A search for an assistant baseball coach will begin immediately.
