Matt Jones
Head Baseball Coach
Slippery Rock '95
717-477-1508
msjones@ship.edu

Shippensburg head baseball coach Matt Jones enters his fourth year with the Red Raiders in 2010 having led his squads to 90 wins, a conference title, division title, regional title and a Division II World Series appearance along with PSAC tournament appearances in three straight seasons.

The Red Raiders have become known for outstanding defense and pitching with Jones as the head coach. Shippensburg led the PSAC in fielding percentage during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while ranking second in 2009. The team has averaged just 63 errors per season over the last three years, an average of just 1.1 per game, while succeeding with at least 96 percent of their chances during that time. On the mound, Shippensburg has been among the Top 7 PSAC programs in terms of earned-run average.

After guiding his 2008 squad to the fourth Division II World Series appearance in school history and first since 1996, Jones was named the 2008 ABCA/Diamond Sports Company NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and the 2008 NCBWA North Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.

Shippensburg finished the 2008 regular season as the champions of the PSAC Western Division with a 14-6 conference record that helped voters select Jones as the PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year. Through 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Jones has received a total of six coach of the year awards.

That season, Jones’ program broke 12 single-season school records, 11 individual season records and 11 career records. Five players were named to an All-North Atlantic Region squad while the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) named Matt Wright the North Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year.

The Raiders nearly swept the all-conference awards as well, as the team took home the division player (Justin Garber) and pitcher (Wright) of the year awards in addition to Jones’ award. The team also had seven All-PSAC Western Division selections, the second most of any Western Division school.

Four Shippensburg players coached by Jones have been selected in the Major League Baseball player draft, including Matt Wright and Justin Garber in 2008. Ross Buckwalter and Eric Perlozzo were drafted in 2007.

The 2007 season was the first at Shippensburg for Jones and he wasted no time guiding the team to its first conference championship in four seasons and first NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. Jones also totaled his most career wins in a season with 28, a mark that was shattered last season with the team’s 39 victories.

After losing the first game in the 2007 PSAC Tournament, Jones’ squad won four consecutive games to win the championship. He became just the third Shippensburg coach since 1922 to win a conference title in his first season at the helm.

Five of his players earned National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) honors for the 2007 season and were also selected to the All-PSAC Western Division squads.

Jones, a 1995 graduate of Slippery Rock, was named the 11th head baseball coach at Shippensburg on Oct. 23, 2006 after serving as Elizabethtown’s head coach for seven seasons, where he posted a career record of 148-126-2 and turned the team into a perennial contender for the Commonwealth Conference title.

At Elizabethtown, Jones captured three conference championships and appeared in the conference title game five times while participating in the conference championship tournament in each of his seven seasons. He also led the Blue Jays to three NCAA Regional appearances.

During his tenure with the Blue Jays, Jones was named conference coach of the year in 2000 and 2001. They compiled a 77-56 regular season conference record. Many of Jones’ players earned individual awards, as 34 players earned all-conference honors and six players were selected to the NCAA All-Mid Atlantic Region team during his tenure. He also coached three conference rookies of the year, two conference pitchers of the year and one NCAA Division III All-American.

Through 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Jones has compiled a career record of 237-206-2 for a winning percentage of .535. He has coached in 38 conference tournament games, 16 NCAA regional tournament games and three College World Series games, totaling 26 post-season wins.

Jones currently lives in Mechanicsburg with his wife Leslie, a 1997 graduate of Shippensburg.

Year	School	Overall W-L	Conference W-L	Postseason
2000	Elizabethtown	26-14	9-5	Conference Champions, NCAA Regional
2001	Elizabethtown	19-19	8-6	Conference Champions, NCAA Regional
2002	Elizabethtown	18-23	12-9	Conference Tournament
2003	Elizabethtown	21-14	12-9	Conference Tournament
2004	Elizabethtown	19-20	11-10	Conference Tournament
2005	Elizabethtown	19-20-1	12-9	Conference Tournament
2006	Elizabethtown	26-16-1	13-8	Conference Champions, NCAA Regional
2007	Shippensburg	27-23	13-7	Conference Champions, NCAA Regional
2008	Shippensburg	39-26	14-6	Division Champions Regional Champions College World Series
2009	Shippensburg	23-31	12-12	Conference Tournament
10 years	Two Schools	237-206-2	116-81	4 Conference Championships 5 NCAA Regional Appearances 1 College World Series

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