As the recently named 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and the 2009 Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, Matt Bragga enters his eighth season as the head baseball coach at Tennessee Tech.
The Golden Eagles capped off the year with a late season rally that fueled them to the No. 1 spot in the Ohio Valley Conference with the regular season coming to a close.
On April 6th of this year, Tech head coach Matt Bragga earned his 150th career win a road victory over Lipscomb. The next day, the Golden Eagles finished the sweep of the Bisons for the first of six brooms this season, but faltered in conference contests.The Golden Eagles went 0-5 in their first five conference match-ups, shouldering a sweep at Jacksonville and a doubleheader sweep by Southeast Missouri on the road within the first two weeks of April.
The double-dip sweep at SEMO seemed to be the turnaround for Tech though. The following day, the lineup put up 12 runs to SEMO's eight, snapping their five-game in-conference losing streak.
And they never looked back.
The series finale win in Cape Girardeau launched an eleven game in-conference string of wins for the Golden Eagles as they went on to brush Eastern Illinois, Morehead State and Austin Peay under the rug, tacking on a double-header sweep over UT-Martin for good measure to bring their record to 25-22 overall and 11-5 in the OVC.
Tech's final regular season series against Murray State was crucial in deciding the No. 1 seed for the post-season tournament in Jackson, Tennessee. A sweep by the Golden Eagles clinched the regular season title outright for Tech and secured the no. 1 spot for the tournament, where they closed out their season with a record of 31-25, 14-6 in the OVC.
Five member of the Golden Eagle lineup appeared on the 2010 All-Tournament team, while senior right-hander Lee Henry was named Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year. Juniors AJ Kirby-Jones and Chad Oberacker combined for nine total All-America Team appearances, boasting selections by Collegiate Baseball News, Ping!Baseball, Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the American Baseball Coaches Association. The team was also awarded the Ohio Valley Conference Sportsmanship Award as voted by coaches throughout the OVC.
Additionally, four Golden Eagles were selected in the top 21 rounds of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft. Junior Stephen Pryor was selected in the 5th round by the Seattle Mariners, Kirby-Jones in the 9th round by the Oakland A's, Oberacker in the 19th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, and senior Adam Liberatore in the 21st round by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Last season, the Golden Eagles made a thrilling run to sweep the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament and eliminate No. 14 Alabama from the NCAA regionals, setting the standard for what proved to be an epic 2010 season. They finished the 2009 season with a 31-24-1 record, marking the first back-to-back 30 win seasons in Tech history. The Golden Eagles swept the OVC tournament, going 4-0, including back-to-back extra-inning victories over Jacksonville State to clinch the OVC title.
They then went on to the NCAA regional in Clemson, S.C., where they eliminated No. 14 Alabama before being eliminated by eventual regional-champion Clemson. The Golden Eagles had two all-conference team members, six all-tournament team members, and the OVC tournament MVP in A.J. Kirby-Jones. Alex Henry was also named to the all-regional team at the Clemson Regional. Following the 2009 season, pitcher Ryan Dennick was drafted by Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals.
Bragga has built a solid foundation for his program — on the field and in the classroom — during his first six seasons as Golden Eagle head coach, and is confident that Tech Baseball will continue to reach new heights in and out of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The veteran coach continues his work toward redefining the program with high ideals and even greater expectations.
Taking over the head coaching reins in January 2004, Bragga has shown the dedication needed to win an OVC championship, and his players exhibit that same down-to-earth determination, day-in and day-out. His plan has brought about marked improvements in the team’s on-field performance, academic performance, alumni support and program facilities.
On the field, Bragga’s silent resolve has taken the program from a 13-42 record in his first full year in 2005, improving 5.5 games in 2006 with a record of 18-36, making an eight game improvement in 2007 with a record of 26-28, and another seven game improvement in 2008 as the Golden Eagles went 35-23-1, leading to the OVC championship and an NCAA Regional berth in 2009. With success on the recruiting trails, Bragga continues to take the TTU Baseball program to a new level.
Before taking the head coaching post at Tech, Bragga spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Birmingham Southern College under head coach Brian Shoop. He spent the majority of his time at BSC working as the hitting and outfielder coach as well as recruiting for the Panthers. Under Bragga’s direction, BSC hitters batted a combined .316 during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
In 2003, 10 Panthers hit over .300 for a team batting average of .318 overall. The Panthers scored 7.9 runs per game which ranked 15th in NCAA Division I. Before moving to the NCAA Division I for the 2002 season, the Panthers won the NAIA National Championship in 2001 as 11 Panthers hit .300 or better and averaged 8.5 runs per game. In 2001, the Panthers set a school record for most wins in a season, going 55-11.
Bragga also owned some head coaching experience before coming to Tech. At the age of 25, prior to his role at Birmingham Southern, Bragga served as the head coach at Bevill State (Ala.) Community College for four seasons.
Bragga took over a Bevill State baseball program that, prior to his arrival, had an all time record of 175-350 (.343), and was considered by many one of the worst programs in the state of Alabama. With the Bears going 39-20 in 1998, Bragga’s second season at Bevill State resulted in a school record for most wins in one season. That team also participated in the schools first-ever postseason tournament. In 1999, Bragga led his squad to a 40-19 record, surpassing his previous record and taking the team to another regional tournament.
During his time at Bevill, his teams compiled a 148-86 record and BSCC went from a .343 winning percentage prior to Bragga’s arrival, to one of Alabama’s best Community/Junior College programs, amassing a remarkable .630 winning percentage during his time.
Before jumping into the college ranks, Bragga served as head coach for the Junior American Legion Baseball Team Post 208 that won the Alabama state championship in 1996. That same year, he also took on the role as assistant coach for the Tuscaloosa County High School baseball squad.
One aspect that makes Bragga such an influential coach, and what some describe as a player’s coach, is that he has coached and played at nearly every level of baseball. Bragga played his collegiate career for the University of Kentucky Wildcats, earning four letters from 1991 to 1994.
He played multiple positions at Kentucky, including outfield, catcher, first base and designated hitter, and also excelled at the plate. Bragga earned multiple honors including second-team All-Southeast region and Southeastern Conference all-tournament first-team in 1993. In his senior season Bragga finished with a .408 batting average in SEC play, which ranked him second in the league.
He also etched his name in the Kentucky baseball record books, ranking among UK’s all-time best in multiple season and career categories. During Bragga’s four-year career with UK, the baseball team compiled the most wins in any four-year period of UK baseball, a record which was recently broken by the 2005-2008 Kentucky squads.
After graduating from Kentucky with a degree in communications, Bragga signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1994. He played one season in the Pioneer League with the Butte (Montana) Copper Kings before moving to Charleston, W.Va., to play with the Cincinnati Reds’ Single A affiliate the following season. Bragga earned his master’s degree from the University of Alabama.
Matt is married to the former Elisa Currins, a 1997 graduate of the University of Alabama. The couple are the proud parents of two children — Luke and Emerson.
