WKU Baseball announced the hire of new assistant coach Tim Donnelly on Monday afternoon.

Donnelly served as Southeastern Louisiana University’s associate baseball coach before landing on the Hill. Donnelly was named Conference USA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016 while serving as Marshall’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

“WKU Baseball would like to welcome Tim and his family to The Hill,” head coach John Pawlowski said in a press release. “Having an opportunity to add Tim to our staff here at WKU was an easy decision for us and our program.”

Donnelly spent three seasons as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach at Southeastern Louisiana while also compiling scouting reports, attending to NCAA compliance matters and acting as a go-between for MLB scouts and his program. 

Donnelly served as both assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Middle Tennessee State University from 2017-2018. Prior to his time with the Blue Raiders, he spent 10 years at Marshall as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, earning his C-USA Assistant Coach of the Year honors after helping The Herd set a program-best for wins following a 34-21 (21-9 C-USA) showing in 2016.

Donnelly’s first taste of  Division I coaching came during his time as an assistant at Kent State, helping lead the Golden Flashes to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season title in 2006.

“Our players will certainly benefit from having a coach with over 15 years of Division I coaching and recruiting experience,” Pawlowski said. “Tim has a proven track record in developing and training college baseball players, which will help us continue to build a championship program here at WKU.”

Donnelly has coached 40 players who went on to have professional baseball careers, a group that includes three first-round draft picks and seven players overall who were selected in the first 10 rounds in the MLB Draft.

“I want to thank Coach Pawlowski for this opportunity,” Donnelly said in the same press release. “I am excited to get started at WKU and be back in Conference USA.”

His father, Rich Donnelly, has been a fixture in the MLB coaching ranks, spending 30 years with various organizations and most recently acting as the Seattle Mariners’ third base coach in 2015. His wife, the former Kellie Schmitt, is a three-time C-USA Player of the Year and a member of the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame thanks to her tennis career from 2005-09. The couple have a son, Drew, and a daughter, Addison.

Sports Editor Jake Moore can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Charles_JMoore.