By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech head baseball coach Steve Smith rounded out his coaching staff for the 2021 campaign ahead, adding Alex Maloney to the group as a volunteer assistant coach.
Maloney, who will serve as the Golden Eagles' infield coach and camp director, joins the Tech staff after spending the past two years as a graduate assistant coach at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.
"I'm very blessed to be here," Maloney expressed. "To work under a guy like Steve Smith and work with guys like Mitchell Wright and Blake Beck is a phenomenal opportunity for me. I'm very excited to be part of a historically great program and to be here in Tennessee."
"I'm really excited to have Alex join our staff as our infield coach and camp director," Smith said. "He was an outstanding Division I player in his own right, with a reputation both as a competitor and leader. He comes from a great coaching pedigree and will be a tremendous asset to our program."
Working primarily with the pitching staff, Maloney saw the Warriors cruise to an 11-4 start to the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic brought a halt to all competition. In 2019, Wayne State finished 35-17 overall with a 17-10 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Prior to his time in Detroit, he played professionally for the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League in 2017 and then within the Chicago White Sox organization in 2017 and 2018.
Maloney played collegiately at Ball State from 2013-17 where he was a team captain and a four-year starter. Primarily a shortstop, third baseman and reliever for the Cardinals, he helped lead Ball State to Mid-American Conference West Division titles in 2014 and 2016 as well as an overall MAC regular-season championship in 2016. He finished his time in Muncie, Ind. ranked in the top-five in program history in multiple career categories.
"I've been at the Division I level and played a little professionally as well," Maloney said of what he hopes to contribute to the program. "I'm just going to bring along the experiences and lessons I've learned from being a player and being around baseball my entire life. I want to bring that to the table for the guys and hopefully learn just as much from them as they do from me."
He tied for second in walks (120), was third in both at-bats (865) and games started (226), tied for third in games played (227) and tied for fourth in sacrifice flies (15). Maloney was named a Top-300 prospect in 2016 by D1Baseball.com and was rated a Top-50 shortstop for the 2017 season. As a senior, he earned the team's "Dirt Bag Award" for the player who is voted to be the hardest worker and most determined student-athlete.
"I'm looking forward to working with all the great athletes we have here," Maloney added. "We're excited to put a great product on the field in the Ohio Valley Conference."
In 2017, Maloney graduated from Ball State with a bachelor's degree in political science and minor in business information systems. He is currently working on his master's degree in business administration with anticipated completion in November 2020.
