Matt Jones, Head Coach
Second Year

The 2007 campaign was Matt Jones’ first as the head coach of the Shippensburg University baseball program. On Oct. 23, 2006, he was named the 11th head coach of Shippensburg baseball since 1927.

Jones, a 1995 graduate of Slippery Rock, comes to Shippensburg after serving as the head coach at Division III Elizabethtown College for seven seasons. There, he posted a career record of 148-126-2 and turned the team into a perennial contender for the Commonwealth Conference title.

His teams captured three conference championships and appeared in the conference title game fives while participating in the conference championship tournament in each of his seven seasons. He also led the Blue Jays to three NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional appearances.

During his tenure, Jones was named conference coach of the year in 2000 and 2001 and was honored as the MABCA Pennsylvania College Coach of the Year in 2000.

Jones made an immediate impact in his first season at Elizabethtown. He helped his squad rebound from a 0-5 conference start by winning nine-straight conference games and capturing the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. The team finished with a 26-14 record and the school’s first NCAA tournament berth in five years.

The following season, Jones’ team finished the regular season 15-17, but rolled through the conference playoffs with three-straight victories, giving Elizabethtown its second-straight conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance.

In 2006, the Blue Jays posted a 26-16-1 record and won its third conference title in Jones’ seven-year tenure. The team dropped its first-round game, but battled back with four-straight victories to win the title. The momentum carried over into the NCAA regional as Jones’ Blue Jays won its opening round game.

In seven postseason appearances, Jones totaled a 13-16 record overall and a 3-6 mark in the NCAA tournament. He also totaled a 77-56 regular season conference record.

Many of Jones’ players earned individual awards, as well. In all, 34 players earned all-conference honors and six players were selected to the NCAA All-Mid Atlantic Region honors. He also coached three conference rookies of the year, two conference pitchers of the year and one NCAA Division III All-American.
During his stint at Elizabethtown, his student-athletes also excelled in the classroom as the team GPA routinely finished at 3.0 or better.

Prior to arriving at Elizabethtown, Jones gained experienced as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 1999 under Joe Jordano. That season, he worked with the hitters, pitchers and outfielders and helped the Panthers to a 27-27 record. That team broke 13 school hitting records and four players went on to be drafted in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Jones also served as an assistant at his alma mater, Red Land High School from 1996-98.

Despite spending his coaching career at the Division III level, Jones is no stranger to the competitive PSAC, having played a three seasons at Slippery Rock from 1993-95. Jones was a standout player through his playing career. In his senior season at Slippery Rock, he was named All-PSAC Western Division First Team as a relief pitcher. He is also the only player in PSAC history to win player of the week and pitcher of the week honors in the same week.

At Red Land High School, Jones was named conference MVP and led his team to an AAA state championship. The Montreal Expos then selected Jones in the 1990 amateur baseball draft.

However, Jones attended Gulf Coast Community College for one season and then transferred to Division I Winthrop in 1992 before finishing his career playing first base and pitching Slippery Rock. Jones played one season of minor league baseball, pitching for the Butte Copper Kings of the Pioneer League.

Jones Year-by-Year

Coaching Experience
Shippensburg University, Head Coach, 2007-present
Elizabethtown College, Head Coach, 2000-2006
University of Pittsburgh, Assistant Coach, 1999
Red Land High School, Assistant Coach, 1995-98

Honors
Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year, 2001
Middle Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, 2000
MABCA Pennsylvania College Coach of the Year, 2000

Playing Experience
Butte Copper Kings, Pioneer League, 1995
Slippery Rock University, 1993-95
Winthrop University, 1992
Gulf Coast Community College, 1991

Ryan Bown, Assistant Coach
First Year

Ryan Bown is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Red Raiders in 2008, overseeing the team’s strength and conditioning program as well as assisting in recruiting and holding several on field duties.

Bown brings solid coaching and playing experience to Shippensburg at both the high school and college level.

A 2004 graduate of Ursinus College, Bown appeared in 30 games with 21 starts while posting a 14-4 record and a 3.22 ERA in three seasons with the Bears from 2002-04. He also totaled 145 strikeouts, five complete games, three shutouts and three saves in 148.1 innings pitched.

As a senior, Bown received All-Centennial Conference Second Team honors and was named his team’s most valuable player and pitcher of the year after posting a 7-1 record and a 1.72 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 68.0 innings. He made 12 appearances with eight starts while totaling five complete games and two shutouts.

On Apr. 9, 2004, Bown set the school record with 18 strikeouts in a 13-0 victory over Swarthmore which were just one short of the conference mark as well. He was also named Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in which he pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout.

During Bown’s career, the Bears advanced to the conference championship semifinals twice in 2003 and 2004. During those two seasons, he owned an 11-2 record in 20 appearances with 103 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA in 105.2 innings.

In 2002, Bown also received his team’s rookie of the year award as well as the first of back-to-back first team all-league honors for the Susquehanna Valley Tornadoes of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.

Bown also spent two seasons with the Gabelsville Owls of the Tri-County Baseball League in 2004 and 2005, a wooden bat league in Eastern Pennsylvania that features 10 teams in and around Allentown. While there, he totaled a 7-2 record with one save in 11 appearances. He also struck out 61 in 62.2 innings while posting a 2.12 ERA.

Off the field, Bown was named to the 2004 Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll, bestowed upon student-athletes with a 3.40 cumulative grade point average or higher who have reached sophomore, junior or senior standing. He also served as vice president of Phi Epsilon Kappa, the honorary exercise and sports science fraternity.

Bown has been coaching baseball at various levels since 2003, including a one season as an assistant coach at Ursinus in 2005. From there, he went on to become the assistant coach at Boyertown High School in 2007 after serving as the head junior varsity coach for Perkiomen Valley High School in 2006. At Boyertown, he helped lead the team to a PAC-10 championship.

Bown earned his bachelor of science degree in exercise and sports science from Ursinus in May 2004 before going on earn his master’s degree in the art of teaching from Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan in August 2007.

Bown currently teaches in the Waynesboro School District at Mowrey Elementary School as the physical education teacher. He and his wife. Rachel, currently reside in Chambersburg with their son, Braydon.