Auburn, Ala.--Auburn baseball coach John Pawlowski has an unexpected opening on his staff after just one season on the job as assistant coach Matt Heath resigned from the coaching staff on Wednesday. Coming with Pawlowski from the College of Charleston, Heath has decided to move on with is coaching career.
“Matt felt it was in his best interests to resign from his position with our club,” Pawlowski said. “I am very grateful for all of his hard work and dedication to not only this program this past season but also for the years we spent together at the College of Charleston. Matt had tremendous success and his contributions will be missed.”
Known for his production at the plate as a hitting coach, Heath showed that in his short time at Auburn. In one season as the hitting coach for the Tigers, Heath helped the program
hit a school record 103 home runs and 218 extra-base hits while finishing the year with a .516 slugging percentage, third best all-time.
“I want to thank JP (John Pawlowski) for giving me the opportunity to be a hitting coach in the SEC,” Heath said. “I will miss the players
and the coaching staff but I feel like personally this is the right move for me. I wish nothing but success to the Auburn baseball team going
forward.”
While Auburn's power numbers improved under Heath, so did the strikeout totals. In 2009 the team smashed the record for most strikeouts in a season with 484. The previous high was just 416 set in both 2004 and 2005.
In two seasons at the College of Charleston, Heath helped the team establish six offensive school records in his first season of 2007 and
then broke five of them in his last season, including setting the Southern Conference home run record mark of 130.
Pawlowski will begin his search for a replacement immediately.
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