2008 ABCA/Diamond Sports Company North Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
2-time PSAC Coach of the Year (2022 East, 2008 West)
Matt Jones enters his 19th season as the head baseball coach at Shippensburg University in 2025. In 25 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Jones has led his teams to 599 victories, including 484 at the helm of the Raiders.
The 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Coach of the Year, Jones has twice directed the Raiders to the Division II “College World Series” and is one of just three Raider baseball coaches this century to win a PSAC Championship in his debut season.
Overall, Jones has coached the Raiders to 12 PSAC Tournament appearances and 5 NCAA Regional Tournament appearances and guided the Raiders to 36 victories in postseason play – including a 10-8 record at regionals.
At Shippensburg, Jones has instructed players to a total of 70 All-PSAC selections during his tenure, including two ABCA All-Americans (Matt Wright, Pat Kregeloh).
Six Raiders coached by Jones have been selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, including two players following the 2018 season: pitcher Gabe Mosser (San Diego Padres) and shortstop Cash Gladfelter (Seattle Mariners). Several other players have gone on to play professionally as undrafted free agents or in an independent league.
Of the many talented players Jones has coached, Kregeloh was twice named as Shippensburg University’s Men’s Student-Athlete of the Year (2012-13, 2013-14). Kregeloh, SU Baseball’s first Academic All-American in 16 years, is a four-time All-PSAC performer who finished his career in 2014 with a .320 batting average, 25 home runs, 141 RBIs, 38 doubles and 115 runs in addition to a 16-11 record as a pitcher with a 3.10 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 206 innings. Senior Jake Kennedy graduated in 2017 as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) all-time home run king with 45 career homers. His 22 home runs and 71 RBIs as a senior in 2017 are single-season school records.
One of Jones’s coaching tenets is the outstanding defense displayed by his teams. SU led the PSAC in fielding percentage during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while ranking second in 2009. The team averaged just 63 errors per season from 2007-09, an average of just 1.1 per game, while succeeding with at least 96 percent of their defensive chances during that time. A total of 12 Raiders have received Rawlings All-Atlantic Region “Gold Glove” awards under Jones’s tutelage – including 2011 All-America Gold Glove winner Eric Herman.
Jones has accomplished all of this without the benefit of a full-time assistant coach. However, numerous coaches have gained valuable experience on Jones’ staff and have gone on to prominent positions across the country, among them Kurt Elbin (Virginia Tech, VCU), Anthony Renz (Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks), Adam Sheibley (Elizabethtown) and Corey Haines (Virginia Tech, Maryland).
Jones has guided the Raiders to 26-or-more wins and a PSAC tournament appearance in each of the last three seasons.
Shippensburg’s 19-13 mark in the PSAC East during the 2024 campaign is tied for the most league wins during his tenure. Last season the program also earned its first conference tournament win since 2018 with a victory in the opening round over 2024 NCAA Super Regional-qualifier Seton Hill.
In 2022, Jones earned his first conference coaching honor in 14 years by directing a Raider team that overcame a 7-17 start by winning 18 of their next 21 games, including a winning streak of 10 straight games, to earn the Eastern Division’s No. 3 seed.
In 2017, Jones guided the Raiders to the semifinals of both the PSAC Tournament and the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament. SU also posted a 19-9 mark in conference games, its best divisional record during Jones’s tenure. On Mar. 15, 2014, SU posted a 5-3 victory over Le Moyne that marked Jones’ 200th victory with the Raiders. It was one of many highlights in a campaign that included a 12-game win streak from Mar. 8-27, SU’s longest winning streak in 10 years, and a No. 11 national ranking in April.
The 2013 campaign holds indelible memories for Jones and the Raiders, as SU won four consecutive games out of the loser’s bracket at the Atlantic Regional Championship to ultimately claim the title and advance to the Division II College World Series.
Despite a 2013 schedule that was deemed the most difficult in the Atlantic Region, SU managed 32 victories for the second consecutive season. The Raiders were ranked as high as No. 12 in the Baseball News poll and six players were recognized with All-PSAC accolades.
In 2012, the Raiders recorded their most wins in five seasons (32-21) and finished among the final four teams in the PSAC Tournament. SU finished up as the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic Region, but lower-seeded teams Shepherd and Winston-Salem State received tournament berths by virtue of their conference championships out of the WVIAC and CIAA, respectively.
The 2012 squad marked the second consecutive year that SU reached the PSAC Tournament as the Eastern Division’s No. 2 seed. The Raider batting average (.283) was identical from 2011 to 2012, but the team’s ERA improved by nearly two-and-a-half runs. SU also swept a home doubleheader over eventual national champion West Chester and took the Golden Rams to extra innings in the PSAC Tournament.
Following the 2011 season, outfielder Herman was one of just nine players in the nation to receive an ABCA/Rawlings Division II “Gold Glove” award. Herman was the only player selected from the Atlantic Region. He was honored for not committing an error in 83 outfield chances or 48 infield chances to set the school record for the most defensive chances in a season without committing an error (131).
After guiding his 2008 squad to the fourth Division II College World Series appearance in school history and first since 1996, Jones was named the 2008 ABCA/Diamond Sports Company NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and the 2008 NCBWA North Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.
Shippensburg finished the 2008 regular season as the champions of the PSAC Western Division with a 14-6 conference record that helped voters select Jones as the PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year.
Jones’ 2008 team broke 12 single-season school records, 11 individual season records and 11 career records. Five players were named to an All-North Atlantic Region squad while the ABCA, Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) named Matt Wright the North Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year.
The Raiders nearly swept the all-conference awards as well, as the team took home the PSAC West Player (Justin Garber) and Pitcher (Wright) of the Year awards in addition to Jones’ award. The team also had seven All-PSAC Western Division selections.
The 2007 season was the first at Shippensburg for Jones and he immediately guided the team to its first conference championship in four seasons and first NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. Jones also set a benchmark with 28 wins in one season that was shattered in 2008 with the team’s 39 victories.
A 1995 graduate of Slippery Rock, Jones was named the 11th head baseball coach at Shippensburg on Oct. 23, 2006 after serving as Elizabethtown’s head coach for seven seasons. Jones posted a 148-126-2 record at E-Town and turned the Blue Jays into a perennial contender for the Commonwealth Conference title.
At Elizabethtown, Jones captured three conference championships and appeared in the conference title game five times while participating in the conference championship tournament in each of his seven seasons. He also led the Blue Jays to three NCAA Regional appearances.
During his tenure with the Blue Jays, Jones was named conference coach of the year in 2000 and 2001. They compiled a 77-56 regular season conference record. Many of Jones’ players earned individual awards, as 34 players earned all-conference honors and six players were selected to the NCAA All-Mid Atlantic Region team during his tenure. He also coached three conference rookies of the year, two conference pitchers of the year and one NCAA Division III All-American.
Overall, Jones has coached in 54 conference tournament games, 21 NCAA regional tournament games and five College World Series games spanning Elizabethtown and Shippensburg.
Jones currently lives in Mechanicsburg with his wife Leslie, a 1997 graduate of Shippensburg. They are the proud parents of their young son, Connor.
| Year |
School |
Overall
W-L |
Conference
W-L |
Postseason |
| 2000 |
Elizabethtown |
26-14 |
9-5 |
Conference Champions, NCAA Regional |
| 2001 |
Elizabethtown |
19-19 |
8-6 |
Conference Champions, NCAA Regional |
| 2002 |
Elizabethtown |
18-23 |
12-9 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2003 |
Elizabethtown |
21-14 |
12-9 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2004 |
Elizabethtown |
19-20 |
11-10 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2005 |
Elizabethtown |
19-20-1 |
12-9 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2006 |
Elizabethtown |
26-16-1 |
13-8 |
Conference Champions, NCAA Regional |
| 2007 |
Shippensburg |
28-24 |
13-7 |
Conference Champions, NCAA Regional |
| 2008 |
Shippensburg |
39-26 |
14-6 |
Division Champions, Regional Champions, College World Series |
| 2009 |
Shippensburg |
23-31 |
12-12 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2010 |
Shippensburg |
13-36 |
7-17 |
|
| 2011 |
Shippensburg |
23-28 |
12-12 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2012 |
Shippensburg |
32-21 |
15-9 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2013 |
Shippensburg |
32-23 |
11-13 |
Regional Champions, College World Series |
| 2014 |
Shippensburg |
29-17 |
14-14 |
|
| 2015 |
Shippensburg |
25-25 |
17-11 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2016 |
Shippensburg |
25-27 |
14-14 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2017 |
Shippensburg |
31-24-1 |
19-9 |
Conference Tournament, NCAA Regional |
| 2018 |
Shippensburg |
28-24 |
15-13 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2019 |
Shippensburg |
20-27 |
12-16 |
|
| 2020 |
Shippensburg |
6-12 |
0-0 |
Season canceled on Mar. 13, 2020 due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 |
Shippensburg |
17-19 |
15-17 |
|
| 2022 |
Shippensburg |
26-23 |
16-8 |
Conference Tournament |
| 2023 |
Shippensburg |
27-25 |
12-12 |
Conference Tournament, NCAA Regional |
| 2024 |
Shippensburg |
27-21 |
19-13 |
Conference Tournament |
| 25 years |
2 Schools |
599-559-3 |
314-259 |
4 Conference Championships, 8 NCAA Regional Appearances
2 College World Series |
