COLLEGE STATION – Former Texas A&M baseball player and six-year softball coaching veteran Keith Stein has been named the Aggies’ hitting coach, head coach Jo Evans announced Wednesday.
“I have known Keith Stein since he was a baseball student-athlete at Texas A&M,” Evans said. “Keith is very familiar with our program and our culture. He has great enthusiasm for hitting and for the game of softball and his positive energy is contagious. It is a pleasure to welcome Keith, his wife Bailey, and their daughter Ellie Jo, to our Aggie Softball Coaching Family.”
“I am excited to be a part of what Coach Evans has built here at Texas A&M,” Stein said. “I am honored to be given the opportunity to work with Coach Evans and her staff. To be in consideration for this position is awesome. I am excited about where the program is at and the direction it is going in. Being a part of the SEC and a team in the national picture is where you to be as a coach, so I couldn’t be more excited to get started.”
Stein returns to Aggieland from UTSA where he was in his first season an assistant coach for the Roadrunners and served as an assistant coach for Stephen F. Austin in 2017.
From 2013-16, Stein was an assistant and head recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He worked with the Islanders’ outfielders and hitters and coached five Southland All-Conference selections. The College Station native also designed practice plans and individual instruction schedules, managed the travel budget and itineraries among other duties.
Before working with the Islanders, Stein had volunteer softball coaching stints at Texas A&M (2010) and UTSA (2012).
Stein, who was coached by Hall of Famer Mark Johnson, enjoyed a successful baseball career, starting his collegiate days at Texas A&M, lettering in 2005 and 2006 before transferring to Sam Houston State prior to the 2007 season. As a Bearkat, Stein was a first-team All-Southland Conference pick in 2008, a second-team selection in 2007 and was tabbed to the league’s All-Tournament Team in both 2007 and 2008. He set a Southland Conference record for most hits in a season in 2007 and ended his career as Sam Houston’s batting average leader at .379. Stein set or was apart of 16 school records and helped lead Sam Houston to the 2007 NCAA Oxford Regional Finals.
“Keith hit over .400 his senior year in high school as well as his junior year in college,” Johnson said. “He has a passion for hitting and loves teaching and working with college softball players. Keith is a tremendous competitor and is a man of strong character. He will be great addition to the Aggie Softball team.”
After graduating from Sam Houston State with a degree in kinesiology, Stein was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 29th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. He was one of 40 players in the Tigers organization to be invited to play in the Florida Instructional League. Stein retired from pro baseball in 2009 after sustaining a career-ending knee injury during Spring Training.
Stein is married to the former Bailey Schroeder, who was a member of the Aggie softball team from 2007-10. The couple has a daughter, Ellie Jo.
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Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics