Milligan College Buffaloes: Baseball

Nathan Meade
Head Coach,
Baseball

Coach Meade is entering his second season as the head coach of the Milligan baseball program. The 2007 squad finished with a record of 26-25 and 12-6 in conference which placed them tied for second overall in the regular season conference play. They led the country in assists per game and also hit over .300 as a team for the first time since 2004. Coach Meade's first recruiting class coming into the 07-08 season is considered one of the strongest in recent years. It consists of 25 players that will be joining the highly talented returning group of 15 players. In 2007, the Buffaloes placed three players on the all conference team and had two players collect gold gloves for their defensive efforts.

A 2005 graduate from Milligan, Meade played four years for the Buffaloes, starting as a middle infielder and also collecting the single season record for stolen bases.

Milligan made two NAIA Region XII tournament appearances while he was a player, finishing second in 2005. Prior to this year, Meade was an assistant at Milligan throughout the 2005-06 season.

During the summer of 2006, he was head coach of the Tennessee Thunder (Johnson City, Tenn.), a member of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.

The Lebanon, Va., native is a 2001 graduate of Lebanon High School . He earned a bachelor's degree from Milligan College and a master's degree in sports management from East Tennessee State University .

Contact Coach Meade at nmeade@milligan.edu or 423.461.8722.

Ray Smith
Assistant Coach,
Baseball

The launching of the 2007 campaign marks the 12th year of Coach Smith's involvement with Buffalo Baseball.

A long-time professional player with the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres and Oakland A's, Coach Smith continues to manage in the Twins' system during the summer months, something he has done since 1987.

Smith, a graduate of the University of Oregon, also serves as Milligan's director of athletics.

He, his wife, Shelly, and daughter, Hannahlily (a Milligan freshman), reside adjacent to the Milligan College campus.

Contact Coach Smith at resmith@milligan.edu or 423.975.8990.

Joel Mangrum
Assistant Coach,
Baseball

Coach Mangrum joined the Milligan Buffs in the fall of 2006 as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his first season as pitching coach, the staff finished first in the country in opponents batting average (.225), first in ERA (2.64), second in earned runs allowed (2.26 per game), and fifth in hits allowed (6.62 per game). Two of Coach Mangrum's pitchers finished in the top five in the country in ERA (Nathan Fritz - 1st, Brett Seybert - 5th) and were also named all conference at the end of the season.

He attended both Hinds Community College and Mississippi College from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology. During his collegiate career, he was both an infielder and a pitcher.

Contact Coach Mangrum at jtmangrum@milligan.edu or 423.975.8722.

Brad Hill
Assistant Coach,
Baseball

Coach Hill returns to Milligan College where he was a member of the baseball team from 2001 -2005 and teammate of Head Coach Nathan Meade. As a player Brad helped the team advance to the Region XII tournament two of the fours years he was at Milligan. He was also a member of the record setting team in 2004 that tied a school record for wins.

Brad has spent the last two years as a coach at Morristown East High School. While he was at East coach Hill saw three players sign college baseball scholarship. During the 2005 and 2006 summers coach Hill was a coach for the Tennessee Thunder, a member of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.

At Milligan Coach Hill will be working with the outfielders during practice and coach first base during games. While working at Milligan Coach Hill will also be earning his masters degree in sport management from ETSU.

Brad and his wife, Ashley, live in nearby Gray.

Contact Coach Hill at 423.975.8722.