JONESBORO (8-13-2007) ? Arkansas State head baseball coach Keith Kessinger announced Monday that Justin Meccage has joined the ASU coaching staff and will serve as the Indians' pitching coach.
Meccage comes to Arkansas State from Texas-Pan American, where he has served as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator, and pitching coach since 2004. Over the past two seasons, Meccage developed a pitching staff at UTPA that had nine players sign professional contracts. In 2006, his Bronc pitching staff ended the season ranked in the top 10 nationally with 427 strikeouts.
He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he pitched for the Cowboys before being drafted by the New York Yankees in the 32nd round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft.
“I am extremely excited that Justin made the decision to accept this position,” said Kessinger. “After what I felt like was a thorough search which included a lot of good candidates, I felt like Justin brought the perfect combination of experience and personality to keep us moving forward with our pitching staff.”
“Justin comes extremely highly recommended,” added Kessinger. “He has been a quality Division I pitching coach, he has a professional pitching background, he is known in Texas as a tremendous recruiter, and I certainly expect him to continue at ASU to develop our pitchers.”
An Academic All-Big 12 and Dean's List student at Oklahoma State, Meccage said that he looks forward to helping the ASU pitching staff develop, and to working with Kessinger and ASU assistant coach Chris Cook.
“I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with our returners and the new guys coming in. They have a lot of upside and a lot of potential,” said Meccage. “I'm looking forward to helping them build on and enhance their skills. I am also excited to work with Coach Kessinger and Coach Cook. It is a great opportunity to coach in a very good baseball conference at a great university.”
“I think Justin will be a tremendous asset to our program,” said Kessinger. “He and his wife Stacee will be a tremendous asset to our community, and I am thrilled that he will be working with our current pitchers and the outstanding recruiting class that we've got coming in.”
