Suffolk Baseball Coach Cary McConnell Collects 500th Career Win

BOSTON, Mass. - Suffolk University Baseball Coach Cary McConnell earned his 500th career collegiate victory on Wednesday afternoon as his squad swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader over Anna Maria College.

The pair of victories on Wednesday afternoon bring Suffolk's season total to a 21-3 mark, while they are 10-0 in GNAC play. Suffolk has also received some notoriety this season within the regional and national rankings. Entering this week of play, Suffolk was tabbed as the number three team in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association's (NEIBA) Division-III regional poll. Suffolk was number 30 among NCAA Division-III programs nationally in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll, while they also received votes in the last D3Baseball.com national rankings as well. Their .875 winning percentage is currently ranked as the second highest among 370 NCAA Division-III programs in the nation, while their 21 wins are currently the highest total in New England.

McConnell is in his 18th season as Head Coach of the Suffolk University Baseball program and 21st overall as a collegiate head coach. He previously spent three years (1993-95) at the University of Rochester where he won 55 games.

Since coming over to Beacon Hill during the 1996 season, McConnell has guided his teams to a 445-250-3 record (.640 winning %), five GNAC regular-season 1st place finishes, four NCAA Regional appearances, four GNAC Tournament Championships, one ECAC Tournament Championship, eight ECAC Tournament bids, a national ranking as high as 13th during the 2000 season, while setting the school record in wins with 38 in that season. He was named GNAC Coach of the Year in the 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2008 seasons. Under McConnell's direction Suffolk has had 26 players earn New England All-Region honors, while four have gone on to be NCAA Division-III All-Americans. Five players out of the program have also gone on to sign professional contracts.

The 2000 team which set the school record with 38 wins while earnining the program's first NCAA appearance will be inducted into the Suffolk University Athletic Hall of Fame on May 4th of this year. They have already been enshrined into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference's (GNAC) inaugural Hall of Fame in 2010.

McConnell began his coaching career in 1990 as an assistant at The College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio) working with pitchers and catchers. In 1990, the Scots set a conference record in earned-run-average with 3.47 on the way to an NCAA Regional appearance. He then began his head coaching career at the University of Rochester where he had a 56-60 record in three seasons.

A graduate of the College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio), McConnell was a four-year starter in the infield for the Scots and was selected to the All-Decade Team for the North Coast Athletic Conference for the 80's. At Wooster, McConnell played in four straight NCAA Tournaments and one World Series finishing 5th. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and earned certification to teach at the Secondary level. In addition, he holds a Master's Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Rochester (Rochester, New York). McConnell was selected to the Medina County (Ohio) Sports Hall of Fame in April 2007.

McConnell also serves as Associate Director of Athletics at Suffolk University.

*Release courtesy of Suffolk University Sports Information Dept.