Auburn’s hitting coach steps down

Auburn hitting coach Matt Heath, who followed coach John Pawlowski from the College of Charleston, resigned today, Pawlowski announced.

“Matt felt it was in his best interests to resign from his position with our club,” Pawlowski said in a university release. “I am very grateful for all of his hard work and dedication to not only this program this past season but also for the years we spent together at the College of Charleston. Matt had tremendous success and his contributions will be missed.”

The Tigers smashed a program record 103 home runs this season, but also obliterated the team’s strikeout record with 484. Tigers’ hitters constantly over-swung in clutch situations, particularly in conference play. Auburn hit just .262 in conference play and scored a league-low 141 runs.

The search for a new hitting coach, of course, will begin immediately, Pawlowski said.

“I want to thank JP (John Pawlowski) for giving me the opportunity to be a hitting coach in the SEC,” Heath said. “I will miss the players and the coaching staff but I feel like personally this is the right move for me. I wish nothing but success to the Auburn baseball team going forward.”