WKU Baseball head coach John announced the hiring of assistant coach Tim Donnelly to the Hilltopper staff.

Donnelly, who comes to The Hill after most recently serving as the associate head coach at Southeastern Louisiana University, also has prior coaching experience in Conference USA and was named the 2016 C-USA Assistant Coach of the Year.

"WKU Baseball would like to welcome Tim and his family to The Hill," said Pawlowski. "Having an opportunity to add Tim to our staff here at WKU was an easy decision for us and our program.

"Our players will certainly benefit from having a coach with over 15 years of Division I coaching and recruiting experience. Tim has a proven track record in developing and training college baseball players, which will help us continue to build a championship program here at WKU."

"I want to thank Coach Pawlowski for this opportunity," said Donnelly. "I am excited to get started at WKU and be back in Conference USA."

While in his previous role at Southeastern Louisiana, Donnelly spent three seasons as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach while also being responsible for scouting reports, dealing with NCAA compliance items and acting as the liaison between MLB scouts and the team.

Donnelly also had stops at three other Division I programs before making his way to Southeastern Louisiana, including two stints with Conference USA schools.

He served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Middle Tennessee State University during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, assisting with budget planning, scheduling, academics, scouting reports and NCAA compliance.

Prior to that, Donnelly spent 10 years at Marshall as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, earning C-USA Assistant Coach of the Year honors after helping The Herd set a program record for wins following a 34-21 (21-9 C-USA) campaign in 2016. During his time with the Thundering Herd, Donnelly worked with hitting and the infield while also being responsible for budget planning, scheduling, team travel, fundraising, academics, scouting reports, field maintenance, camps and NCAA compliance.

Donnelly started his Division I coaching career as an assistant at Kent State, helping lead the team to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season championship during his lone season with the team in 2006.

Before breaking into the Division I ranks, Donnelly held coaching positions at Malone College and Northeast Texas Community College.

In total, Donnelly has coached 40 student-athletes who have gone on to play baseball professionally, including three first round draft picks and seven players selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft.

Donnelly graduated from Hardin Simmons University in 2004, where he played two seasons on the baseball team after transferring in from Northeast Texas CC.

His father, Rich Donnelly, spent over 30 years in the MLB coaching ranks with seven different organizations while most recently serving as the third base coach for the Seattle Mariners in 2015.

Donnelly is married to the former Kellie Schmitt, a three-time C-USA Player of the Year and recent inductee into the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame following her standout tennis career from 2005-09. The couple has a son, Drew, and daughter, Addison.