Baseball Coach Cary McConnell Earns 400th Win as Rams Skipper

Suffolk University Head Baseball Coach Cary McConnell earned his 400th win in a Suffolk uniform on Saturday evening as the Rams topped the Johnson & Wales University Wildcats 7-2 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament.

McConnell was hired in February of 1996 and since then has directed his program into one of the premier Division III college programs in the New England region. As skipper of the Rams, McConnell has guided his teams to a 400-221-2 record (.642 winning percentage). During his tenure with the Rams, McConnell has been named GNAC Coach of the Year on five occasions as his teams have earned four GNAC Tournament Championships, five GNAC regular-season first place finishes, four NCAA Regional appearances, one ECAC Tournament Championship, six ECAC Tournament bids, a national ranking of 18th, and the school record in wins with 38 in a season. His 2000 team was recently inducted into the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. That season the Rams led the nation in ERA (2.09) with a staff that posted 401 strikeouts. Over the past eleven seasons, four of McConnell's players have gone on to sign professional contracts.

The 2011 season marks the 13th consecutive season that the Rams have reached the 20-win plateau for a season, while Suffolk reached their conference finals for the sixth straight season.

On April 8, 2009 McConnell earned his career 400th victory in a 19-6 Suffolk victory over Fitchburg State University.

In 19 total seasons as a collegiate head coach McConnell has collected 455 career victories between the University of Rochester and Suffolk.

Coach 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 in 1993 at the University of Rochester where he had a 55-60 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. Coach McConnell also coordinates Intramural Sports for Suffolk's undergraduate students