ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington has named Mike Trapasso as the eighth head coach in the UTA baseball program's history.
 
Trapasso served as the team's lead assistant in both 2023 and 2024, and boasts a storied career in college baseball, including a National Coach of the Year award in 2006 while he served as the head coach at Hawai'i.
 
"There was no question that Mike was the right person to take the reins of our baseball program," said UTA Director of Athletics Jon Fagg. "He has extensive experience leading a program at a high level and brings us continuity, having been with us the past two seasons. We're very excited for the future of UTA baseball and what Coach Trap brings to the table."
 
During the 2024 season, Trapasso was able to orchestrate one of the most dominant strike-throwing pitching staffs in the country. The Mavericks ranked third in the nation in walks allowed per 9 innings with a mark of 2.94. Additionally, the pitching staff led by Trapasso surrendered just 156 walks in 56 games, which ranked second in the NCAA.
 
Trapasso spent the 2022 season as a pitching coach at Navy, but prior to that was the Hawai'i head coach for 20 years from 2002-21, recording 536 victories including eight campaigns of 30 wins or more. He guided Hawai'i to multiple NCAA Regional appearances (2006, 2010), was named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year three times (2004, 2006, 2011) and guided the Rainbow Warriors to consecutive WAC Championships in 2010 and 2011.
 
"I would like to thank Jon Fagg and UTA Athletics for this opportunity," Trapasso said. "It is truly an honor to coach these young men. My family and I look forward to further immersing ourselves in the Maverick community. See you at the ballpark! Buck 'Em!"
 
In 2006, Trapasso was named the National Coach of the Year by the National Baseball Foundation and was a National Coach of the Year Finalist by College Baseball Insider after leading Hawai'i to 45 wins and its first regional since 1992.
 
Additionally, Trapasso coached 13 All-Americans, 27 All-Big West selections, 52 All-WAC honorees and 80 academic all-conference selections during his time with Hawai'i – including graduating nearly all of his seniors from 2015-22. Along with the collegiate honors earned under the tutelage of Trapasso, 43 of his players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Prior to his time in Honolulu, Trapasso spent time as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech (1995-2001), South Florida (1992-94) and Missouri (1989-91).
 
While with Georgia Tech, Trapasso was named the top collegiate baseball assistant/recruiter in the country by Baseball America in 2001. In his seven years with the Yellow Jackets, Georgia Tech never had a recruiting class that wasn't ranked in the top 20 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball: 4th, 18th, 7th, 1st, 14th, 11th and 12th. The top-ranked recruiting class in 1998 was named the best-ever in the draft era, at the time, by Baseball America.
 
In those seven years in Atlanta, he helped guide Georgia Tech to 294 wins (an average of 42 per season), six regional appearances and two ACC championships in 1997 and 2000. In total, 16 pitchers were drafted by MLB clubs and seven were named All-America.
 
During his time at USF, Trapasso was the Bulls' pitching coach. He oversaw a staff which led the then Metro Conference in ERA all three seasons he was in Tampa, and made a regional trip in 1993 following a league championship.
 
Trapasso got his start in coaching at Missouri as a graduate assistant. He earned his master's degree from Mizzou in Health Promotion and Wellness Education in 1991.
 
Outside of the collegiate landscape, Trapasso was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2004 World University Baseball Games in Taiwan. In 1983, he played for Team USA, making him the first person to play and coach for Team USA in baseball.
 
A four-time MLB Draft pick, Trapasso spent time as a player in both the Atlanta Braves (1985-86) and St. Louis Cardinals (1987) organizations.
 
Trapasso was an outstanding player at Jefferson College in Missouri (1982-83) and at Oklahoma State (1984-85). At Jefferson College, he was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award in 1982, which is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country, while at Oklahoma State he led the then Big Eight Conference and was 5th in the country in ERA (1.42) in 1984.
 
He was a member of the OSU teams which went to the College World Series in both 1984 and 1985, including leading the Cowboys to a win in the CWS opening game in 1984. Trapasso received his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State in Business Administration/Marketing in 1987.
 
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Trapasso was inducted into the Greater St. Louis Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. He and his wife, Catherine, have two sons: Michel and Matthew.

#BuckEm 

FOLLOW THE MAVS
For the latest news on UTA Baseball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on Twitter @UTAMavsBSB, on Instagram @UTAMavsBSB and on Facebook /UTAMavsBSB.