FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
ATLANTA – Georgia State baseball head coach Greg Frady announced the hiring of Jason Arnold as an assistant coach on Monday afternoon. Arnold will serve as the pitching coach after two years at Bethune-Cookman University.
"I am extremely happy for the opportunity that Coach Frady and Georgia State has given me," commented Arnold. "I am very thankful to Coach Melendez at Bethune-Cookman for giving me an opportunity to start my collegiate coaching career. I hope that I can build on Georgia State’s recent success and help to take Panther baseball to the next level."
"I am very happy to have Jason Arnold join our staff," commented Frady. "He brings a wealth of experience, both professionally and collegiately to our organization. He is going to bring a lot of great intensity and toughness to our pitching staff."
Arnold, a native of Melbourne, Fla., played baseball collegiately at the University of Central Florida from 1998-2001, while Frady was an assistant coach for the Golden Knights.
"It was a great honor to coach Jason. He did everything right. He was a very good student while being very competitive on the field and a hard worker in the weight room. He was also a tremendous leader, while serving as captain of a team that won 51 games and was ranked top 10 nationally."
Arnold finished his degree in 2006 at UCF, following parts of six seasons in the minor leagues, including two stints on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters.
Collegiately, Arnold was drafted in the second round of the 2001 amateur baseball and signed with the New York Yankees. After being traded to the Oakland Athletics in July of 2002, he was traded again to the Toronto Blue Jays in December of 2002. During his stint in the minor leagues, he compiled a career record of 29-26 with a 3.33 ERA in over 530 innings pitched, striking out 465 and walking just 179.
After retiring from professional baseball in 2006, he spent two years as a high school English teacher and head baseball coach at Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Fla., compiling a 19-8 season record in 2008. He was also the founder and head coach of the elite summer showcase team, the Brevard Aces.
Arnold spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla. He helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back MEAC regular season and tournament championships, making a pair of NCAA Regional berths.
In 2009, the team finished the year 18th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, while allowing the 27thfewest hits allowed per nine innings and setting a school record with 482 strikeouts. The Wildcats led the MEAC in every major pitching statistical category and had a pair of senior pitchers drafted.
In 2010, the Wildcats finished 21st in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, as only 31 of the 473 innings pitched were thrown by seniors.
Arnold was a two-time all-american while at UCF and the only player in the history of the Atlantic Sun Conference (previously the TAAC) to earn all-conference honors four times.
He became the only pitcher to ever be inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 after an illustrious college career that was highlighted by the Golden Knights 51-win season in 2001. UCF advanced to the regional final during that season and were ranked among the top 10 in the nation for several weeks.
Arnold is married to the former Jennifer Daniels. The couple has two children, Sydney and Grant.
