MUW Hires Scott Mularz as Head Baseball Coach

COLUMBUS, Miss. (MUW Athletics) — Mississippi University for Women announced Tuesday the hiring of Scott Mularz as its new baseball coach.

Mularz comes to The W after spending the last five seasons at LaGrange College, a NCAA Division III school in LaGrange, Georgia. Mularz served as pitching coach and as assistant head coach. He has 12 years experience as a college coach.

“We are thrilled to welcome Scott to the Owls family,” The W Director of Athletics Jennifer Claybrook said. “Scott has a proven record of athletic success, a drive to support academic excellence and a passion to invest in our community. He is committed to the mission and the vision of The W and the integral role athletics plays. Our baseball team has a strong foundation, and coach Mularz will lead our talented student-athletes and build on their previous success.”

Mularz helped LaGrange College go 138-51 in his five years at the school. The Panthers won four conference titles and earned four NCAA tournament regional berths. In 2021, the team had a 3.1 grade-point average.

“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to become the new head coach at The W,” said Mularz, a native of Montgomery, Alabama. “I would like to thank director Claybrook and the search committee for giving me this wonderful opportunity.”

The W baseball team is coming off a 23-11 season in which it finished third at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series. The finish was the highest in program history. Mularz said the baseball program has accomplished a lot in four years since intercollegiate athletics returned to The W. He said his goal is to build on that foundation and ensure the student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom. The W baseball team had a 3.06 GPA in 2021.

“I will work vigorously to continue to keep this program heading in the right direction on and off the field and in the community,” Mularz said.

Mularz said the Owls will play a “hard-nosed” style of baseball and that he wants his players to be “grinders.” He said he will focus on the little things to apply pressure to opponents and that the Owls will stress the fundamentals (throwing strikes, making routine plays) and play fast and aggressive.

Mularz thanked his wife, Elizabeth, and his son, Easton, for helping him to achieve his goal of becoming a head coach. He said it will be an adjustment being a first-time head coach, but that he is prepared for the challenge.

“I have had the opportunity to learn under three great mentors during my time as a college coach and to learn from so many longtime coaching friends,” Mularz said.

Mularz also served as an assistant baseball coach at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia, and at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. Mularz helped Southern Poly go 46-19 and advance to the NAIA World Series in 2014. He coached the Southern States Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and two all-conference performers. Mularz coached an All-American, four All-South Region players and had 12 players named all-conference in five seasons at Huntingdon.

Mularz played baseball for two seasons at the University of South Alabama, where he went 6-0 with two saves and was a member of the 2002 Sun Belt Conference championship team. He spent the final two years of his college baseball career at Auburn-Montgomery. Mularz won 17 games and recorded three saves and helped lead the Senators to the NAIA World Series in 2006.