Aaron Longenecker - Softball Coach

Aaron Longenecker

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
aaron.longenecker@usm.edu

Longenecker enters his third season as assistant coach for Southern Miss Softball.

Specializing in hitting instruction, Longenecker has played a key role in the Golden Eagles' continued improvement at the plate each season, reaching the best batting average in four seasons in 2024.

Longenecker's mentorship helped Southern Miss batters to earn All-Conference honors with Jana Lee's Second Team selection and Hannah Borden's First-Team selection in 2024. Borden registered the team's 12th 60-hit season in program history, while maintaining a .381 batting average and a conference-best .775 slugging percentage. Borden also shattered Southern Miss' all-time home run record with a single-season record 18 home runs in 2024. Meanwhile, Lee posted career-high marks with 39 hits, including 15 home runs.

Longenecker came to Southern Miss after a season at the University of Louisville as a volunteer coach in August 2021.

In his one season with the Cardinals, Louisville posted the third most home runs for a team in a campaign with 56 to go along with 74 doubles and 18 triples as the team finished 27-25 on the year. The triple total ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Longenecker joined the Cardinals after three seasons as an assistant coach at Central Baptist College where he worked primarily with outfielders while also serving as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator.

While at Central Baptist from 2019-21, Longenecker helped lead the Mustangs to more than 80 wins and two National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament appearances. With Longenecker on the coaching staff, CBC produced two NAIA All-Americans and 13 All-American Midwest Conference selections as well as two conference Newcomers of the Year and one Player of the Year.

Longenecker helped guide the Mustangs to the 2021 NAIA Championship, where they advanced to the finals of the Hattiesburg bracket and finished the season with a 34-15 record. Additionally, CBC was a mainstay in the NAIA top-25 rankings during his time there, reaching as high as No. 13 in 2021.

In 2020, the Mustangs were off to a 15-2 record, the best start in program history when the season ended due to the spread of COVID-19. He helped guide the Mustangs' offense to a .370 team batting average, and a .661 slugging percentage, both of which stood among the top five in the nation.

In his first season with CBC, the Mustangs compiled 34 wins and reached the NAIA championship for the first time in seven seasons.

Prior to joining the Mustang coaching staff, Longenecker served as a volunteer coach at Hendrix College (2017) and spent five years (2012-2017) coaching travel softball in the state of Arkansas.

A native of Parker, Kansas, he graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in anthropology and geography in 1992. Prior to that, Longenecker played baseball at Neosho Community College in Kansas, where he was an outfielder and pitcher.

After graduating from KU, he spent several years playing fastpitch softball in Kansas and California.

A retired U.S. Secret Service Agent of 20 years, Longenecker and his wife Amber have two children, Shaylan and Brandon.