First year head coach Ty McDevitt has officially completed his coaching staff for the University of Minnesota baseball program with the hires of assistant coaches Connor Gandossy and Sean Moore.

“I’m excited to add Connor and Sean to the Gopher baseball family,” said head coach Ty McDevitt. “Both of them have tremendous track records in recruiting and player relationships, plus they have a cutting-edge approach to player development. I expect both to bring a palpable energy to our offense, defense and recruiting efforts. Both embody the values of Gopher baseball: Transparency – Loyalty – Grit – Passion – Development. They will enhance our on-field performance immediately.”

Connor Gandossy, who will focus on the hitters and catchers at Minnesota, spent the last seven seasons as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for the Creighton Baseball program. A former collegiate catcher at Saint Louis University, Gandossy was also responsible for Bluejay catchers.

A former player and assistant coach at Iowa, Sean Moore comes to Minnesota after spending one season as director of player development for the Hawkeyes in 2024. He previously served there as a volunteer assistant from 2017-18 before spending the five seasons after as an assistant coach at Penn State.

“I would like to thank Ty McDevitt and the University of Minnesota for giving me this incredible opportunity to be a part of Gopher baseball,” Gandossy said. “Minnesota is without a doubt one of the most successful schools in the Big Ten and enjoys a national brand as a baseball program.”

In his time with the Bluejays, the team posted a 195-113 record. During Gandossy’s tenure, Creighton’s offense hit over .270 with 622 doubles, 263 home runs and averaged 6.5 runs per game. Before Creighton, Gandossy spent the 2012-16 seasons at Saint Louis University, where he served as an assistant coach for four years. Prior to coaching at Saint Louis, Gandossy was an assistant coach at Jefferson College.

Connor has been an instrumental part of the Bluejays’ success, including a trip to the NCAA Regional finals in 2019. The 2019 team was ranked among the Top-25 teams in the nation and claimed the BIG EAST regular season and tournament championships. During his first season as the hitting coach at Creighton (2018), Gandossy helped the Bluejay offense bump its team batting average by 11 points (from .256 to .267), raise the squads’ slugging percentage from .370 to .412 and increase runs per game from 4.3 to 6.1 (during his first six seasons combined).

Creighton continued to improve at the plate in 2019, leading the BIG EAST in hitting for the first time with a team batting average of .290. The Bluejays also posted an on-base percentage of .387, slugging percentage of .477, collected 200 extra base hits (67 home runs) and scored over seven runs per game.

Gandossy worked closely with Alan Roden, helping him move from a walk-on in 2019 to the 98th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Roden went on to claim the 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year. Roden was the second BIG EAST Player of the Year recruited by Gandossy, joining the 2019 BIG EAST Player of the Year and All-American, Jake Holton, who was selected in the 10th round of the MLB Draft.

Along with Holton, three other Bluejay positional players were selected in the 2019 MLB Draft. Will Robertson was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round, Isaac Collins was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round and Jack Strunc was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 25th round.

Gandossy’s impact on the recruiting trail has been prominent. The Bluejays’ 2020 recruiting class was rated as one of the Top 50 in the nation by College Baseball Newspaper (CBN) and Baseball America. The 2021 recruiting class was a Perfect Game Top 100 class as well as a Top 75 Class by CBN. It was the third time Gandossy helped land a Perfect Game Top 100 class, doing so in 2015 and 2016 at SLU.

In his career, Gandossy has helped four catchers get drafted into major league baseball. Gandossy helped Bluejay Michael Emodi earn a spot on the Johnny Bench Watch List and be drafted in 2018 in the 11th round by the Kansas City Royals. In addition, Billiken catcher Jake Henson made the Johnny Bench Watch List and was drafted in the 21st round by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colton Frabasilio was drafted in the 23rd round by the Kansas City Royals in 2015. In total, Gandossy has coached 28 players who were drafted by MLB clubs.

A standout catcher and leader for the Billikens from 2009-12, Gandossy appeared in 157 games behind the plate. He caught 49 contests in each of his last two seasons at SLU. During that span, the Billikens won three Atlantic 10 championships, earned one NCAA tournament bid, and broke the school record for wins in 2012 with 41.

Gandossy received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University in 2012 and earned his master’s degree in organizational leadership from Creighton in 2021. Connor and his wife, Rachael, were married during the fall of 2019 and welcomed their first child (Marcus) in 2022.

“Instantly, I could feel the energy and passion Ty has for the program and I was sold. I am so fortunate to be here with my wife, Rachael, and son, Marcus. I can’t wait to get going and help continue to develop these players and get back to Omaha.”

Sean Moore helped Iowa to a 31-23 (14-10 Big Ten) record, finishing fourth in the conference this season. Under his guidance, UI hit .301 (3rd in B1G) with a .410 OBP (1st in B1G). Their 16 triples ranked second in the league while their 443 runs placed them at No. 3.

“I’m honored to join such a historic program at the University of Minnesota,” Moore said. “This opportunity means contributing to a legacy of excellence and being part of a team that focuses on winning and developing great people. Ty has done an outstanding job as an assistant coach at Minnesota and I’m excited to work under his leadership as a part of this amazing new coaching staff.”

Moore previously spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2017-18. He helped lead the program to 72 wins, the first Big Ten Tournament title in school history and an appearance in the 2017 Houston Regional.

He coached nine All-Big Ten selections, including unanimous first-team All-Big Ten first baseman and unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year honoree Jake Adams, who hit an NCAA-leading, Iowa school and Big Ten-record 29 home runs. Moore also helped nine players get selected in the MLB Draft.

The Coralville, Iowa, native then served five seasons (2018-23) on the Penn State baseball staff, including four as an assistant coach and one season as director of operations/player development. In his four seasons as an assistant, Penn State improved in runs per game (4.3, 5.2, 5.5, 7.1), home runs (24, 34, 42, 44), RBIs (193, 203, 274, 316) and on-base percentage (.332, .347, .358, .372).

He mentored four All-Big Ten selections and three All-Big Ten Freshman Team honorees. Moore helped three Nittany Lion hitters be selected in the MLB Draft.

Moore’s collegiate playing career consisted of three stops. He played two seasons at DMACC, where he helped the Bears to an NJCAA World Series berth in 2011 before earning All-Region XI honors in 2012. He spent the 2013 season at Wichita State before transferring and wrapping up his career as a Hawkeye in 2015. Iowa won 41 games in his lone season and advanced to NCAA Regional play for the first time since 1990. Moore appeared in 25 contests for Iowa, hitting .231 (9-of-39) with four doubles, 10 RBIs and eight runs scored.

Moore has also served as director of baseball operations at Diamond Dreams Sports Academy, where he continued researching the biomechanical movements of each phase of the swing. Moore graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in leisure studies in 2015. He is a graduate of Iowa City West High School.

(info courtesy of Gopher Sports)

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