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On June 23, 2017, Virginia Tech head baseball coach John Szefc announced the hiring of former VCU assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Kurt Elbin to his Hokies’ staff. Elbin currently serves in the same role within the Tech program.

Elbin had worked the prior five seasons at VCU (2013-17) and helped head coach Shawn Stiffler and the Rams to four straight 35-plus win seasons, one conference regular season title, one conference tournament title and an NCAA Regional title in 2015 as the team advanced to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

Under Elbin’s tutelage, the 2017 Rams’ offense led the Atlantic 10 Conference in both batting average (.290, 60th in the nation) and on-base percentage (.384, 43rd) and was 14th in the country, first in the league, with 85 hit batsmen. It was the third time in the past four seasons the team had finished in the top 100 in batting average, including 36th in 2014.

The top two hitters in the A-10 at the end of 2017 were products of Elbin, with senior Logan Farrar at the top with a .365 average that helped him earn the A-10 Player of the Year award, the first ever for the program. He added an A-10 First Team All-Conference honor, an ABCA/Rawlings Division I East All-Region First Team selection and an ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-America accolade to his resume. He was also picked by the Oakland Athletics in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The second-leading hitter in the conference at the end of the season was freshman Paul Witt, a second baseman who hit .374 during the regular season (.361 overall), which helped earn him the A-10 batting crown and the A-10’s Rookie of the Year honor. He added an A-10 Second Team All-Conference selection and a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Freshman All-American honor.

In all, Elbin worked with four guys in 2017 that earned All-Conference honors and during his time at VCU had three players get drafted, including Vimael Machin, at number 239 in 2015, the school’s highest selection since 2008.

During the Rams’ 2015 run towards the program’s first Super Regional appearance, the Black and Gold ranked first in the conference in base on balls (223), hit by pitch (114, also led the nation), hits (622), sacrifice bunts (53), sacrifice flies (31), and was third in runs (364).

Nationally, the Rams finished in the top 100 in walks, batting average and on-base percentage. The team ranked among the top 50 in fielding percentage, hits, runs, sacrifice bunts, and sacrifice flies. Defensively, the team was 34th in all of Division I and second in the conference in fielding percentage.

The 2015 club had four players receive All-Region honors (Matt Lees, Heath Dwyer, Matt Davis, Machin), five were named All-Conference (Davis, Dwyer, Machin, Farrar, Sean Thompson) one earned All-American honors (Machin), and four players signed contracts with professional organizations (Lees, Dwyer, Machin, and Daniel Concepcion).

In 2014, the Rams led the A-10 in runs and hits, while finishing the season among the top offenses in the nation in batting average (36th), hit by pitch (25th), hits (38th), on-base percentage (17th), runs (33rd), and scoring (29th).

In his first season with the Rams, Elbin helped guide VCU to 28 victories and saw two players, James Bunn and Joey Cujas, earn All A-10 accolades.

Prior to his time in Richmond, Virginia, Elbin spent two seasons (2011-12) at Division II power Shippensburg University (Pa.). During his two-year tenure at Shippensburg, Elbin helped lead the Raiders to 55 wins and back-to-back PSAC Tournament appearances.

Before joining the Raiders’ staff, Elbin spent three seasons at Thiel College (2008-10). Under his guidance the Tomcats were a Division III powerhouse in the President’s Athletic Conference, being ranked as high as 13th nationally during his stint. Overall, the team won 73 games and the offense finished among the nation’s Top 10 in five categories while compiling eight ABCA All-Region selections, two ABCA All-Americans and two ESPN Academic All-Americans.

A native of Bedford, Pennsylvania, Elbin is a 2006 graduate of Lock Haven University, where he was a three-year starter under coach Smokey Stover. He made 135 starts over the course of three seasons, hitting a team-high .346 as a junior. He earned a master’s degree from California (Pa.) in 2008.

Elbin is joined in Blacksburg by his wife, Jaclyn, and their children, Alexander and Juliet.