Western Wayne Today

Wayne State University has announced the promotion of Aaron Hepner to Associate Head Coach of its baseball team. The announcement was made by head coach Ryan Kelley, who praised Hepner's extensive experience and contributions to the program.

"One of the longest tenured assistant coaches in our athletic department, Coach Hepner's experience merits this coaching title," said Kelley. "His impact on our baseball program as the recruiting coordinator and his development of our position players have been extensive. Beyond coaching leadership strategy, his attention to detail, and mentorship are impactful with our student-athletes."

Hepner has completed 12 years at Wayne State University (WSU) and has a total of 19 years in college coaching. Before joining WSU, he spent five seasons at Eastern Michigan under former Warrior head coach Jay Alexander.

Throughout his career, Hepner has specialized in working with catchers, helping six sign professional contracts and aiding four others in being drafted. His efforts contributed significantly to WSU's performance over recent years.

In 2025, WSU achieved a 27-28 overall record and reached the final day of the GLIAC Tournament. The previous year saw a 29-21 overall record with an 18-12 conference mark. In 2023, Hepner helped lead the Warriors to a program-record 42 wins (42-13), securing both the GLIAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships for the first time since 2010.

The team's achievements continued in previous seasons as well. In 2022, they recorded a school-high fielding percentage (.975) and set records for walks (281), RBI (388), runs (446), among other statistics. Under Hepner's guidance in earlier years, WSU also reached notable milestones such as setting program records for strikeouts (440) and fielding percentage (.972) in 2019.

Hepner began his coaching career at Eastern Michigan where he took over as hitting coach in 2012. He guided players like Ben Magsig to lead the MAC in on-base percentage and walks while contributing to EMU's strong pitching staff performance.

Before Eastern Michigan, Hepner served as an assistant coach at Michigan where he was part of teams that won Big Ten regular-season championships in consecutive years (2007-2008).

Hepner is originally from Woodinville, Washington, graduated from Dayton with a degree in sports management in 2006, and played professionally for the Richmond Roosters after college.