Hobbs Named USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Pitching Coach
CARY, N.C. – Arkansas’ Matt Hobbs has been named the pitching coach for the Stars Team at the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp and the squad that will compete in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship.
The coaching staff, which will include Hobbs and 13 others, for this year’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp will be split into two teams – Stars and Stripes – for a slate of exhibition games and the program’s annual Stars vs. Stripes series held from June 27 to July 4 at various locations across North Carolina and Virginia.
Following the Collegiate National Team Training Camp, Hobbs is one of five coaches, including Bethune-Cookman head coach Jonathan Hernandez (assistant coach), Michigan head coach Tracy Smith (assistant coach), Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter (assistant coach) and Carlos Muñoz (bullpen coach), set to join Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb (manager) in leading Team USA against Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea in Taichung City, Taiwan, from July 11-15.
Hobbs, who completed his eighth season with the Razorbacks in 2026, is nationally regarded as one of the best pitching minds in all of college baseball. The 2024 D1Baseball Assistant Coach of the Year, Hobbs has helped develop one Golden Spikes Award winner, one Dick Howser Trophy winner, 12 All-Americans, 12 All-SEC honorees, including two SEC pitchers of the year, and 30 MLB draft selections, including 22 top 10 rounders, since joining the Arkansas baseball program.
With Hobbs on staff, the Razorbacks have made three trips to the College World Series (2019, 2022 & 2025), clinched a pair of overall SEC championships (2021 & 2023) and won four SEC Western Division titles (2019, 2021, 2023 & 2024). Under his guidance, Kevin Kopps emerged as the best player in the country in 2021, winning both the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, and Hagen Smith was crowned the unanimous national pitcher of the year in 2024.
2026 Collegiate National Team Training Camp Staff
Dan Hartleb – Stars Manager
Matt Hobbs – Stars Pitching Coach
Jonathan Hernandez – Stars Assistant Coach
Tracy Smith – Stars Assistant Coach
Tom Walter – Stars Assistant Coach
Carlos Muñoz – Stars Bullpen Coach
Rick Eckstein – Stripes Manager
Brad Penny – Stripes Pitching Coach
Rick Ankiel – Stripes Assistant Coach
David Eckstein – Stripes Assistant Coach
Davin Pierre – Stripes Assistant Coach
Joe McGowan – Stripes Bullpen Coach
Mike Scioscia – Senior Advisor
Rob Shabansky – Technical Commissioner
2026 World Collegiate Baseball Championship Schedule
*all games will be played at Taichung City Intercontinental Stadium
Pool Play
Game 1: July 11 – USA vs. Korea – 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
Game 2: July 11 – Chinese Taipei vs. Japan – 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
Game 3: July 12 – Japan vs. Korea – 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
Game 4: July 12 – Chinese Taipei vs. USA – 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
Game 5: July 13 – Japan vs. USA – 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
Game 6: July 13 – Korea vs. Chinese Taipei – 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
Semifinals
Game 7: July 14 – 2nd place vs. 3rd place – 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
Game 8: July 14 – 1st place vs. 4th place – 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
Finals
Game 9: July 15 – Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 – 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local
Game 10: July 15 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local
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