Patrick Mason begins his first season as volunteer assistant coach of the Northeastern baseball team and sixth season on the Northeastern coaching staff, having rejoined the program during September 2017 after most recently serving as the head coach at Virginia Tech. The two-year NU captain (1996, 1997) was a member of the Huskies' 1994 and 1997 NCAA tournament teams and held the title of associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern from September 2005 to August 2010.
Mason makes his way back to Northeastern after spending the previous seven seasons at Virginia Tech, where he began as the program’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in September 2010. Among his primary duties with the Hokies, he served as the team’s pitching game coordinator, a role in which he was responsible for all aspects of pitcher and catcher development, pitch calling, and the coordination of practice and throwing schedules. As bench coach, Mason assisted then-Virginia Tech head coach, Pete Hughes, with the staff’s in-game management, advising on roster substitutions as well as both offensive and defensive strategy. During his third season with the program (2013), he helped the Hokies win 40 games, advance to the ACC championship final, and earn the right to host the NCAA Blacksburg Regional.
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Upon Hughes’ departure to Oklahoma following the 2013 season, Mason was promoted to head coach at Virginia Tech on June 27, 2013. While at the helm, he oversaw all operative aspects of the baseball program, including its million-dollar budget, in addition to serving on two subcommittees for recruiting and diversity. More prominently, Mason strove to create a first-class, student-athlete experience at Virginia Tech, networking successfully with coaches across the country to assure the placement of all underclassmen on collegiate summer league rosters. He also expanded the reach of the Hokies’ involvement in the community, coordinating the program’s 19 Ways community service initiative.
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Prior to coaching at Virginia Tech, Mason was the associate head coach at Northeastern under head coach Neil McPhee from 2005 to 2010. As the Huskies’ recruiting coordinator, he handled all evaluations, schedules, and communication with prospective student-athletes (PSAs), helping sign the 2009 NU pitching staff that went on to set the school record for single-season strikeouts (since broken during 2016).
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Before transitioning to the role of Northeastern’s pitching coach during the 2009 and 2010 campaigns, Mason provided his tutelage as the Huskies’ hitting coach from 2005 to 2008. Upon incorporating his personally developed hitting philosophy, he helped NU break the program record for single-season home runs (48) during 2006, only to lead the Huskies’ bats to another school record in the same category (53) during the following season.
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Mason’s dedication to the Northeastern baseball program has been evident since his time as a student-athlete. From 1993 to 1997, Mason made 142 appearances and 130 starts for the Huskies, helping steer the program to a pair of America East titles and NCAA tournament appearances during the 1994 and 1997 seasons. He captained NU during the 1996 and 1997 campaigns, recording a .360 batting average, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 35 RBIs, and a .640 slugging percentage during his senior year. Upon his initial return to the program, he helped establish the Northeastern Baseball Alumni Association in 2006, the year before coordinating a single-day fundraising campaign that raised more than $30,000 for the baseball program. He completed his bachelor’s degree in leadership at Northeastern in 2007.
Between his days at Northeastern, Mason went on to become the assistant coach at Boston College from 1998 to 2002, the assistant coach at Framingham State College from 2004 to 2005, and the assistant coach of the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League from 2003 to 2006. He has helped mentor 17 MLB Draft selections during his coaching career.
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