Maryland hires Vanderbilt baseball assistant

Vanderbilt assistant baseball coach Erik Bakich has been hired as the University of Maryland's new head baseball coach.

Bakich spent the last seven seasons with the Commodores and established himself as one of the country's top recruiters. In 2005, Vanderbilt had the nation's No. 1 recruiting class, according to experts. In 2008, the program's class was ranked No. 2.

"It is an honor to be the next head baseball coach at the University of Maryland and to join an athletic department with an outstanding tradition of excellence," Bakich said. "I am eager to attack the recruiting trail and start building a winning baseball tradition at Maryland. There are numerous parallels between Maryland and the Vanderbilt of seven years ago."

Bakich also served as Vanderbilt's hitting coach.