The process of building the Islanders into a Southland Conference contender continues for head coach Scott Malone who enters his fourth season at the helm in 2010-11.

The Islander mentor has made quite an impact on the program on and off the field since taking over the leadership of the program. He has expanded the Islanders recruiting base with assistance of recruiting coordinator Chris Ramirez and has improved the program's academic standing.

In his first season on the Island, the Islanders advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time in school history winning two games in the tournament over regular-season champion UTSA. They were the first No. 8 seed to win a game in the conference tournament and finished the season at 24-33-1.

Under his guidance Trey Hernandez became the school's first Freshman All-American, while then-junior catcher Stephen was named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year. Hernandez hit .339 with 10 home runs and 56 RBI, while Flora hit .380 as a junior to lead the team and the Southland Conference. He helped direct Omar Gutierrez to a solid final season resulting in the staff's ace being drafted by San Diego Padres, while outfielder Chase Williams was a free agent signee for the Padres.

In his second season, a young Islander team struggled, but for the second time Malone's tenure a freshman earned national honors. Local product Jeramie Marek was named the second Freshman All-American in school history after leading the team in hitting with a .335 average and ending the season with a 22-game hitting streak which is tied for the longest in school history.

The Islanders proved to be one of the top offensive teams in the Southland a season ago. Malone's team averaged .307 on the season which was the fourth-best mark in the league. A&M-Corpus Christi was 18th in the nation in triples and tops in the league with 24. They were sixth in the Southland with 45 home runs including 17 by Trey Hernandez, who was second-team All-Southland at first base. The rising senior shared the league lead in long balls, was first in slugging percentage at .707 and third in RBI with 63. Three other returnees hit .327 or better for the Islanders. Matt Holland averaged .357, Caleb Marx hit .343 and Omar Garcia hit .327. In all seven Islanders hit over .300 with all but one returning.f

Malone arrived on the Island after spending the three seasons prior as an assistant coach at UNLV. In his three seasons at UNLV, he oversaw all aspects of the Rebels recruiting efforts and served as the team's hitting instructor on the field. In 2005, UNLV won the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA Regional.

Prior to joining the Rebels, Malone served as an assistant coach at two Southland Conference schools serving as the hitting coach at each stop. He was an assistant at Texas-Arlington during the 2003 and 2004 seasons after spending the two previous seasons at Texas-San Antonio.

In four seasons in the Southland, Malone's hitters led the league in batting three times - twice at UTA and once at UTSA. He coached former Maverick and Houston Astros standout Hunter Pence and UTSA's Mark Schramek. Both were first round picks in the MLB Amateur draft.

Malone began his coaching career as a student assistant at McMurry University, where he graduated from in 1998 with a Bachelors of Science degree in exercise and sports science. He then served as a volunteer assistant at both TCU and the University of Kentucky.

Before embarking on his coaching career, Malone had an impressive career as a first baseman at TCU. As a collegiate player with the Horned Frogs, the Islander mentor was named the Southwest Conference Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons and was invited to the 1992 Olympic Trials. Malone was an All-America honoree in 1991 and 1992.

His success on the collegiate level led to Malone being selected in the ninth round of the 1992 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers. He spent five years in the Rangers farm system reaching as high as Double A before spending one year with Abilene, where he won a Texas-Louisiana League title with the Prairie Dogs.

Malone, and his wife, Lee, a former administrator at A&M-Corpus Christi, are proud parents of Parker born last March.