Patrick Armstrong enters his fourth season as a coach with the Rebels in 2019. Following a two-year playing career at UNLV, Armstrong returned to the Scarlet & Gray as a volunteer assistant in 2016. He was promoted to a full-time position one year later, and mentors the outfielders as well as other duties.
Over the past three seasons the Rebels have had 13 Major League Baseball draftees, which includes six that Armstrong directly coached offensively. In 2017, Payton Squier (16th round) and Justin Jones (34th) were selected by the Oakland A's and Ernie De La Trinidad (19th) was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Last year, he saw Kyle Isbel picked in the third round by the Kansas City Royals, while Nick Ames (15th/Detroit Tigers) and Nick Rodriguez (22nd/Seattle Mariners) were chosen, as well.
Since 2016, Armstrong has had seven student-athletes named a total of eight times to the All-Mountain West Team with three first-team nods: Payton Squier (2016), Isbel (2018) and Bryson Stott (2018).
Higgins also helped Rebels Kyle Isbel and Bryson Stott earn MW Co-Freshmen of the Year recognition in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The pair were also named to Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Teams, becoming the third and fourth Rebels to achieve the feat since pitchers Zack Hartman (2011) and Erick Fedde (2012) did so.
Last year, the team posted a .310 batting average, which ranked sixth nationally and was the team's best since 2013's .307 clip. The batting average was aided by 662 hits, which were the seventh most in the country and the most by the team since 2013's 630.
Besides the top-10 showings by the offense in average and hits, UNLV was second in doubles per game (2.39) and seventh in doubles (141) and slugging percentage (.487). In all, the team was ranked in the top 50 of 13 different categories.
In 2017, the offense produced a .299 batting average off of 592 hits, which ranked 34th and 53rd, respectively, in the NCAA. Additionally, the team was 24th in triples (20) and 91st in home runs (49) - both figures were most by a Rebel team since Higgins came to UNLV. With help of the extra-base hits, the squad posted the nation's 43rd-best slugging percentage (.447).
The native of Woodbridge, California, graduated from UNLV and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 39th round in 2014. As a senior, Armstrong earned All-Mountain West First Team honors and finished with a team-high eight home runs. He led UNLV to a regular-season MW title and the program's first NCAA Regional appearance since 2005. He finished the season with a .303 batting average, five triples, 49 RBI and 40 runs scored.
Armstrong was a pleasant surprise for the Rebels as a junior in 2013. He earned a starting spot early in the season and led the team with a .373 batting average, which ranked fourth in the Mountain West. He also led the team with a .595 slugging percentage and hit seven home runs, helping him earn All-MW Second Team honors. Armstrong played in 49 games and made 46 starts for UNLV and helped the team capture its most wins since 2004, as the Rebels finished with an overall record of 37-20.
In two years at UNLV, Armstrong finished with 15 home runs and 29 doubles that resulted in 80 RBI and 69 runs scored. He came to Las Vegas after spending three years at Sacramento City College, where he helped the Panthers to two Super Regional appearances.
Armstrong, a 2009 graduate of Lodi High School, is the older brother of former Rebel Joey Armstrong, who is with currently playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system. Their father, Mark, was a two-time all-conference player at Maine in 1978-79 and was part of a Black Bears team that went to the College World Series in 1976.
