Ross Bagienski, the former Assistant Director of Sports Information has now taken over the department’s top spot after being at Tarleton State University for only one year. He takes the place of Joey Roberts, who was the director for the past eight years.

 

“[The university] has high expectations and high demands but I believe I’m capable of stepping up to the task,” Bagienski said. “I don’t necessarily have the years of experience but I’ve worked in a number of different fields.”

 

Bagienski is a 2008 graduate of Purdue University, a division one school in the Big 10 conference. He graduated with a degree in public relations and advertising.

 

After graduation he spent a few years working in minor league baseball. He spent one year with the Louisville Bats, which is the AAA team for the Cincinnati Reds. After that he spent a year in Texas covering AA baseball as the assistant to the president of the Texas league.

 

“Baseball’s a long season,” Bagienski said. “When you’re working from seven in the morning to five at night and then immediately go to the baseball stadium and watch baseball from five till twelve o’clock, you get tired of one sport.”

 

After that, Bagienski made the decision to apply for the job of assistant director of Sports Information at Tarleton. When Roberts hired Bagienski and gave him a tour of the campus, the overall beauty made an impression.

 

“Purdue’s a bigger school, of course, but I’ve been to a lot of division two and division three schools,” Bagienski said. “I thought the facilities were very good for division two. The campus is small but it’s very nice and clean.”

 

The longer he stayed and worked, the more he liked the college and its students.

 

“The stuff that you don’t learn when you first tour, the traditions and the passion of the fans, that’s kind of the feeling I’ve gotten into the last year,” said Bagienski. “How close and how tight knit Stephenville and Tarleton State are and how passionate the fan base is.”

           

When Roberts left for a media position in Abilene, Texas, Bagienski was left with Sports Information. Roberts and Athletics Director Lonn Reisman brought in candidates to interview for the position but chose Bagienski.

 

“I expected to come in and learn under Joey for a while but I didn’t expect to be running this so soon,” Bagienski said.

 

The man who replaced Bagienski as assistant was Nathan Bural who previously worked for The Stephenville Empire-Tribune.

           

Bagienski is in the process of moving his fiancé to Stephenville and is not planning on leaving soon.

 

“I’m settling in for the long haul and I look forward to many years of great athletic competition here at Tarleton,” he said.

           

As for Sports Information, Bagienski is looking to uphold the level of excellence that his predecessor set before him.

 

“Fans of Tarleton athletics need to know that I’m dedicated to my job,” Bagienski said. “I’m willing to put in the hours, put in the work and put in the training to have one of the best websites and sports information departments in the conference.”