Baseball Coaching Staff

Jared Moon

Jared Moon is in his fifth season at the helm of the HBU baseball program, leading the Huskies to an 11-40 mark against such competition as Baylor, Stephen F. Austin and Dallas Baptist. In 2008, HBU went 23-24 in its first season at the NCAA Division I level.

In 2007, Moon helped guide the Huskies to arguably the greatest season in school history. HBU finished 44-20 overall, winning the Region VI title for the first time, and advancing to the Mid-South Super-Regional and the NAIA World Series.

After losing the first game of the national tournament in Lewiston, the Huskies ran off four straight victories to reach the final four. HBU fell to the eventual national champion Lewis-Clark State College and finished in third place at the season-culminating event in its first and only appearance. It was the deepest postseason run ever for HBU.

He was named the Red River and Region VI Coach of the Year in 2006 after leading the Huskies to a 40-16-1 mark and a seventh Red River Athletic Conference title in his rookie year as skipper of his alma mater.

After a successful playing career in a Husky baseball uniform, Moon spent  10 seasons as an assistant coach during which time HBU won six conference championships and competed in the NAIA Regional Tournament six times.

Moon attended Aldine High School where he received All-District and Most Valuable Player honors. He was a three-year letterman for HBU, batting .356 as a junior and setting the HBU single game record for most hits with five.

Moon led the 1994 Huskies to HBU baseball's first-ever national ranking and a runner-up finish in the District playoffs, batting .579 for the tournament.

Moon earned his degrees in history and human kinetics, as well as his master's degree in education at HBU. He enjoys fishing, golf, softball and playing with his two dogs Elvis and Duke. He is married to the former Tonja Vick, and the couple has a four-year old daughter, Camryn.

Xavier Hernandez

Former HBU assistant and Tampa Bay Rays minor league pitching coach Xavier Hernandez, who spent 10 years in the major leagues as a relief pitcher, returns as assistant baseball coach at Houston Baptist University.

"We are excited to have someone with so much experience and so much knowledge join our team," said head coach Jared Moon. "Xavier brings a wealth of experience as a professional player and coach, and brings instant credibility to our pitching staff. More importantly he knows HBU and knows what kind of student-athletes we are looking for."

Hernandez was an assistant coach with the Huskies from 1999-2001 before joining the Tampa Bay staff. He earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and sociology from HBU. With the Rays, he was responsible for implementing the organizational pitching program and overseeing development. Hernandez also identified and evaluated potential major league pitching prospects, and in 2008 he won the Player Development Man of the Year award.

Prior to moving to the Durham staff, Hernandez had stints at AA Montgomery and class-A Charleston and Bakersfield. His pitchers have consistently ranked among the best in the league, including 19 shutouts in 2006 at Montgomery.

As a pitcher from 1986-99, Hernandez saw action in 463 major league games with the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. He had a career record of 40-35 with 35 saves and a 3.90 ERA, and had 562 strikeouts. Hernandez also played professional winter league baseball in Mexico and Venezuela.

Hernandez and his wife, Deborah, reside in Sugar Land and have four children.