INDIANAPOLIS – A huge acquisition for a new-look team this season, the IUPUI softball team and Head Coach Heather Tarter have announced the addition of Brianna Hesson as the new assistant coach Friday (Nov. 11), giving the Jags both an experienced mentor and accomplished champion.  Coach Hesson joins the Jags after serving as a graduate assistant at Auburn and completing her playing career at the University of Georgia. 
 
"We are fortunate to have Bri join our staff," Coach Tarter said of the new coach.  "She is a true champion from her playing career at Georgia to her time spent as a graduate assistant at Auburn. Her passion for development and knowledge of both hitting and infield is contagious and will help take this program to the next level."
 
A native of Sugar Hill, Georgia, Hesson was a highly decorated student-athlete and accomplished hitter in one of the elite conferences in all of the nation.  Out of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the infielder Hesson began her career with the Bulldogs by starting 55 games in her freshman season, making her debut against the eighth-ranked program in the nation, DePaul.  She was named an All-SEC Second Team selection following her sophomore year, in which she made 58 starts and batted .348 with 10 homeruns and 43 runs batted in (RBIs).  She helped push the Bulldogs to the Women's College World Series after hitting a staggering .571 with the game-winning RBI in the second game of the NCAA Athens Super Regional.
 
Hesson followed that season by picking up SEC All-Defensive Team her junior year while hitting .321 in 62 games, including a .556 average in the Athens Regional, and set a new career-high with 13 homeruns.  She capped her playing career with perhaps her most accomplished season, picking up NFCA All-Region Second Team, All-SEC Second Team, SEC All-Defensive Team and was both an SEC Player of the Week and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week.  That season, she appeared in 62 games and bat .335 with 15 homeruns, 64 RBIs, 46 runs and 22 walks. 
 
After finishing her collegiate career, Hesson went on to be a professional softball player with the Akron Racers in the National Professional Fastpitch League, beginning in May 2011 until Feb. 2014.  She began a graduate assistantship with Auburn in Aug. 2013, serving as an on-field graduate assistant and aided with the team's operations.  Hesson has also served as a private instructor at the Romes Diamond Academy in Romes, Georgia, and also spent several years as a manager and instructor at the Next Level Baseball and Softball Academy in Buford, Georgia. 
 
"We are blessed to have her on our team and excited to see her impact here at IUPUI," Coach Tarter added.
 
Hesson comes to IUPUI after the Jags finished last season with a 20-35 record overall, advancing to their first-ever Summit League Tournament Championship finale.  The Jags return four seniors to the roster this season and feature several new additions to the roster this year.
 
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