Coaching Staff

Tyler Bratton
Associate Head Coach

Tyler Bratton will enter his 11th year with the Mississippi State softball program in 2024. He was elevated to associate head coach on July 1, 2022, after spending the previous nine years as an assistant coach since December 2013.

Bratton who works primarily with the outfielders, also handles State’s defensive alignments and baserunning as he helps direct the offense from the third-base coaching box. He also shares recruiting responsibilities.

Over his previous 10 years, Bratton has been responsible for developing both of MSU’s SEC All-Defensive Team selections. In 2021, he guided Chloe Malau’ulu as she led the SEC in outfield assists and ranked second in the conference in outfield putouts. Amanda Ivy earned recognition in 2017, becoming the first player in program history to reel the laurel. Ivy robbed opponents of three home runs three over the season, and her wall-crashing catch against No. 24 Arkansas was voted SEC Softball Catch of the Year.

Malau’ulu went on to sign a professional contract with the Oklahoma City Spark of the WPF following the 2023 season. She closed her career with 18 outfield assists, just five shy of the school record. She led the SEC in outfield assists in both 2022 and 2021.

Mississippi State's outfield quietly put together one of the best seasons on the grass in program history in 2021. The Bulldogs led the SEC with 15 outfield assists, which ranked third in school history behind only the 2002 and 2010 teams.

Bratton first coached third base in 2014 and 2015 before resuming third-base coaching duties in 2018. In his eight years giving signs, Bratton’s baserunners have achieved an 84.1 percent success rate on stolen base attempts (402-for-478). In 2020, the Bulldogs were an impressive 29-for-32 (90.6 percent) on stolen base attempts, highlighted by Candace Denis, who was a perfect 12-for-12 and ranked fourth in the conference in stolen bases.

The shorted 2020 season also saw Mia Davidson and Jackie McKenna combine to nab six runners stealing or with pickoffs, leading the SEC in both categories. MSU’s .967 fielding percentage was the fourth-highest in school history.

Since 2016, State has turned 114 double plays, averaging one every 3.9 games. In that eight-season span, 67 Bulldogs have completed error-free campaigns.

In 2017, MSU’s defense turned in a .965 fielding percentage, which tied the 2003 squad for the fourth-highest fielding percentage in program history and was the highest fielding percentage by the team since Bratton’s debut season in 2014 when the Bulldogs ranked seventh in the nation with a .976 fielding percentage as a team.

During his debut campaign with the softball squad, Bratton instilled a toughness in the team, as MSU batters were hit by a nation-high and school-record 88 pitches. State also set the SEC Tournament single-game record with eight HBPs against No. 16 Kentucky that spring. Those extra runners helped carry MSU to eight wins against ranked opponents, tied for the second most in a year in program history.

With Bulldog baseball, Bratton consistently organized a top-10 strength of schedule, coordinated team travel arrangements and acted as the program’s liaison with adidas. The West Point, Miss., native also aided in on-campus recruiting efforts, directed the team’s video operations and oversaw all tasks associated with the day-to-day operation of the MSU baseball program.

Bratton was a three-year standout in baseball and football, playing outfield for Bill Miley at Oak Hill Academy in nearby West Point. He continued his baseball career in 2003 and 2004 at East Mississippi Community College, where he was coached by Bill Baldner. Bratton then came to MSU as an outfielder on Polk’s 2006 team that advanced to the finals of the NCAA Clemson Regional.

At Mississippi State, Bratton earned an undergraduate degree in secondary education in 2007 and, in 2009, completed MSU graduate degree studies in sports administration. He and his wife, Lauren – who serves as the tennis programs’ director of operations, reside in Starkville with his son, Maddux.

Taryne Mowatt-McKinney
Assistant Coach

Taryne Mowatt-McKinney, a former All-American pitcher and the 2007 Women’s College World Series Most Valuable Player, was hired as Mississippi State’s pitching coach on June 30, 2023.

Mowatt-McKinney came to Starkville from Arizona, her alma mater, where she had spent the previous six seasons on staff. She also brought SEC experience after coaching for two years at Ole Miss.

In her six seasons at Arizona, the Wildcats made three consecutive trips to the WCWS (2019-22) and enjoyed their best pitching seasons since Mowatt-McKinney herself was in the circle. Arizona posted three straight seasons with sub-2.00 staff ERAs from 2018-2020, something that had not been accomplished since 2006-2008, her sophomore-senior seasons.

She guided Wildcat pitchers to a pair of All-American honors, three all-region awards and seven All-Pac-12 honors. In addition, both Taylor McQuillin and Alyssa Denham went on to professional careers with Athletes Unlimited.

Mowatt-McKinney guided a pitching staff that did not lose a game through the Regional and Super Regional rounds back to the WCWS in 2022. That year, she was a part of the program that eliminated Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional. The following year, she helped staff ace Devyn Netz double her strikeout total, sitting down 135 batters in 171.1 innings in 2023.

In 2021, Mowatt-McKinney helped Denham post a 1.95 ERA and seven shutouts in her senior campaign. Denham posted sub-2.00 ERAs in all three seasons in Tucson and was named an NFCA All-American under her guidance.

In the shortened 2020 season Arizona's pitchers had compiled a 1.73 ERA, which ranked No. 15 nationally. In 2019, the Wildcats were even better in the circle, finishing sixth in the NCAA with a 1.61 ERA and holding opponents to a .183 average, the lowest opposing batting average at Arizona since 2006. The pitching staff led the Wildcats back to the Women's College World Series for the first of three straight trips, and McQuillin was named a First Team All-American for the first time in her career.

In her first season back in Tucson, Mowatt-McKinney’s pitchers turned in a 1.94 ERA and a .193 opposing batting average while McQuillin led the nation in shutouts (15).

Prior to coaching at her alma mater, Mowatt-McKinney spent two years in the SEC at rival Ole Miss, where her overhaul of the pitching staff helped lead a turnaround in the Rebels program. When she took over as pitching coach, she inherited a staff that totaled a 4.30 ERA in 2015. Her pitchers improved by more than a run to 3.26 in 2016, and shaved off even more in 2017 to 2.10, knocking off more than two runs (2.20) in just two seasons.

In 2016, the Rebels made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. In her second, they won the SEC Tournament Championship, hosted NCAA Regionals and reached the Super Regionals for the first time school history. Under her leadership, the pitching staff set records for wins, innings pitched and complete games.

The Rebels won a school-record 41 games in her first season. The next year, they improved to 43 wins while recording a school-record 17 shutouts.

Mowatt-McKinney was responsible for turning two-time JUCO All-American Kaitlin Lee into the SEC Tournament MVP and an All-SEC arm. In just two years, Lee climbed into the Ole Miss top 10 in wins, shutouts, ERA, innings pitched, games started, opposing batting average and complete games before being selected by the Aussie Spirit in the 2018 NPF Draft.

Behind Lee, Morgan Bruce became the school’s first pitcher to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2017. Brittany Finney, a transfer from Oklahoma, posted a 6-1 record with a 1.80 ERA.

Mowatt-McKinney began her collegiate coaching career at California Baptist (2012-14). There she helped the team to NCAA Regional appearances each year and two PacWest Conference championships in 2012 and 2014. Her pitching staff was made up of program-record holders for wins, innings pitched and complete games. She also coached a conference pitcher of the year, freshman pitcher of the year and three all-conference honorees.

As a player, Mowatt-McKinney was the ace of back-to-back national championship teams for Arizona in 2006 and 2007. She earned WCWS MVP honors in 2007 after putting together one of the best weeks in the circle that the sport has ever seen. She set WCWS records for innings pitched (60), strikeouts (76) and complete games (8), while leading the Wildcats to their eighth national title. She later won a pair of ESPYs for her performance and was named a Second Team All-American.

The Corona, California, native won exactly 100 games in her Wildcat career. Her 100-33 career record ranks seventh in Arizona history, and she is second in school history in both strikeouts (1,267) and innings pitched (877.2). She threw six no-hitters, including a perfect game.

Her 42 victories, 522 strikeouts and 370.0 innings pitched in 2007 remain Pac-12 records. In all, Mowatt-McKinney posted a 1.54 ERA over 147 appearances as a Wildcat. She closed her career with the program record for single-game strikeouts (20) as well as single-season records in strikeouts (522), complete games (50), innings pitched (370.0) and wins (42).

Following her collegiate career, Mowatt was selected in the first round of the 2008 NPF Draft as the No. 6 overall pick by the Washington Glory. She played for five teams throughout her six years as a professional, including one season in Holland competing for the Den Bosch Gryphons.

Mowatt-McKinney graduated from Arizona in 2009 with her degree in communications. In December of 2019, she married former North Carolina catcher Brittany McKinney. She gave birth to her son, Lincoln, in January of 2022.

Zac Shaw
Assistant Coach