Central Michigan University Athletics
Staff Directory
Aaron Hilt
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- E-Mail Address:
- Phone:
- (989) 774-1484
- Year at CMU:
- 3rd
- Hometown:
- Richmond, Ohio
- Alma Mater/Year:
- Ashland/2012; Wheeling/2014
- Experience:
- 14th year
Aaron Hilt is in his third year as an assistant on coach Jake Sabol’s Central Michigan baseball staff and in his 14th year as a college coach and fifth at the Division I level.
He is primarily responsible for working as the Chippewa pitching coach, while assisting in all recruiting efforts.
Among the highlights of Hilt's two seasons on Sabol's CMU staff are road wins over Power 5 opponents Michigan State (twice), Notre Dame and Central Florida, and a dramatic walk-off victory over rival Western Michigan on Senior Day on storied Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium in 2024.
Hilt helped oversee a three-game improvement in wins by the Chippewas from 2024 to 2025 and an improvement in virtually every statistical category both at the plate and on the mound. CMU outfielder Zach Knowlton was named to the 2025 Mid-American Conference All-Defensive Team after posting a .995 fielding percentage
The Chippewas received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association in both 2024 and '25, marking the fifth time in program history that CMU baseball has been so honored.
In 2025, five Chippewas were named to the Academic All-District Team and four earned Academic All-MAC honors one season after a dozen captured Academic All-MAC honors, catcher/infielder Nick Dardas earned the MAC Medal of Excellence, and two seniors, Jacob Donahue and Ely Stuart, garnered All-MAC accolades.
In 2022-23, Hilt served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Eastern Michigan, where he mentored a Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Award winner, a MAC Player of the Year Award winner, and led a pitching staff that set the program record for strikeouts in a season in 2023, breaking the record it set in ’22.
Hilt helped lead the Eagles in 2023 to their first winning season in more than a decade and mentored two pitchers, Luke Russo (Philadelphia Phillies) and Cameron Wagoner (Milwaukee Brewers), who were taken in the Major League Baseball draft.
Hilt served as an assistant at Division II Ashland (Ohio) from 2014-21, helping lead the Eagles to three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and a berth in 2019 in the Division II College World Series.
Two of his pitchers at Ashland, Brandyn Sittinger and Art Warren, were selected in the Major League Baseball draft and both later played in the major leagues, Sittinger with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Warren with the Seattle Mariners.
Hilt served as a graduate assistant at Wheeling (W. Va.) and was a four-year letter winner at Ashland, helping the Eagles to the Division II College World Series in 2008. In 2014, he pitched for the Normal Cornbelters of the Frontier League.
A native of Richmond, Ohio, Hilt earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Ashland and then a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Wheeling.
Hilt resides in Mount Pleasant with his wife Kaleigh and their son, Harvey.
He is primarily responsible for working as the Chippewa pitching coach, while assisting in all recruiting efforts.
Among the highlights of Hilt's two seasons on Sabol's CMU staff are road wins over Power 5 opponents Michigan State (twice), Notre Dame and Central Florida, and a dramatic walk-off victory over rival Western Michigan on Senior Day on storied Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium in 2024.
Hilt helped oversee a three-game improvement in wins by the Chippewas from 2024 to 2025 and an improvement in virtually every statistical category both at the plate and on the mound. CMU outfielder Zach Knowlton was named to the 2025 Mid-American Conference All-Defensive Team after posting a .995 fielding percentage
The Chippewas received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association in both 2024 and '25, marking the fifth time in program history that CMU baseball has been so honored.
In 2025, five Chippewas were named to the Academic All-District Team and four earned Academic All-MAC honors one season after a dozen captured Academic All-MAC honors, catcher/infielder Nick Dardas earned the MAC Medal of Excellence, and two seniors, Jacob Donahue and Ely Stuart, garnered All-MAC accolades.
In 2022-23, Hilt served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Eastern Michigan, where he mentored a Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Award winner, a MAC Player of the Year Award winner, and led a pitching staff that set the program record for strikeouts in a season in 2023, breaking the record it set in ’22.
Hilt helped lead the Eagles in 2023 to their first winning season in more than a decade and mentored two pitchers, Luke Russo (Philadelphia Phillies) and Cameron Wagoner (Milwaukee Brewers), who were taken in the Major League Baseball draft.
Hilt served as an assistant at Division II Ashland (Ohio) from 2014-21, helping lead the Eagles to three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and a berth in 2019 in the Division II College World Series.
Two of his pitchers at Ashland, Brandyn Sittinger and Art Warren, were selected in the Major League Baseball draft and both later played in the major leagues, Sittinger with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Warren with the Seattle Mariners.
Hilt served as a graduate assistant at Wheeling (W. Va.) and was a four-year letter winner at Ashland, helping the Eagles to the Division II College World Series in 2008. In 2014, he pitched for the Normal Cornbelters of the Frontier League.
A native of Richmond, Ohio, Hilt earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from Ashland and then a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Wheeling.
Hilt resides in Mount Pleasant with his wife Kaleigh and their son, Harvey.
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