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Who is Alyssa Nakken, San Francisco Giant's new assistant coach? | Need to Know

Alyssa Nakken, who played primarily as a first base at Sacramento State's softball team, is the first woman coach on a major league staff in baseball history.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants hired the first full-time woman coach in Major League Baseball history — Woodland High School and Sacramento State graduate Alyssa Nakken.

Major League Baseball confirmed Nakken, a former standout at first base for Sacramento State, is the first woman coach in the majors. She joined the Giants organization in 2014 as an intern in baseball operations. 

“I am very proud of Alyssa. As her coach, I knew early that she would blaze new trails and do something groundbreaking," said former Sacramento State Head Coach Kathy Strahan in press release. "Her positive energy, intellect and tremendous drive to succeed will be an invaluable asset to the Giants players and organization. I believe this incredible journey is just the beginning and I know that she will enjoy the ride.”

Here's what you need to know about Alyssa Nakken, Major League Baseball's first woman coach. 

Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 as an intern in the baseball operations department where she worked on projects related to the amateur draft, international operations and player development.

Nakken currently chairs the Giants’ Women’s Network "Momentum," which aims to promote diversity and equity within the organization.

RELATED: SF Giants make former Sac State softball star Alyssa Nakken first female major league coach   

Before working for the organization, Nakken was at the University of San Francisco where she earned a master's degree in sports management from in 2015. Nakken was at Sacramento State playing softball for four seasons before graduating in 2012 with a 3.76 GPA.

Nakken played mainly first base at Sacramento State during her career, which lasted from 2009 to 2012. She played every game of her careers at Sacramento State, including 164 straight starts from the halfway point of her freshman season to her final game.

Nakken was also a team captain for Sacramento State for her junior and senior seasons.

Nakken scored 115 runs and had 171 hits, 34 doubles, 18 stolen bases, 19 home runs, and 83 RBIs in her career. She also had a .379 on-base percentage and a .992 fielding percentage during those four seasons.

Nakken was top 10 in multiple Sacramento State categories, including first in putouts (1,265), tied for third in home runs, fourth in fielding percentage, sixth in runs scored and total bases (264) and ninth in slugging percentage (.470).

Nakken is a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete and a four-time Pacific Coast Softball Conference Honor Roll recipient. She was also named the conference's scholar athlete for 2012 for her academic and athletic accomplishments.

Nakken was also a standout pitcher for Woodland High School, where pitched a total of 124.2 innings and threw 189 strikeouts, while holding her opponents to a .129 batting average, according to MaxPreps.

Nakken also played basketball and volleyball, according to MaxPreps. 

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