Giants make Alyssa Nakken 1st-ever female coach in MLB

The San Francisco Giants made history Thursday when they announced former Sacramento State softball star Alyssa Nakken would join the club as an assistant coach, making her the first woman hired to a Major League Baseball coaching staff, according to Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

Nakken and former minor-league manager Mark Hallberg were named as part of skipper Gabe Kapler's staff.

"Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization and I'm delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse," Kapler said. "In every organization, environment affects performance, and baseball clubhouses are no different. That's why, in addition to assisting the rest of the coaching staff on the field, Mark and Alyssa will focus on fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team."

This isn't Nakken's first job in the Giants organization. She was an intern in the team's baseball operations department in 2014 and has been overseeing the club's health and wellness initiatives prior to her taking the assistant coach position.

Nakken was a three-time All-Conference first baseman with Sacramento State and later earned a master's degree in sport management at the University of San Francisco.