UVA assistant coach Karl Kuhn has been named Collegiate Baseball’s 2014 National Pitching Coach of the Year, as announced Monday by the publication. Kuhn will receive the award Jan. 4 at the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Orlando, Fla.Virginia’s pitching staff recorded a 2.23 ERA in 2014 as the Cavaliers finished as the NCAA runner-up. The Cavaliers went 53-16 in 2014, posting the second-most wins in a season in program history. The ERA was second-lowest in the nation (by one-hundredth of a point) and the lowest at Virginia in 43 years. Since 2005, the Cavaliers own a 3.04 cumulative ERA, lowest in the nation.
UVa pitchers limited their opponents to a .201 batting average in 2014. Nathan Kirby and Nick Howard each earned All-America honors, while Kirby also was named the ACC Co-Pitcher of the Year.
Over the last six years, the Cavaliers have won 298 games, most in Division I, as the Cavaliers have reached the College World Series three times.
Kuhn’s pitching staff has ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in ERA nine of the last 11 years, including six top-three rankings: a No. 1 ranking in 2011, No. 2 in 2014 and four No. 3 ERA rankings (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009).
During Kuhn’s tenure at Virginia, his pitchers have produced 75 shutouts, including an ACC-record 16 in 2011. Kuhn’s pitchers are notorious for pounding the strike zone, averaging just 2.8 walks per nine innings since 2004 – fewest in the ACC.
Four of Kuhn’s UVa protégés have gone on to reach the major league level: Michael Schwimer, Mike Ballard, Sean Doolittle and Kyle Crockett; Doolittle was a 2014 American League All-Star. Thirty-one of Kuhn’s Virginia pitchers have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including 15 in the top 10 rounds. Kuhn has coached 13 All-Americans and 23 All-ACC honorees in his tenure at Virginia.
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Chris Graham
