Prado Earns Conference USA Coach of the Year Honor
May 20, 2002 | Baseball
May 20, 2002
KINSTON, N.C. - University of Louisville baseball Head Coach Lelo Prado has been named Conference USA Coach of the Year, after leading the Cards to a 39-14 regular season record and a second place finish in C-USA.
In addition, sophomore outfielder Mark Jurich is a First Team All-Conference USA selection, while junior first baseman Morgan Bojorquez, freshman pitcher Zach Jackson and junior DH Ken Tirpack were selected to the second team. Jackson was also named to the All-Freshman team.
Prado, in his seventh year at the helm of the Cardinal Nine, is 197-191-1 and is the only coach in school history with four 30 win seasons. His 39 wins surpasses the school record of 38 set in 1980 by John Boles.
The 2002 Cards are poised to participate in postseason regional play for the first time in school history, and have been ranked in the national polls for just the second time in school history. The Cardinals are currently ranked 25th in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls.
The longest losing streak this season was just three games and the Cards put together five winning streaks of five or more games. Heading into the Conference USA tournament, Louisville has won 20 of its last 24 games.
Prado has a career record of 475-315-1 in 14 years of coaching, having lead Tampa to back-to-back Division II National Championships in 1992 and 1993. He is the first Cardinal coach to earn the honor since current pitching coach Jim Zerilla was Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1975.
He will lead the USA Baseball National Team as its head coach this summer at the first-ever FISU World Championships in Italy.
Jurich ranks in the top six in C-USA in seven major offensive categories, including fourth in average(.380), second in slugging(.770), tied for fourth in RBI(60), second in triples(5) and second in home runs(16). He has yet to commit an error in 45 games in right field.
Jurich was C-USA and National Player of the week earlier this season and was a member of the C-USA and Louisville Slugger All-Freshman teams at the end of last season.
Bojorquez, junior from Miami, started all 53 games during the regular season and was tied for fourth in C-USA with 60 RBI and tied for sixth with 14 home runs. Morgan is hitting .313 heading into the tournament, and was named C-USA Player of the Week on May 7th.
Jackson, a freshman from Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, is tied for the conference lead with 10 wins. That total ties the school record for wins in a single season for a pitcher, established by Scott Reburn in 1984. It is also a freshman record.
Jackson is 10-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 12 starts, limiting opponents to a .235 batting average, tied for the sixth lowest total in C-USA.
Tirpack, a junior transfer who attended Stanford and is from Boardman, Ohio, was selected as the second team DH, batting .305 overall with a .330 average in C-USA games.
The second seeded Cards will face number seven seed South Florida at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22 in Kinston, North Carolina to open the Conference USA tournament.
