Louisville's Williams Elevated to Associate Head Coach
October 29, 2014 | Baseball
Pitching coach Roger Williams is entering his ninth season with the Cardinals.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville baseball head coach Dan McDonnell announced Wednesday the promotion of Roger Williams to associate head coach with the Cardinals.
Williams, who joined Louisville as pitching coach prior to the 2007 season, has established the Cardinals as one of the nation's top pitching programs during his eight seasons working alongside McDonnell. The work on the mound by the Louisville pitching staff has been integral in the Cardinals' three College World Series appearances, seven NCAA Championship appearances, five regular-season conference titles and two conference tournament championships in the last eight seasons.
"Roger has been an integral part of the foundation for all of the success we've experienced inside the Louisville baseball program over the last eight seasons. He is among the very best at any level of baseball - college or professional - in his pitching knowledge and his player development and he's earned this promotion," said McDonnell. "I first talked to Roger about the promotion a couple of weeks after we returned from Omaha and it became official soon after that. With Roger, recruiting coordinator and hitting coach Eric Snider, assistant coach Adam Vrable and director of operations Brian Mundorf, I'm blessed to work alongside an elite group of coaches and people each day."
For his work with the Cardinals during the 2013 College World Series season, Williams was selected as ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year. A trio of Louisville pitchers coached by Williams have also advanced to the big leagues in recent years in Justin Marks (2014, Kansas City Royals), B.J. Rosenberg (2012, Philadelphia Phillies) and Trystan Magnuson (2011, Oakland A's).
Individually, the Cardinals have produced nine All-American performances on the mound in the last eight years and 20 Louisville pitchers have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft during that span. The 2014 season was another strong one for the Louisville pitching staff, which played a key role in the program's second straight College World Series appearance. Overall, the Cardinals ranked fifth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.4, 12th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.4), 19th nationally in shutouts with eight and 20th in ERA at 2.80.
The duo of junior righty closer Nick Burdi and sophomore righty starter Kyle Funkhouser led the way earning All-American honors for the Cardinals in 2014. Chosen as the NCBWA Stopper of the Year, Burdi was named First Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, Perfect Game, the American Baseball Coaches Association and the NCBWA while setting a school record with 18 saves as a junior. Adding a 3-1 record with a 0.49 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 37.0 innings pitched in 2014, Burdi became the Cardinals' highest draft pick ever when the Minnesota Twins selected him 46th overall in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft. The hard-throwing righty closed his collegiate career as Louisville's all-time saves leader with 34 to go along with a school record 1.79 ERA.
In his first season as a weekend starter for the Cardinals, Funkhouser emerged as the ace of the staff earning Second Team All-America honors from the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball newspaper and Third Team All-America accolades from Baseball America and Perfect Game. Statistically, he set a school record for single season wins finishing 13-3 overall with a 1.94 ERA and 122 strikeouts (third most at Louisville) in 120.1 innings pitched (second most at Louisville) and 18 starts. Following Louisville's trip to Omaha, Funkhouser pitched for the USA Collegiate National Team finishing with a team-high 36 strikeouts and a 1.27 ERA in six appearances and 28.1 innings.
In June, Burdi was one of four Louisville pitchers chosen in the MLB Draft as righty Jared Ruxer was taken in the 12th round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, lefty Joe Filomeno went in the 15th round to the Texas Rangers and lefty Kyle McGrath went in the 36th round to the San Diego Padres. It marked the second straight season the Cardinals had four pitchers selected in the MLB Draft.
A year earlier, Louisville's second CWS berth was anchored by a pitching staff that ranked among the nation's best as the Cardinals closed the 2013 season at No. 5 in the NCAA in ERA at 2.52, No. 1 overall in strikeouts per nine innings at 9.6, No. 2 in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.93), ninth in WHIP (1.15) and 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82 strikeouts per walk). Louisville also set a school record for shutouts in 2013 with 10 surpassing the previous school record of seven set during the program's first College World Series appearance in 2007.
Overall, Louisville finished with a school record 629 strikeouts on the mound while opponents hit just .214 against the Cardinals in 2013. The 2.52 ERA was the lowest for a Louisville team since 1958. During the run to the College World Series, the Cardinals had a 2.47 ERA in seven NCAA Championship games with 60 strikeouts in 62.0 innings pitched. The pitching staff was a key component to Louisville's NCAA Super Regional win at No. 2 national seed Vanderbilt as the Cardinals outpitched the Commodores allowing just three earned runs and a .176 batting average (12 hits, one extra-base hit) in the two-game sweep in Nashville.
Individually, a pair of Louisville pitchers earned All-America honors in 2013 as Burdi (16 saves, 0.76 ERA) was a First Team Perfect Game All-American and a Second Team NCBWA All-American while junior righty Jeff Thompson (11-2, 2.19 ERA) was Louisville Slugger Second Team All-America by College Baseball newspaper, Third Team All-America by Perfect Game and Third Team All-America by NCBWA. Thompson was also selected as Big East Pitcher of the Year while Funkhouser (5-1, 2.14 ERA) and Anthony Kidston (5-0, 1.31 ERA) were named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-Americans in 2013.
Following the season, Louisville had four pitchers selected in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft -- righthander Dace Kime was taken 79th overall by the Cleveland Indians in the third round, Thompson was selected 94th overall in the third round by the Detroit Tigers, righty Chad Green was selected in the 11th Round by the Detroit Tigers and lefty Cody Ege was taken in the 15th Round by the Texas Rangers.
Prior to joining the Cardinals in 2007, Williams served as an assistant at Georgia during its 2006 College World Series season and worked 11 seasons as an assistant at North Carolina. A two-time All-ACC performer himself as a pitcher in 1984 and 1985 at UNC, Williams ranked seventh in career wins with the Tar Heels with 24, posting a winning percentage of .800 during his three seasons. Williams tied an ACC single-game record with 19 strikeouts against Duke in 1985. Williams was tabbed in the fourth round of the 1985 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs and went on to play six seasons of pro ball, including two seasons at AAA Des Moines.
Following his playing career, Williams spent three seasons as the pitching coach at East Carolina, where the Pirates won 41 games in 1993 and advanced to an NCAA Regional. Williams is a native of Greenville, N.C., where his father George was the head baseball coach at ECU from 1974-76. It was there Williams completed his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1992 and earned a master's degree in education in 1993.
Williams is married to the former Stephanie Hensley of Asheville, N.C., and the couple has one daughter, Avery.
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