| Karl Kuhn |
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Karl Kuhn enters his fourth season at Virginia where he serves as the pitching coach as well as a vital part in the recruiting process. The past three seasons, his staffs have led the Atlantic Coast Conference in team earned run average and ranked in the top 15 nationally in ERA, which included a No. 3 ranking in 2005 and 2006. He was the first assistant coach to be hired at Virginia under head coach Brian O'Connor.
In three seasons, Kuhn's pitching staff has won 132 games setting a school record for overall wins (47) and conference wins (21) in 2006. Virginia has advanced to three straight NCAA Regionals while his staffs set a school record for strikeouts (519) and the school record for shutouts (11) in 2005. In 2006, Kuhn guided his staff to a ACC-best 3.04 team ERA. Opponents hit .233 against Cavalier pitchers. Pitchers Sean Doolittle (11-2) and Jacob Thompson (10-4) both earned All-ACC honors becoming the first Cavalier tandem to win at least 10 games in a single season and two of only four Cavaliers to win at least 10 games in a single season. Doolittle was named a consensus second team All-American and the 2006 ACC Player of the Year. He was named a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award given to the nation's top player. Thompson was named a freshman All-American. Both are on the 2007 Roger Clemens Award watch list given to the nation's top pitcher. Senior Mike Ballard had his best season going 9-3 as he was a 14th round draft pick of the Texas Rangers. Also under Kuhn in 2006, relief pitcher Michael Schwimer and Casey Lambert strived. Lambert continued to torch the UVa career saves record with his third straight 10 save season as giving him 32 career saves, which ranks fourth all-time in the ACC. Schwimer set the school record for career appearances (37).
In 2005, Kuhn guided the Virginia staff to the league-best 2.74 team ERA and a school record 11 shutouts. Opponents only hit .232 against UVa pitchers. Right-hander Jeff Kamrath was named All-ACC First Team. Kuhn also led Lambert to a single-season record 14 saves. Two starters were drafted in the 2005 Major League Draft as Matt Avery was a ninth round pick of the Chicago Cubs while Kamrath was selected in the 11th round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Kuhn's 2004 pitching staff led the ACC in ERA in league play while finishing 15th nationally in team ERA (3.63) while also pacing the ACC for the fewest walks allowed. Kuhn had four different pitchers named the ACC Pitcher of the Week in 2004. Kuhn was integral in the development of Andrew Dobies, a third round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox and Joe Koshansky, a sixth round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies. Under Kuhn's tutelage, Dobies earned second team All-ACC honors and finished second in the ACC in strikeouts (109), while Koshansky was named the school's first ever ACC Player of the Year. Kuhn was also an integral part in developing Avery into the staffs No. 2 starter and helped Lambert to one of the best freshman campaigns in recent history. As a freshman, Lambert tied the previous school record for most saves in a single season with eight and finished second in the ACC in ERA (2.54).
Kuhn has also been instrumental in assisting Kevin McMullan in landing three of the most highly touted recruiting classes to ever sign with Virginia in 2004, 2005 and 2006. UVa's recruiting class was ranked 12th in the country in 2004, 10th in the nation in 2005 while the 2006 class was rated as the eighth best. In his first season with the Cavaliers, Kuhn also helped Virginia finish ranked in the Top 25 of several national polls en route to earning a No. 7 ranking.
Kuhn arrived in Charlottesville after serving as the associate head coach and pitching coach at Arkansas-Little Rock (UALR) for seven years from 1997-2003. At UALR, Kuhn managed all aspects of the Trojans' pitching staff and was also the recruiting coordinator for the program.
As the recruiting coordinator, Kuhn had five consecutive recruiting classes ranked nationally by Collegiate Baseball during his tenure with the Trojans.
Before coaching at UALR, Kuhn spent three years as the pitching coach at Charleston Southern. Under his leadership, the pitching staff led CSU to its first baseball conference championship and first NCAA Regional appearance in school history. Kuhn also worked at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fla. Prior to that, he was pitching coach for two years at Buchholz HS in Gainesville, Fla.
Kuhn started his college career at Valencia Community College where he played from 1987-1989, then concluded his career playing one season for the Florida Gators in 1990. He is a 1992 graduate of Florida.
Kuhn is married to the former Katrina Gosdin and resides in Charlottesville, Va. The couple is expecting their first child in late August.
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