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PING!BASEBALL
SPOTLIGHT COACH
Rob Walton
Oral Roberts University
Golden eagles |
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Since taking over the helm at Oral Roberts
University in June of 2003, Rob Walton has led the Golden
Eagles to four consecutive 40-win seasons, and four conference
championships. This has kept the school’s streak of
40-win seasons with conference championships to 10 straight,
and Walton has played a role in nearly all of them, since
joining ORU as an assistant. This consistent pattern of success
has made Rob Walton “America’s Coach”…literally.
Walton was recently named the head coach of Team USA Baseball
for the summer of 2008.
 Widely
credited with building teams which were a combined 232-82
over the previous five seasons, Walton wasn’t the top
choice to replace Sunny Golloway as head coach at ORU…he
was the only choice. “Rob has been instrumental in recruiting
and building strong relationships with our players,”
ORU Athletic Director Mike Carter said at the press conference.
“I thought it was essential that we act quickly to keep
the team intact and the program strong.” Walton wasn’t
handed the job, he earned it.
Playing for Oklahoma State from 1983 to 1986,
he compiled an overall record of 20-6 as a pitcher, and helped
lead the Cowboys to four straight College World Series appearances.
As a senior in 1986, he pitched the first shutout in the CWS
in ten years. Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1986, he
spent four years with the organization, earning accolades
in the minor leagues.
Walton wasted little time in his first year
as head coach at ORU, carrying on the recent Golden Eagle
tradition of 40-plus wins and a conference championship. He
led ORU to a 50-11 record, a number two seed in regional play
and conference coach of the year honors, with victories over
ranked powerhouses Wichita State, Arizona State, and Arkansas.
Walton continued to excel over the next three seasons, winning
40-plus and a conference championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
And he didn’t do it just riding on the coattails of
the talent he recruited, he did it by coaching. In the 2006
season, ORU had a 10-11 record nearing the end of March. A
tinkering with the lineup here, some major changes to the
pitching staff there, and the Golden Eagles would win 31 of
their next 36 games, including five wins over Top 25 teams,
a Regional Championship, and an 8-0 record against regional
powers Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Wichita State.
Walton is considered one of college baseball’s
top pitching instructors. During his time at ORU, he has developed
several outstanding pitchers, including All-American Michael
Bigley, who had 41 career victories, and Michael Rogers, who
set a school record of 137 strike-outs in 2001. In fact, fourteen
pitchers during Walton’s time at ORU have either been
drafted or signed pro contracts, including Jackson Markert,
who won the 2001 Rolaids Minor League Relief Award. Add on
seven All-Americans, six conference Pitchers of the Year,
and sixteen first-team all conference pitching selections
and it becomes clear that Walton knows a thing or two about
coaching young talent to their potential. “You have
to coach with a plan and a goal in mind,” says Walton.
“We have a plan in place which is geared toward helping
us reach our ultimate goals: being a consistent Top 25 program
and, most importantly, getting to Omaha.”
ORU’s season starts February 22nd against
Army at the UTSA Baseball Classic in San Antonio, TX. With
173 victories as a head coach already under his belt, Walton
will give ORU its 1,500th school victory this year. With five
starting position players returning, including conference
co-player of the year Brendan Duffy (.356 average, 62 runs,
77 hits), and two starting pitchers returning, including Jerry
Sullivan (5-0, 2.04 ERA, Ping! Freshman All-American, 2008
Preseaon All Ping!), Walton will look to extend his “40-wins
and a Championship” legacy and hope to play a little
ball in Omaha in June. Then, it will be off to lead Team USA
this summer.
Who better to lead the Americans, than a
Golden Eagle?
PREVIOUS COACH SPOTLIGHTS
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