GREENVILLE, N.C. – Dan Roszel, who spent the past two seasons at the College of Charleston, has been appointed the pitching coach at East Carolina University according to an announcement from head coach Billy Godwin Thursday.
Roszel directly succeeds Bill Jarman, who resigned in June due to family reasons.
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We are excited to have Dan Roszel join our coaching staff at East Carolina,” Godwin said. “He is well respected in baseball circles, has an outstanding reputation as a pitching coach and recruiter and will be a great asset to our program.”
During his two seasons with the Cougars, Roszel served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He produced some of his best work in 2010, helping the Cougars receive an at-large bid and No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament. The College of Charleston advanced to the Myrtle Beach Regional Championship Game before falling to No. 4 national seed Coastal Carolina 11-10. The Cougars ended the season ranked 27th in the final National Baseball Writers Association poll.
“I am extremely excited to have been given the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing university and coaching staff,” Roszel said. “Coach Godwin’s enthusiasm and passion for East Carolina and the baseball atmosphere are second to none. I am thrilled to be able to share my love of pitching with our talented staff. I can’t wait to get started.”
Roszel helped three CofC hurlers, Heath Hembree (fifth round), Kevin Decker (39th round) and Casey Lucchese (39th round), get selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. In all, Roszel has seen 16 of his pitchers sign pro contracts, including former major leaguer, current Durham Bull and 2006 International League Most Valuable Pitcher, Heath Phillips.
In 2010, Decker was a SoCon Sports Media Association All-Conference and SoCon All-Conference Second-Teams member while rookie Christian Powell was named to the league’s all-freshman team.
During Roszel’s first season with the Cougars, the pitching staff led the team to a 35-22 overall record as it recorded 367 strikeouts in 496.2 innings. At the end of the campaign, Jesse Simpson was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 40th round of the MLB draft. Simpson was a media and coaches second-team SoCon selection as a senior. Roszel also guided David Peterson to Coaches All-Freshman Team honors.
Roszel joined the Cougars after spending two seasons as an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he helped the Eagles to a 78-32 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional as well as an Atlantic Sun Conference championship. In 2007, his pitching staff ranked 21st nationally in team ERA with a 3.50 mark. The staff also stood second in Division II in strikeouts per game (9.16), fourth in strikeouts (486) and held opponent hitters to a .254 batting average, all records at FGCU.
During 2008, his staff helped the Eagles to another record breaking season, becoming the only team in NCAA history to win a conference championship in its first year of Division I competition upon arrival from Division II. That year the Gulf Coast staff compiled a 3.17 earned-run average, surrendering just 170 runs in 482.1 innings pitched. Richard Bleier led the way as he was the unanimous selection for the Atlantic Sun Pitcher-of-the-Year award, going 7-1 overall with a 2.09 ERA and 76 strikeouts. Reliever J.J. Crumbley joined Bleier on the conference first team while starter Pete Woodworth was a second-team honoree. Richie Erath and Chris Sale were also all-freshman selections for Roszel. Sale was later selected in the first round as the 13th overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft.
“Coach Roszel brings a great amount of knowledge and passion for baseball and pitching,” Godwin added. “He will help East Carolina continue to win championships and reach our goal of playing in the College World Series in Omaha.”
Prior to his time at FGCU, Roszel spent four years at Gardner-Webb University. While at Gardner-Webb, Roszel worked as the pitching coach and the recruiting coordinator. In four years at GWU, Roszel had two of his players get drafted on the first day of the MLB draft.
He has coached four of the top-six pitchers on Gardner-Webb’s career wins list. In 2003, his pitching staff threw a school-record 20 complete games. Before becoming Gardner-Webb’s pitching coach, Roszel spent two years at Lake City Community College as an assistant coach.
Roszel, a 2000 graduate of the University of North Florida, and his wife Melissa have two daughters, Madyson (6) and Makenna (2). Roszel received his degree in criminal justice with a minor in political science.