University of Connecticut Athletics
Penders Announces Additions To 2012 Coaching Staff
6/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 30, 2011
STORRS, Conn. - University of Connecticut baseball head coach Jim Penders announced the hiring of two assistant coaches this afternoon, as Jeff Hourigan and Josh MacDonald will be joining the UConn staff for the 2012 season.
Hourigan, who played at UConn for two seasons, returns to Storrs after spending the last five years as an assistant coach and pitching coach at the University of New Haven. While working for head coach Raphael Cerrato, Hourigan helped guide the Chargers to an East Coast Conference regular season championship (2008), an NCAA Regional berth (2010), and led the pitching staff to an ERA of 2.90 which was the second best mark in the country during the 2010 season.
Prior to his coaching career at New Haven, Hourigan was a student assistant coach for UConn during the 2006 season, working closely with the first basemen and pitchers. He split his collegiate playing career between Clemson and Connecticut, playing for the Tigers during the 2002 and 2003 seasons and was part of the Husky lineup during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. As a senior, Hourigan was named team captain and went on to earn second team All-BIG EAST and team MVP honors.
"I am thrilled to have Jeff back in Storrs," Penders said. "He was an outstanding player, captain, and student assistant for us, and also did a fantastic job assisting Coach Cerrato at New Haven. Above all, Jeff is a leader with a legendarily strong will to do things the right way all the time. He is a proud UConn alum who made a real name for himself during his playing days here and I'm so excited to continue building our program with him at my side."
MacDonald, also a UConn alum, joins the Husky coaching staff after spending the last two years as the pitching coach with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League. During his time with the club, the Braves won the CCBL championship during 2009 and then won the Western Division championship in 2010. As an integral part of the coaching staff, MacDonald also guided one of his players to become the 2010 CCBL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year.
Prior to his stint with the Bourne Braves, he served as a pitching coach for Long Island University from 2007-2009, where he tutored four pitchers who went on to play professionally. MacDonald finished his collegiate playing career in 2006, after helping the Huskies to a second place finish during the BIG EAST regular season and a then school record 39 wins. At the time, he was third on the all-time pitching appearance list at UConn and is currently fifth after the 2011 season.
"Josh's experience in the Cape developing some of the best collegiate pitchers in the country, along with evaluation and recruiting skills honed at LIU provide a great foundation for what I believe is going to grow into a great coaching career," Penders said. "His loyalty to UConn and passion for teaching are going to be so well received by our student-athletes. I can't wait to work with him again."
