July 6, 2012 - 4:10pm
Assistant coaches named for baseball program
BY COLLEEN THOMAS
Two new assistant coaches were named to the Michigan baseball program staff after much speculation about who new head coach Erik Bakich would retain from his staff at Maryland.
On Thursday, Sean Kenny and Nick Schnabel were hired as assistants to Bakich, where Kenny will serve as the pitching coach and Schnabel will be the recruiting coordinator.
Kenny is an Ann Arbor native, having graduated from Pioneer High School. He was at Maryland with Bakich for three years as the pitching coach. The Terrapins had the third-best ERA in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2012 and set the program records for strikeouts (464) in 2010. Kenny also helped on the recruiting side, bringing in Maryland's first top-25 recruiting class in 2010. He also developed two future MLB draft picks in his time with the Terrapins.
Kenny has served as a recruiting coordinator and pitching coach at numerous other universities, and played baseball both at the collegiate and professional level, with Eastern Michigan University and the New York Mets, respectively.
Schnabel comes to Michigan after spending three years at East Carolina as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. He had much success recruiting, garnering nationally ranked recruiting classes in addition to developing talent to send to the next level.
Schnabel played ball with Bakich at East Carolina, where Schnabel was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 by the Colonial Athletic Association.
"Sean and Nick are among the best in the nation at what they do," Bakich said in a statement released by the athletic department. "We are fortunate to have them join our staff and help lead Michigan baseball back to a championship level."
