2008 Woodie Awards
New coach sparks excitement
Brian Murphy
Issue date: 6/16/08 Section: Sports
Rooney had been LSU's pitching coach since 2007 and to him, success starts on the mound. He features the concept of "offensive pitching."
It's based on pitching to contact, being aggressive in the strike zone and not giving up walks. Rooney's pitching-oriented mentality makes players such as Sweat, who went 5-5 with a 5.43 earned run average in 2008, intrigued to see what they can learn.
"My last year wasn't so good, so maybe he has some pointers," Sweat said.
But what may excite the Knights most about Rooney is what he has done with the Tigers. Before focusing on UCF, Rooney must concentrate on getting LSU as far as possible in the College World Series. Every college baseball player hopes to be playing in Omaha, Neb., in June, and Rooney's team is there now. Rooney and the Knights hope they can travel there together in the very near future.
"He's going to Omaha," pitcher Jaager Good said. "I think that tells all the players something - that he obviously knows what he's doing."?
It's based on pitching to contact, being aggressive in the strike zone and not giving up walks. Rooney's pitching-oriented mentality makes players such as Sweat, who went 5-5 with a 5.43 earned run average in 2008, intrigued to see what they can learn.
"My last year wasn't so good, so maybe he has some pointers," Sweat said.
But what may excite the Knights most about Rooney is what he has done with the Tigers. Before focusing on UCF, Rooney must concentrate on getting LSU as far as possible in the College World Series. Every college baseball player hopes to be playing in Omaha, Neb., in June, and Rooney's team is there now. Rooney and the Knights hope they can travel there together in the very near future.
"He's going to Omaha," pitcher Jaager Good said. "I think that tells all the players something - that he obviously knows what he's doing."?