Former Rock pitching standout Steve Urda finished his seventh year as an assistant to and pitching coach for veteran Rock head coach Jeff Messer in 2011.
The Slippery Rock pitching staff posted an ERA of 4.33 in 2011, the team’s lowest since 2007. Opponents also hit just .255 against The Rock’s hurlers last season. Urda helped mentor three NCBWA All-Atlantic Region selections in Ryan Oglesby, Zach Jeney and Lou Trivino.
Urda played on Messer-coached Rock teams from 1994-97. He played on two SRU teams that earned regional tournament berths and was a co-captain on the 1997 squad that won a regional championship and earned the program’s second trip to the NCAA Division II national tournament.
Urda earned second-team All-PSAC-West honors as a junior in 1996. He came back to The Rock in 1998 to serve as a student assistant coach for another regional-qualifying team.
Prior to his senior season at SRU, Urda pitched for a collegiate all-star traveling team in Europe.
A native of Franklin, Pa., Urda coached at his high school alma mater for five seasons before he rejoined The Rock program in the fall of 2004. Among the players he coached at Franklin High School were former Rock pitchers Bundy Fulmer and Matt Lynn and former Rock first baseman/DH Billy Wolfe.
Urda also coached summer baseball in Youngstown, Ohio.
The owner of a bachelor’s degree from SRU, Urda currently lives in Hermitage, Pa., with his wife, Joy; daughter, Ava, and son, Matthew.
