Smith Taps Connor Lambert As Husky Pitching Coach

SEATTLE – Washington head baseball coach announced the addition of Connor Lambert to his inaugural Husky coaching staff on Wednesday. Lambert will serve as UW’s pitching coach.
 
Lambert spent the past seven seasons in the same role at Portland, earning a promotion to associate head coach before the 2023 season.
 
Over seven seasons under Lambert, the Pilots pitching staff ranked in the top-5 in the West Coast Conference in ERA, hits allowed per nine innings, strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
 
During Lambert’s time on The Bluff, 18 Pilot pitchers earned All-WCC honors, including the only two WCC Pitcher of the Year honorees in program history in Brett Gillis and Carter Gaston.

Lambert developed six MLB draft picks at Portland, including Tate Budnick (2018, Milwaukee Brewers), Brett Gillis (2022, Houston Astros), Caleb Franzen (2022, Colorado Rockies), Nick Stuhr (2024, Oakland Athletics), Nick Brink (2024, Miami Marlins) and Joey Gartrell (2024, Boston Red Sox).

Lambert’s Pilot pitching staff in 2024 was not only near the top in virtually every statistical category in the WCC, but was among the very best in the nation. UP ranked second in the WCC and 19^th in the country in ERA at 4.39, posting four shutouts and ranking second in the league with a 2.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

 

Portland also boasted one of the WCC’s best staffs in 2022, ranking second in the conference in ERA (4.30), hits allowed per nine innings (8.36) and WHIP (1.38).

 

A former pitcher at Washington State, Lambert was the associate head coach/pitching coach for the Corvallis Knights for seven years before making the move to The Bluff. In addition to the position with the Knights, Lambert was the director of baseball operations at the University of Utah from 2015-17.

 

Lambert helped lead the Knights to West Coast League Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2016. The Knights led the league in ERA in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016, and set a then-WCL record with 401 strikeouts in 2011. Lambert was also the pitching coach for the 2011 and 2012 WCL All-Star games.

 

Lambert was an integral part of the staff for the Utes, who won the Pac-12 Championship in 2016 to advance to an NCAA Regional. Lambert provided statistical analysis while at Utah, and he was responsible for a variety of essential tasks.

 

A native of Olympia, Washington, Lambert spent two seasons as the pitching coach at Tacoma Community College. TCC set a new school record for…