47  Josh Reynolds Position: Pitching Coach Experience: Third Season Alma Mater: Kansas State '06

An experienced pitching coach and tireless recruiter, Josh Reynolds enters his third season guiding the Kansas State pitching staff and his sixth overall with the Wildcat baseball program. Following a successful two-year stint at Evansville, Reynolds was hired in January 2011 and hit the ground running.

A volunteer assistant coach at K-State during the 2005 and 2006 seasons and a graduate manager in 2008, Reynolds' pitching staff had one of the best seasons in school history in 2011 as K-State ended the year with a 4.26 team ERA, which was the third-lowest in school history since the introduction of the aluminum bat in 1977. Additionally, the Wildcats tallied 449 strikeouts - just four shy of the school record - and surrendered the second fewest hits per nine innings (9.3) and second lowest opponent batting average (.269) since 1977.

Under Reynolds' tutelage, relief pitchers James Allen (first team) and Evan Marshall (second team) earned All-Big 12 honors. Allen was also named a First Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and earned second team honors from Collegiate Baseball. Both Marshall and Allen were taken in the top 10 rounds of the 2011 MLB Draft as Marshall was drafted in the fourth round by Arizona and Allen was taken in the seventh round by Cincinnati. Additionally, starting pitcher Kyle Hunter was selected in the 31st round by Seattle.

Due in part to Reynolds' guidance, Allen, Marshall and Hunter are listed prominently in the K-State record book. Allen broke the K-State single-season (17) and career (31) marks in saves, while he is sixth in school history in career ERA (2.92) among pitchers with a minimum of two years and 100 innings pitched. The closer also ranks second in career relief appearances with 81 and third in single-season relief appearances with 29.

Marshall finished second in school history with 30 relief appearances in 2011, and remained consistent under the direction of Reynolds as he finished third in K-State history with an ERA of 1.62 in 2011. Hunter, who finished ninth in school history with 167 career strikeouts, was eighth in career wins with 15, including five in 2011.

Following a success first season as the team's pitching coach in 2011, Reynolds followed that up by seeing his 2012 pitching staff rank in the top 10 of four school categories. K-State totaled 423 strikeouts to rank fourth, while the Wildcats were 10th in ERA (5.47), fewest walks per nine innings (3.7) and fewest hits per nine innings (10.1).

Reynolds guided Kayvon Bahramzadeh, who was the team's top starting pitcher, to draft status as he was taken in the 24th round by the Oakland Athletics. Prior to being drafted, Bahramzadeh placed in the top 10 in school history in three career categories as he was fourth games started (36), sixth in strikeouts (185) and 10th in appearances (60).

Aside from tutoring the team's top starter to draft status, Reynolds was also outstanding in building for the future as freshman Nate Williams tallied six saves to rank ninth in school history and set the freshman record, besting an eventual All-American in Allen.

Reynolds spent the 2007 as the pitching coach at Northeast Texas Community College. Following the 2008 season as the graduate manager in Manhattan, Reynolds was hired as the pitching coach at Evansville.

Reynolds made a significant impact on the UE program, producing four All-Missouri Valley Conference pitchers during his stint, the second-highest total among league schools over the two-year period. Relief pitchers Tom Heithoff (2009, 2010), Corey Davisson (2010) and J.R. Carbonell (2009) earned All-MVC pitching honors for UE, while Davisson tied Evansville's single-season records for both appearances (33) and winning percentage (9-1, .900) in 2010 under Reynolds' tutelage. Heithoff also emerged as one of the top closers in school history under Reynolds as he totaled 18 saves in his two years to rank second all-time in Evansville history.

The Purple Aces staff also dropped its team ERA by over a full point during Reynolds' two years, while UE improved nearly 150 spots in the national rankings in hits allowed under his watch.

Reynolds excelled on the mound as a pitcher at Division II power University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State) from 1998 through 2000 under now K-State head coach Brad Hill. He was a two-time MIAA and All-America pitcher for the Mules, while setting a school record with 32 career victories in just three years. Reynolds was selected in the third round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Mets after his junior year, but not before ranking among Central Missouri's career leaders in victories, innings pitched (248.0) and strikeouts (193). Reynolds, who still ranks among the Mules' top five in all three categories, was inducted into the school's athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

Following college, Reynolds pitched professionally for parts of five seasons in the New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox organizations. He posted a career record of 21-15 with a 4.14 ERA as both a starter and a reliever, while tallying nearly a three-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio (211 strikeouts to 72 walks) as a professional.

Reynolds earned his bachelor's degree in social sciences from Kansas State in 2006. He and his wife, Ashleigh, were married in 2008 and the couple had their first daughter, Azlynn Brooke, on December 11, 2011.