Scott Norwood, UALR’s head baseball coach, has hired a second assistant coach – Dirk Kinney from Ouachita Baptist University.

Kinney spent the past season as Norwood’s pitching coach at OBU, helping the Tigers to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division II College World Series.

In his only season at OBU, Kinney helped the Tigers to a school-record 51-16 campaign, which included the school’s first-ever trip to the College World Series. OBU ended the 2008 season ranked No. 2 in the country after finishing as runner-up to Mount Olive in the series.

“Dirk is coming with me from Ouachita Baptist, and brings a lot of pitching experience and expertise with him that will certainly help us solidify this program,” said Norwood. “He’s an excellent recruiter with contacts across the country. He’s passionate about what he does and that certainly helps him in recruiting.”

Under Kinney’s guidance, OBU starter Steve Smith compiled a 10-1 record with 143 strikeouts and a 2.00 earned run average. Smith was named honorable mention All-America at season’s end, and received the Most Valuable Player award at the College World Series. He also became the first OBU player chosen in the Major League Baseball  Draft, when the Cleveland Indians selected him in the 25th round.