Former professional pitcher and Michigan State assistant TomLipari is entering his second season as Youngstown State's topassistant coach.
He oversees development of the Penguins' pitching staff andserves as the recruiting coordinator. He's been very successful inboth realms in his short stint on campus.
Lipari helped develop Phil Klein into a premier power pitcher inthe Horizon League as the right-hander was arguably theconference's most-improved player. Klein went 5-2 with a 4.62 ERAwith 80 strikeouts in 76 innings in his sophomore campaign aftergoing 1-1 with an 11.09 ERA as a freshman. He was even better inHorizon League games in 2009, going 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA and 61strikeouts in 56.1 innings. Klein's 9.5 strikeouts per nine inningsled all league starters.
Lipari also groomed two young pitchers into bullpen staples bythe end of the season. Freshman Jim Kinnick did not allow an earnedrun in his final 9.1 innings to close out the regular season.Junior Anthony Munoz, in his first season on the mound as aconverted shortstop, was not scored upon in any of his last sevenappearances that spanned 7.2 innings.
Lipari's work has not gone unnoticed in the professional ranks.Major League Baseball scouts have said as many as four YSU pitcherscould be drafted following the 2010 season. Eight pitchers underLipari's tutelage have gone on to play professionally.
On the recruiting trail, Lipari has helped reshape the Penguins'roster. Twenty-two of YSU's 33 players have come in on Lipari'swatch. Lipari also helped head coach Rich Pasquale sign a promisinggroup of seven players to the 2011 squad.
Before coming to YSU, Lipari was a volunteer assistant atMichigan State during the 2008 season. For the Spartans, he wascharged with handling the day-to-day development of the pitchingstaff both on and off the field. He also served as the campcoordinator.
Under Lipari's leadership, Spartans junior Chris Cullen wasrecognized as a Third-Team All-Big Ten selection after rankingsixth in the conference with a 3.95 ERA.
Prior to his stint at Michigan State, Lipari was the pitchingcoach for the St. Cloud Riverbats, who won the NorthwoodsCollegiate Summer League championship. He also spent two seasons asa pitching coach and recruiter for Morningside College in SiouxCity, Iowa.
Lipari also helped establish and was an instructor with TotalBaseball Development, a fall baseball league for high schoolplayers in Sioux City.
Lipari, a native of Omaha, Neb., also enjoyed a prolific playingcareer. After leading Indian Hills Junior College (Centerville,Iowa) to a third-place finish in the NJCAA World Series, he wasdrafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the amateur playerdraft in 1998.
Opting not to sign, he attended the University of New Orleansfor two seasons in which he became the only pitcher in Privateershistory to throw a nine inning no-hitter and the fourth pitcher inschool history to record more than 100 strikeouts in a season.
Lipari signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres in 2002and spent two seasons in their farm system. He later signed withthe Houston Astros in 2004 and the Sioux City Explorers of theAmerican Association Independent Baseball League.
Lipari earned his bachelor's degree in general studies from UNOin 2007. He married the former Rebecca Blackman, a native of Omaha,Neb., in 2006.
