USM baseball expected to hire Ostrander
Christian Ostrander is soon expected to be named pitching coach at Southern Miss, according to a source close to the situation.
Ostrander, a former head coach at Jones County Junior College, has spent the past two seasons as pitching coach at Louisiana Tech. Last season, he also served as associate head coach under first-year Bulldogs head coach Lane Burroughs.
On Wednesday, Southern Miss baseball coach Scott Berry told the Hattiesburg American a hire has not officially been made. Ostrander could not be reached for comment.
Ostrander is set to replace Michael Federico who accepted the head coach position at Louisiana-Monroe in June after eight seasons with the Golden Eagles.
More:ULM hires Federico as head coach
In his first year at Louisiana Tech, Ostrander’s pitching staff shattered the school record with 496 strikeouts. Prior to joining the Bulldogs’ coaching staff in November 2015, Ostrander spent seven seasons as JCJC’s skipper. During his time in Ellisville, the Bobcats went 255-109, won two MACJC state championships and four division titles.
Ostrander coached current Southern Miss outfielder Mason Irby at JCJC in 2015.
In 2017, Louisiana Tech sported a team earned run average of 4.44, third-lowest in Conference USA.
Southern Miss led the league with a 4.14 team ERA last season and broke the school record in strikeouts with 583.
Ostrander will inherit an overhauled pitching staff at Southern Miss, as the team lost starters Kirk McCarty and Taylor Braley, as well as Hayden Roberts, who was featured as both a starter and a reliever last season.
