Former Cincinnati Reds organization pitcher and Embry-Riddle University assistant coach Dave Therneau is in his fifth year as pitching coach at Stetson University. He was promoted to Associate Head Coach following the Hatters' record setting 2018 season.
After an impressive debut with the Hatters in 2016, Therneau and his pitching staff were even better in 2017, but the 2018 campaign was spectacular.
In addition to winning the ASUN regular season and tournament titles, the Hatters also hosted and won an NCAA Regional for the first time. The team tied the program record with 48 wins and, for the third straight year, broke the school record for strikeouts in a season.
Stetson hurlers were a major part of the Hatters' success in 2018, which is why five of them were drafted after the season.
Logan Gilbert became the first back-to-back ASUN Pitcher of the Year winner in league history. A consensus All-American, he also became the highest drafted player in program history when he was selected with the 14th selection of the first round by the Seattle Mariners.
Gilbert led all of Division I with 163 strikeouts, joining with Jack Perkins and Mitchell Senger to make the Hatters just the second program in NCAA history to have three hurlers record 100 or more strikeouts in consecutive seasons (Rice, 2002-03).
Brooks Wilson, in addition to being named ASUN Player of the Year, tied for the NCAA lead with a Stetson and ASUN record 20 saves. Wilson, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Regional despite not pitching, was also selected as the John Olerud Award Winner, given annually to the best two-way player in the nation.
The Hatters tied for the NCAA lead, and tied the school record, with nine shutouts during the year and the staff posted the lowest team ERA (2.66) of the aluminum bat era, leading the NCAA.
In addition to shutouts, strikeouts, saves and ERA, the Hatters led the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.81) and WHIP (1.11). Stetson was third in the nation in K/9 innings (10.5) and K-to-BB ratio (3.31) and was fourth in winning percentage (.787). The Hatters also allowed the lowest opponent batting average (.207) and allowed the fewest extra-base hits (90) in the aluminum bat era.
In addition to Gilbert, Stetson pitchers Wilson (7th round to Atlanta), Perkins (11th round to Philadelphia), Ben Onyshko (24th round to Seattle) and Joey Gonzalez (28th round to Houston) were among the six Hatters selected in the MLB Draft.
The Hatters dominated the ASUN Pitcher of the Week award in 2018 with Mitchell Senger (3), Gilbert (2) and Perkins (1) all earning the award.
Senger, in just his second college start, threw the first no-hitter for Stetson in more than 30 years, and then closed out the season with a complete-game shutout of North Florida in the ASUN Tournament championship game. Senger was selected to play for the Team USA Collegiate National Team, becoming just the second Stetson player to receive that honor.
In 2017, Gilbert earned ASUN Pitcher of the Year and All-America honors after finishing the season 10-0 with a 2.02 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 89 innings. Gilbert burst on the national scene in April when he tossed a one-hitter and struck out 18 against FGCU.
In addition to Gilbert’s improvement, Therneau tutored a pitching staff which struck out a school-record 538 batters. Gilbert, Brooks Wilson (137) and Jack Perkins (108) – Stetson’s three weekend starters – each struck out over 100 batters for the season.
Overall in 2017, the Hatters posted their lowest team ERA (3.80) since 1996.
In his first season at Stetson, the Hatters saw a .4 runs per game on the team ERA to go with a better than 100 strikeout improvement from the pitching staff. Two members of the Stetson staff from 2016 - Walker Sheller (Royals) and Mitchell Jordan (Athletics) - were drafted after the season.
In helping the Hatters to the 2016 ASUN Tournament Championship, he kept his streak of collegiate seasons with a championship alive. In his career, every collegiate season he has been a part of as a player or coach has ended in a title.
Therneau recently enjoyed a highly successful eight-year stint as the pitching coach at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. The Eagles went a combined 360-135 (.727) during that stretch and made seven trips to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
During his tenure at Embry-Riddle, Therneau’s pitchers combined to earn 17 All-American honors, while eight were selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Among those picks was Daniel Poncedeleon, who made his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018 with seven no-hit innings against Cincinnati almost one year to the day after being struck in the head by a line drive and needing emergency surgery.
Therneau also tutored Eagle pitchers who claimed a combined 27 All-Conference honors, including three consecutive Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year accolades from 2009-11. In addition, an Eagle was named the league’s Pitcher of the Week 36 times during Therneau’s tenure.
In 2010, Embry-Riddle’s pitching staff led the nation in ERA at 2.63, and the Eagles ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in ERA in seven of Therneau’s eight seasons.
Therneau's coaching career began in 2004 when he served as a player-coach with the Independent San Angelo Colts. He then served as a head coach in the Strike Zone Upper Deck Collegiate League from 2005-06.
Therneau was drafted in the ninth round by Cincinnati in 1998 and was one of the fastest moving pitchers in the Reds organization. After starting his career in the Pioneer League in Billings, Mont., Therneau went from Class-A Rockford to Class-AAA Indianapolis in a matter of months in 1999.
In Rockford, Therneau went 12-3 and helped lead the Reds to a first-half division title. He then was promoted to AA-Chattanooga, where he went 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in three starts. That performance earned him another promotion to Indianapolis, where he finished the season with an overall record of 14-5.
In 2000, an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery brought Therneau’s career to an abrupt halt. He was able to compete after extensive rehab, helping pitch the Schaumberg Flyers to the Northern League playoffs in 2003 and the New Jersey Jackals to a Northeast League title in 2004.
Therneau was an All-American pitcher at Bellevue (Neb.) University, helping lead the Bruins to a third-place finish at the NAIA World Series in 1998. He also earned all-conference, all-region, and NAIA all-tournament team honors.
Prior to Bellevue, Therneau was undefeated on the mound for Big 12 Champion Texas Tech in 1997. He also pitched in the Jayhawk Summer League, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
The Milwaukee Brewers selected Therneau in the 28th round of the 1994 draft. However, the right-hander attended Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas, where he was a two-time all-conference performer. The Florida Marlins selected him in the 27th round of the 1995 draft.
Therneau was an All-State selection at Denton High School in 1994. He also played with the USA Juniors squad that traveled to Japan to take on the Japanese national team in 1996.
Therneau graduated from Bellevue University in 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication.
