FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Aug. 6, 2010) – Rutgers head baseball coach Fred Hill announced the addition of former Scarlet Knight standout pitcher Bobby Brownlie to the RU coaching staff.
Brownlie will join the Rutgers staff as a student assistant coach.
“We are excited to welcome Bobby to our staff,” said Hill. “He possesses a wealth of knowledge of the game from his days at Rutgers and his career in Major League Baseball. He will be a great asset to our program. He will work with our pitching coach Rick Freeman and the entire pitching staff will benefit greatly from the addition of Bobby.”
“I feel that every step of the way I have had great coaches and have learned a lot of things in the game of baseball and I would like to bring that back and teach young student-athletes what I have learned,” said Brownlie. “I am very excited for the opportunity to stay around baseball and especially to do it at Rutgers, where I enjoyed a great career. It is great to be close to home and once again represent my home state school. I look forward to working with Coach Hill and Coach Freeman and the entire staff to help develop a strong pitching staff.”
A consensus All-American during his career at Rutgers from 2000-02, Brownlie was one of the top pitchers to ever wear a Scarlet Knight uniform. He is painted throughout the RU record books, owning the school record for career strikeouts (235), career shutouts (7), single-season wins (10 in 2000), single-season complete games (8 in 2000), single-season shutouts (4 in 2000) and single-season innings (89 in 2000).
Brownlie also ranks second in career complete games (20) and third in career wins (22), single-season starts (15 in 2000), single-season innings pitched (102.1 in 2000) and career innings pitched (265.1).
Brownlie joined the Scarlet Knights in the fall of 1999 from nearby Edison High School where he was a First Team All-State selection and NJ Pitcher of the Year as a senior. After being selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 26th round of the 1999 draft, Brownlie opted for Rutgers and earned BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and Third Team All-America honors after posting a 10-1 record as a freshman in 2000. As the team’s top starter, Brownlie was the MVP of the 2000 BIG EAST Tournament, hurling a nine-inning shutout to propel Rutgers to a 1-0 win over Seton Hall in the championship game. He posted a perfect 7-0 mark in BIG EAST play as a freshman en route to All-American accolades by Baseball America,Louisville Slugger and Collegiate Baseball. Brownlie fired eight complete games and recorded an earned run average of 2.55 during his first season “On the Banks” – the fourth-lowest among all freshmen in the nation. He was on the mound when Rutgers clinched the 2000 BIG EAST Regular season title.
In the summer of 2000, Brownlie pitched for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League and earned the McNeece Award, given annually to the league’s top professional prospect. He posted a 4-2 record with a league-high 73 strikeouts.
In 2001, Brownlie was 6-3 for the Scarlet Knights, despite missing nearly a month with a fractured finger. In the summer, he joined Team USA and was named the National Summer Player of the Year after posting a 7-0 record with a 0.84 ERA in competition. He led Team USA in wins, innings pitched (53.2) and strikeouts (63) and was second among starters in opponent batting average (.176).
Prior to the 2002 season, Brownlie was featured on the cover of the Baseball America’s college preview issue and named the Louisville Slugger Preseason Player of the Year. He began the season with a 3-1 mark, but biceps tendonitis forced him to miss a start and hindered his effectiveness down the stretch. He finished the season 6-6 with a 3.50 earned run average.
In Brownlie’s three years at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights posted a 116-57-1 record, advancing to the NCAA Championship twice and capturing the BIG EAST Regular-Season and Tournament title in 2000. The right-handed pitcher posted a 22-10 record on the mound.
Brownlie was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the 21st overall pick of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft and decided to forego his final season of eligibility to begin his professional career. He spent seven seasons in Major League Baseball as a member of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves organizations, reaching the AAA level with the Cubs, Nationals and Braves. He was a Double-A All-Star selection with the Washington Nationals in 2008.
The 29-year old Brownlie grew up in Edison, N.J. and now resides in Monroe with his wife Kim. The couple has a two-year old daughter Kaitlyn. He is completing his undergraduate coursework at Rutgers and is expected to receive his degree in May of 2011.
