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Creighton Baseball Camps
Coaching Staff
Rob Smith
Rob Smith will enter his fourth season as an assistant coach at Creighton in 2010, where he works as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his first three seasons with the Bluejays, he has coached three All-Americans, one freshman All-American, eight all-MVC selections, two MVC Newcomer of the Year awards and had two players drafted by Major League teams.
Smith's pitching staff has finished in the top-14 in each of his first three seasons at CU, including a 13th place finish to close the 2009 season. The group has combined for a 3.95 ERA since he joined the Creighton staff, which ranks 15th-best nationally. In his three years, his rotations have allowed betweeen just 214 and 219 earned runs every season, while pitching up to as much as 540.1 innings.
Last season Creighton was as high as seventh in the country in ERA entering May after a three-game sweep at Illinois State. Smith also tutored freshman Brandon Koenigstein who threw just the fourth no-hitter in Creighton history, and the first complete-game no-no since 1971.
The Bluejay pitchers have also showed endurance as reliever Jack VanLeur finished the season tied for fifth in the NCAA in appearances with 36, while Bob Lackovic was tied for eighth with 34.
In 2008, Creighton finished 14th in the nation in ERA for the second consecutive year. The staff, led by All-American and 20th round draft pick Pat Venditte while, also finished 16th in the nation for walks allowed per nine innings and 30th in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings. Both marks were good for second in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team also finished third in the league in strikeouts.
Individually the Bluejays boasted the best pitcher in the MVC in terms of ERA as junior Mike Nihsen led the league in 2008 with a 2.30 mark in 70.1 innings.
In 2007 the staff picked up 21 saves in relief to set a new school record. Reliever Pat Venditte and starter Ben Mancuso both earned All-America honors following the season after posting 1.88 and 2.34 ERAs, respectively. The country's only known switch-pitcher, Venditte recorded a stretch of 43.2 scoreless innings, was named the MVP of the MVC Tournament, and set a school record for lowest ERA in a season. Mancuso had a team-best 10 victories in 2007 and he recorded seven scoreless outings in 13 appearances.
Smith also instructed freshman right-hander Casey Schmidt, who finished 6-1 and earned Freshman All-American accolades. Friday starter Marc Lewis was selected in the 20th round of the Major League draft after finishing with an 8-3 record. Lewis was joined by Venditte, Mancuso, and reliever Andy Masten to give Creighton four pitchers on the All-MVC first team. Masten was named the league's newcomer of the year after finishing with 16 saves to tie for second-most in the country. His 16 saves also set Creighton's school record and ranked third-most in MVC history for a season.
Smith came to Creighton after a five-year stint at Purdue University. Smith arrived at Purdue in the fall of 2001 and spent the last five seasons training the Boilermaker pitching staff. In his last season in West Lafayette, Purdue had its most wins since 2001 (31) and three pitchers were named all-conference. Three members of his pitching staff were drafted, tying a school-record. In 2002, Purdue hurler Chadd Blasko was picked in the supplemental first round, 36th overall, making him Purdue's highest draftee since 1993.
Purdue's staff ERA dropped by more than 1.7 runs per game in Smith’s five seasons, going from 5.95 in 2002 all the way down to 4.23 in 2006. The 2006 team ERA was Purdue's fourth-best staff mark since the introduction of aluminum bats in 1974. Purdue's 2005 league ERA of 3.29 was more than one full run better than any other staff in the Big Ten.
Under his guidance, the 2005 and 2006 Boilermaker staffs each had strikeout to walk ratios of 2-to-1 or better for just the third and fourth times since 1974. Prior to working at Purdue, Smith spent two seasons as manager and general manager of the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League. In 2001 he guided the team to its first league championship, while also setting a franchise record with 37 wins. His teams also set club records for ERA both seasons.
Smith played college ball at Vincennes University from 1991-94 and earned his college degree at Indiana University in 1998. Smith also served as a volunteer assistant coach at Purdue in 1999, where he worked with pitchers, catchers and recruiting.
He and his wife, RaeAnna, have three daughters (Sierra, Serena, Isabelle) and one son (Tyson).
Craig Moore
A native of Fremont, Nebraska , Moore comes to Creighton following a four-year stint as head coach at Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas. Moore will work primarily with the outfielders and the hitters. While at WTC, Moore helped the program reach new heights. The 2010 squad set school records for both overall wins (26) and conference wins (15). In each of the four years that Moore was at WTC, the teams win total increased. He coached 4 players overall who were selected in the MLB draft and also saw several of his 2nd year guys transfer onto Division I and Division II schools. The Westerners also made strides in the classroom, as 6 out of the 8 semesters Moore was in charge saw the group carry a GPA of 3.0 or better. Moore also served as an assistant athletic director during his tenure for the Westerners, overseeing game management and promotions.
Prior to his stint at WTC, Moore spent three seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Tennessee Tech University. While with the Golden Eagles, Moore oversaw several other administrative duties to go along with his coaching of the hitters and infielders. As part of a brand new staff, Moore helped turn Tech into a future regional team, as his last recruiting class at Tech were members of the 2009 regional team. Also, the staff did a tremendous job of increasing the talent level in the program. The first three recruiting classes produced a total of 5 drafted players and several other all-conference nominees. In the classroom, Tech improved their GPA each year, with a program best at the time coming in the Fall of 2005.
Moore got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. Moore jumped into a program that was starting from scratch. In the program’s first year, the team went a dismal 0-13. The second year was a season of first’s, however, as the Storm won the program’s first-ever regular season game and conference game. LEC would wind up winning a total of 7 games, to finish the year at 7-12. Moore oversaw the program grow from 12 members in the initial year, to over 25 by the 2nd season.
Moore was drafted in the 1996 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals following his high school career at Archbishop Bergan High School. Foregoing that opportunity, Moore chose to play college baseball at the University of Nebraska. Moore was a 4-year letter winner for the Huskers, and shares the school record for RBI’s in a game with 10 against Chicago State. Moore played in 144 career games, while earning an academic all-conference pick his freshman year. His career was capped off with the Huskers winning the 1999 Big 12 tournament championship.
Moore holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master’s degree from Lake Erie College in business administration. Moore and his wife, Alison, have one son, Jaxon.
