Kennesaw State assistant head coach Kevin Erminio completed his 11th season with the Black and Gold in 2017, establishing himself as one of the top handlers of pitchers in the southeast. Erminio, who was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in 2012, and the Owls have won 341 games and has led his pitching staff to one of the best in the conference.
Under Erminio’s guidance in 2017, the Owls totaled a 5.16 ERA and tallied 452 strikeouts in 495.2 innings. Kennesaw State’s pitching staff was led by three MLB draft selections, Tony Dibrell (4th round, 127 overall – New York Mets), Mason Ward (34th round, 1018 overall – Pittsburgh Pirates) and Gabe Friese (Free Agent – Milwaukee Brewers). Erminio led the three to combine for 14 wins on the mound and 187 strikeouts. The Owls’ staff tossed four complete games and one shutout (Dibrell) under Erminio, and held opponents to a .267 batting average.
Erminio helped guide a pitching staff in 2016 that led the Owls to an impressive 17-4 mark. The staff finished with an impressive 3.60 ERA in 192.2 innings of work in conference action, helping Kennesaw State earn its first ASUN conference championship in program history.
He guided five relievers with ERA’s under 3.00 and eight wins. Under Erminio’s leadership in the pen, left-hander Richard Lovelady went 2-0 and totaled a 0.92 ERA in ASUN play, and went 4-3 overall with a 2.96 ERA in 37 appearances in 2016 – marking three appearances shy of setting a KSU record for most appearances in a single season and ranked in the top three in the NCAA. Erminio also led right-hander Logan Hutchinson to a 6-1 mark and an impressive 1.17 ERA in conference action, holding opponents to a .143 batting average. The guidance of Erminio also helped closer Erich Stahl to eight saves and a 3.67 ERA on the season.
In 2016, Erminio led starting pitcher Gabe Friese to a spot on the All-Conference Second Team, guiding the righty to a 6-2 record with a 4.35 ERA. Friese struck out 61 batters in 72.1 innings of work in 13 starts.
Recently, in 2015, Erminio led Travis Bergen and Jordan Hillyer to First Team All-Conference selections and 2015 MLB Draft selections. The two combined for 176 strikeouts in 2015, the most in the Atlantic Sun for a duo. In addition, Hillyer and Bergen combined for six complete games and pitched 189.1 combined innings on the hill. Bergen was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays 212th overall, while Hillyer was picked by the Miami Marlins 416th overall. In addition, Erminio led Will Lowman to seven saves as the closer role, and was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round (586 overall).
Erminio’s career was may have been highlighted with a remarkable 2014 season, leading the staff to an ERA of 3.50, which saw KSU take its first ever A-Sun Championship as well as the NCAA Division I Tallahassee Regional.
Erminio came to the Kennesaw State coaching staff after spending the 2006 season as the pitching coach at Miami (Ohio) where his staff led the Mid-American Conference in earned run average. The trend continued in 2007, as the Owls led the Atlantic Sun in ERA and strikeouts.
The success of Erminio can be traced to the number of pitchers he has had selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Under his tutelage, 21 KSU pitchers have been selected, with his deepest class coming in 2009 when four of his pitchers, Chad Jenkins, Kyle Heckathorn, Kenny Faulk and Justin Edwards were chosen. Jenkins was selected as the No. 20 overall pick, while Heckathorn was taken with the 47th pick in the supplemental first round.
Erminio has had 13 pitchers named to the A-Sun All Conference team, and has had 13 members of his pitching staff earn A-Sun Conference Pitcher-of-the-Week honors, while Jenkins was named the A-Sun Pitcher of the Year in 2009.
Before arriving at Kennesaw State, Erminio served as pitching coach at Middle Tennessee State for five seasons (2001-05) where he was a part of two Sun Belt Conference regular season championship teams and one tournament championship squad. During his time at MTSU, three Blue Raider squads that advanced to the NCAA Regionals and his staff led the conference in ERA in 2001 and 2004.
Prior to MTSU, Erminio was the pitching coach at Berry College (1999-2000), where he helped his team advance to the regionals. He began his coaching career at Tusculum College (1992-95) as an assistant coach before joining the Clemson University staff as a volunteer assistant in 1996. The Tigers would advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska that season.
Erminio earned a B.S. in Biology in 1991 from Tusculum, where he was an all-conference shortstop. He has a Master's Degree in Education and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
Erminio lives in Acworth, Ga., and has two sons, Ryan and Jack.
