P.J. Finigan

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Hometown: Springfield, Ill. Last College: Southern Illinois, 2005 Position: Assistant Coach

Experience: 2nd Season

Last updated on Nov. 17, 2011

One of the best players in program history, P.J. Finigan enters his second season as pitching coach for SIU.

An infielder/pitcher for the Salukis from 2002-05, he was the 2005 Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He helped the Salukis to three 30-win seasons before he spent four seasons in the Tigers organization.

In 2011, his first season as pitching coach, his impact was felt immediately. Working with just one senior and 10 freshmen or sophomores on the 11-man pitching staff, which was the third smallest in the nation, Finigan held the unit together and saw the staff lower its ERA from 6.62 in 2010 to 4.53 in his first season.

Finigan was instrumental in the development of Cody Forsythe between his freshman and sophomore seasons. In 2011 Forsythe became the first Saluki pitcher to be named to the All-MVC first team since Finigan in 2005. Forsythe led the MVC in the regular season with a 2.08 ERA and had a league-high six conference victories in seven MVC starts.

Forsythe walked just 11 of the 429 batters he faced in 2011 and ranked 10th nationally in fewest walks per nine innings. He finished his stellar sophomore season with a 2.35 ERA and 8-5 overall record while recording 69 strikeouts in 103.1 innings.

In Finigan's first season as pitching coach, the Salukis issued 173 walks, the lowest total in the Missouri Valley Conference and the lowest total by an SIU team since 2007. The Salukis also recorded 14 saves, the third most in school history, despite season-ending injuries to key relievers. Tyler Dray stepped into the closer's role and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, an award that Finigan won in 2002.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Finigan spent four seasons in the Detroit Tigers organization. Following his senior season at SIU, he was selected by the Tigers in the seventh round (210th overall) in the 2005 draft. Finigan was the first pitcher of his draft class to reach double-A, doing so in 2006. He remained there until 2007, when he went on the disabled list for two seasons. Injuries to his elbow and three surgeries, including two Tommy John surgeries, forced him to retire from playing.

Finigan had a monster senior season at the plate for Southern in 2005, leading the MVC with a .386 batting average. He had 48 RBIs, four triples and six home runs that year.

However, he did his real damage on the mound. He posted a 9-3 record with a 3.24 ERA. Finigan's four complete games that year are the second most by a Saluki since 1991. That season he also struck out 107 batters in 105 innings pitched and finished his career with a 12-5 record. He played in 218 games, the fifth-most by a Saluki in program history.

Finigan also ranks fourth at SIU in career at-bats (837), fifth in doubles (47) and seventh in hits (251), triples (13) and RBIs (135).

A Springfield native, Finigan and his wife, Courtney, were married in the fall of 2010. They currently reside in Energy, Ill.