ROCHESTER, Mich. – Justin Karn has been promoted to Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the Oakland baseball team announced Head Coach Colin Kaline. Karn spent past two seasons as a Volunteer Assistant Coach.
 
"I am thrilled to promote Justin to the full-time Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator position. He has been an instrumental part of the program for the past two years and has a proven track record of being able to manage the pitching staff in addition to recruiting and developing student-athletes at a very high level," said Kaline. "The vision he has for the program aligns with mine and I am excited to move the program forward with him in this role."
 
Under Karn's direction, the 2019 Oakland pitching staff saw Beau Keathley earn All-Horizon League First Team honors after leading the team and ranking fourth in the league in strikeouts (83), while being selected as one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week and Nike® Horizon League Pitcher of the Week twice. Andrew Hoffmann also ranked third on the team in strikeouts (46) earning All-Freshmen Team honors. In 2018, Jake Lee was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth round (pick 271) of the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Lee earned All-Horizon League Second Team honors after leading the league in strikeouts (112) and breaking the single-season school strikeout record.
 
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to be named as the Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Oakland University," said Karn. "I look forward to helping Colin build a championship caliber program both on and off the field."
 
Prior to joining Oakland, Karn was the pitching coach at Ava Maria for two years (2015-17) helping the school set program highs in total strikeouts. His 2015 and 2016 recruiting classes ranked No. 2 and No. 4 respectively in the nation by Perfect Game. Under his direction, Justin Bureau set the school's single season saves record followed by Austin Munn who ranked second in career strikeouts and Christian Dufresne who posted the third best strikeout total in program history.
 
Karn also served as the pitching coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College from 2012-14 where he helped the team win back-to-back conference championships for the first time in program history in 2013 and 2014 and was a Division II College World Series participant in 2014. His 2014 recruiting class featured three future All-Americans including two MLB draft picks and five total professional players.
 
Karn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Iona College where he was a four-year baseball starter and three-year captain while earning All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Academic honors.
 
Karn and his wife Lauren, who is the head coach for the Oakland softball team, reside in Auburn Hills, Mich.
 
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