A former collegiate standout and three-time Major League Baseball draftee, Brett Lawler enters his 10th season on the Roadrunners’ coaching staff. Lawler began his tenure at UTSA working with the program’s hitters, catchers and outfielders and then transitioned to the pitching staff in 2013.
Since taking over the pitching staff, the Roadrunners have registered three of the top-5 ERA’s in program history and has mentored five of the program’s last eight players to be selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.
In 2014, Lawler guided the pitching staff to the program’s lowest mark of a 2.84 ERA after the team finished 35-26. That season, the team also logged the most innings pitched (547.1) and most strikeouts (435) in school history while finishing with the second best mark of 173 earned runs allowed.
Right-handed pitcher Brock Hartson paced the Roadrunners with a 2.24 ERA in 104.1 innings of work, allowing only 26 earned runs. He struck out 88 batters and went 7-3 en route to second team All-Conference USA accolades. Hartson would eventually go on to be selected in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft in the 21st round to the Cleveland Indians.
The following season, UTSA posted a 33-25 overall record and saw right-handed pitcher Logan Onda become the all-time leader in appearances (95), surpassing Matt Sims’ previous mark of 85 career appearances. The Roadrunners pitching staff matched the third-best mark in shutouts with five, which ranked 35th in the NCAA. Freshman Chance Kirby was named to the league’s all-freshman team after a spectacular performance at No. 16 Rice. Kirby held the Owls to a lone run in a 2-1 victory as he sat down nine batters and did not allow a walk through nine innings.
In his first season overseeing the pitching staff, the Roadrunners went 35-25 and advanced to their third NCAA regional after capturing the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship crown. He guided the pitching staff to a 4.35 ERA, the then third lowest mark in program history and lowest since the 2006 season.
Hartson anchored the staff with a 9-5 record and a 3.40 ERA, which earned him Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and second team All-WAC honors. The bullpen accounted for 20 of UTSA’s 35 victories and closer Matt Sims posted a 2.31 ERA and limited opposing hitters to a .176 batting average in his 58.1 innings of work.
The 2011 campaign saw Riley Good garner Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors, as he posted program frosh records with 86 hits (third in NCAA among freshman) and 16 stolen bases. In addition, Ryan Hutson became the program’s all-time home run leader after belting three on the final day of the regular season, which earned him National Co-Hitter of the Week accolades (May 24).
Ryan Dalton earned 2010 Southland Freshman of the Year and consensus freshman All-American accolades after tying for the conference lead with a UTSA frosh record 17 home runs (second in NCAA among freshman) and leading the Birds with 51 RBI. The Roadrunners launched a Southland-best 71 long balls in just 50 games and that total ranks second in school history. Hutson (first team) and Ryan Rummel (third team) also earned postseason honors from the league.
UTSA rewrote the record books yet again in 2009, setting new program standards for batting average (.317), hits (661), home runs (89), total bases (1,109) and slugging percentage (.532), while just missing school records for runs (461), doubles (131) and RBI (409). The Birds easily shattered the previous mark for long balls, 66 in 1999 (60 games), doing so in the season’s 49th contest.
That performance came on the heels of one of the most prolific offensive years on school record in 2008. The Roadrunners set new program marks for batting average (.316), runs (467), hits (647), doubles (134), RBI (419), total bases (1,005) and slugging percentage (.490), while finishing second in home runs (64) and on-base percentage (.397).
A two-year starter at Ark.-Little Rock, Lawler played in 106 games as a Trojan. Prior to that, he helped lead San Jacinto College to a runner-up finish at the 2004 NJCAA World Series. The College Station native was an all-state selection as a senior and helped A&M Consolidated High School attain a No. 1 national ranking by Baseball America that season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the 34th round of the 2003 MLB Draft and in the 28th round in 2004. The Florida Marlins then called his name in the 42nd round in 2007 and played for one season at the rookie level affiliate Gulf Coast Marlins.
Lawler comes from a baseball family, as his father, Jim, was the head coach at UALR from 2006-08 after serving as an assistant at Texas A&M for 21 years under legendary coach Mark Johnson. His brother, Travis, pitched in the St. Louis Cardinals organization for three seasons after being selected in the 32nd round of the MLB Draft in June 2009.
Lawler earned his bachelor’s degree in health science from UALR in May 2007 and finished his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in kinesiology two years later at UTSA. He is married to the former Jennifer Haney and they have three children, Tyler and twins Halle and Brooks.