Connor Lambert - Pitching Coach - Staff Directory - University of Washington Athletics

Staff Directory

Connor Lambert

Title:
Pitching Coach
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Connor Lambert proved his reputation as one of the best pitching coaches in the country in his first season at the helm of the UW pitching staff in 2025. The team finished second out of 17 teams in the Big Ten in ERA and fewest runs allowed.

Lambert guided Max Banks and Isaac Yeager to all-conference honors while the team improved its year-to-year runs prevented by over a full run per game, going from 6.3 runs allowed per game in 2024 to 5.1 in 2025.

Prior to arriving on Montlake, Lambert spent seven seasons at the University of Portland as the pitching coach. The program began a great improvement upon his arrival in 2017 going from decades of mediocrity to rising to one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference.

In 2024, the Pilots had all three starters selected in the MLB Draft. From 2021 to 2024, Portland had the best ERA in the WCC and in 2022 and 2024 Pilot pitchers were named the Conference Pitchers of the Year.

Lambert led the Pilots to each of the program's top five seasons for strike outs per 9 innings in history. In 2024, he was recognized as one of the nation’s top 100 assistant coaches by D1Baseball.com.

A former pitcher at Washington State, Lambert was the associate head coach/pitching coach for the Corvallis Knights for seven years before making the move to The Bluff. In addition to his position with the Knights, Lambert was the director of baseball operations at the University of Utah from 2015-17.

Lambert helped lead the Knights to West Coast League Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2016. The Knights led the league in ERA in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016, and set a then-WCL record with 401 strikeouts in 2011. Lambert was also the pitching coach for the 2011 and 2012 WCL All-Star games.

Lambert was an integral part of the staff for the Utes, who won the Pac-12 Championship in 2016 to advance to an NCAA Regional. Lambert provided statistical analysis while at Utah, and he was responsible for a variety of essential tasks.

A native of Olympia, Washington, Lambert spent two seasons as the pitching coach at Tacoma Community College. TCC set a new school record for wins in 2014 (39) and at one point had a 27-game win streak with seven straight shutouts. The Titans were ranked as high as No. 17 in the Perfect Game JUCO Poll, their highest national ranking ever.

As a pitcher at Washington State (2007-10), Lambert made 60 appearances with seven starts, going 11-3 during his career on the mound. As a senior team captain, he went 5-1 with two saves and a 3.53 ERA. He earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors as a freshman in 2007 after striking out 10 in a win over Air Force, which was his first collegiate start.

Lambert helped lead WSU to NCAA appearances in 2009 and 2010, pitching in six games during regional competition. He also worked as a graduate assistant coach for the Cougars in 2011, serving as the assistant pitching coach and bullpen coach.