University of Connecticut Athletics
Blood Inducted into Franklin Pierce Hall of Fame
5/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2010
STORRS, Conn. - University of Connecticut baseball assistant coach, Justin Blood, was inducted into the Franklin Pierce University Athletics Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 2 in Rindge, N.H.
Blood was one of five individuals inducted into the University's Athletics Hall of Fame as he was honored as part of the FPU year-end Athletics banquet, which serves as both the Hall of Fame induction and the end of the year awards ceremony for the current student athletes.
At Franklin Pierce, Blood remains in the top-10 in program history in appearances (38), innings (204.2), complete games (12) and strikeouts (235). In 2001, he struck out a program-record 20 New Hampshire College batters, which still ranks fifth in NCAA Division II single-game history. He and his teammates laid the ground work for the now-nationally prominent Ravens' baseball program.
Blood is in his fifth season coaching at UConn and serves as the Huskies' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. Blood, a former professional baseball player, spent the summer of 2005 as the pitching coach for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League before joining the UConn baseball program in August of 2005.
Under Blood's direction, the UConn pitching staff posted a 3.47 earned run average in 2006, its lowest since the 1989 season. The Huskies' team ERA was good for second in the BIG EAST and 17th in the nation. At the conclusion of the season, Tim Norton and Nick Tucci were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. In addition to those honors, Norton, Tucci and John Slusarz were each taken in the Major League Baseball Draft in June of that year.
In 2009, Blood led the UConn pitching staff to a new single-season record of 455 strikeouts, while posting a program second-best mark of 14 saves. The 2009 season also saw two Husky underclassmen taken in the top-eight rounds of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft (Dan Mahoney - Fourth & Dusty Odenbach - Eighth), while all four 2009 senior hurlers will pitch professionally in 2010 (John Folino - 27th Rnd, St. Louis Cardinals; David Erickson - 32nd Rnd, San Diego Padres; Dennis Accomando - Atlanta Braves; Matt McDonald - Worcester Tornadoes).
Blood was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and excelled in the minor leagues before retiring to pursue coaching on the collegiate level. Upon retirement, Blood had accumulated a 3.97 ERA in 82 games as a minor league player with a 7-4 record. He helped to lead the Inland Empire 66ers to the California League Class A title in 2003, posting a 5-2 record with two saves and a 3.07 ERA with 77 strikeouts and just 27 walks in 58.2 innings out of the bullpen.
The New Hampshire native joined the coaching staff at Quinnipiac University in 2003, serving as a volunteer coach, and then in 2004 he returned to Franklin Pierce University to complete his degree and work as the baseball team's student assistant.
