Kurt Elbin

Kurt Elbin enters his seventh season on the Virginia Tech baseball coaching staff, having arrived in June 2017 and earned promotion to associate head coach, offense and recruiting coordinator in May 2022. Elbin joined John Szefc's coaching staff after serving as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at VCU.

2022
For the second time during his career, Elbin led his offensive unit to the NCAA Super Regional round as Virginia Tech championed the ACC Coastal Division and the NCAA Blacksburg Regional. The Hokies posted a 45-14 record behind the nation’s second highest slugging percentage (.574), its 11th best batting average (.309) and 18th best on-base percentage (.407).

Elbin’s “Hammerin’ Hokies” raked 126 home runs, ranking as the fifth most in the country (2.14 per game). Seven Hokies totaled double-digit home runs, led by sophomore shortstop Tanner Schobel (19), third-year outfielder Gavin Cross (17) and third-year catcher Cade Hunter (17).

As recruiting coordinator, Elbin witnessed Tech produce eight All-ACC honorees while the program hailed its most decorated All-American class to date, featuring Tanner Schobel (six-time selection), Jack Hurley (four-time), Drue Hackenberg (two-time) and Gavin Cross. Additionally, Hurley and Hackenberg were invited to the 2022 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp with Hurley advancing to the international roster in Europe.

During the 2022 MLB Draft, Elbin saw four position players come off the board through the opening five rounds, headlined by Gavin Cross becoming Tech’s highest all-time selection at No. 9 overall (Kansas City Royals). Tanner Schobel followed at No. 68 overall while Nick Biddison and Cade Hunter were chosen during the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively.
 
2021
Virginia Tech finished with the sixth best batting average in the ACC (.271) while achieving the third most hit batsmen in the conference (65). The Hokies paced among the top 75 NCAA Division I programs in doubles (97) and doubles per game (1.87), setting the foundation for their championship season in 2022.

Under Elbin’s direction, Gavin Cross became Tech’s first All-ACC First Team honoree en route to being named to the 2021 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. During the 2021 MLB Draft, Elbin witnessed infielder T.J. Rumfield earn selection during the 12th round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

2020
Elbin had Tech’s offense off to a hot start through the first 16 games of the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the remainder of the campaign. The Hokies ranked among the top 100 NCAA Division I programs in eight major statistical categories, including 10th in stolen bases (36), 54th in scoring (6.9 runs per game), 59th in runs (100), 68th in batting average (.280), 78th in hits (150), 83rd in on-base percentage (.376), 87th in triples (four) and 88th in walks (75).

Five times the offense scored at least 10 runs in a game, aided by the team's aggressiveness on the base paths. The stolen base total of 36, in just 16 games, was already the second most in a single season over the last six years (39 in 2018), while the team stole an ACC-best eight in a game against Bryant (Feb. 28), the most since the school record 10 against St. Louis in 1981.
 
2019
Elbin helped Tech finish among the top 35 programs in hit batsmen for the second consecutive year while witnessing significant increases in walks and on-base percentage. The Hokies elevated their on-base percentage from .355 in 2018 to .380 in 2019 (58th nationally).
 
Tech’s 265 walks was the most ever drawn by a Tech team during an ACC season (since 2005), while the hit by pitch and on-base percentage was the third-best in the 15 years since the Hokies joined the league. Tech also turned in a school record .975 fielding percentage in 2019, finishing 57th in the country in the category, up from a .963 percentage (235th) a season before.

Elbin has recruited/coached 25 players who have been chosen in the MLB Draft, including 2020 fourth-round choice Carson Taylor, pick No. 130 by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At VCU
Elbin had worked the prior five seasons at VCU (2013-17) and helped head coach Shawn Stiffler and the Rams to four straight 35-plus win seasons, one conference regular season title, one conference tournament title and an NCAA Regional title in 2015 as the team advanced to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

Under Elbin’s tutelage, the 2017 Rams’ offense led the Atlantic 10 Conference in both batting average (.290, 60th in the nation) and on-base percentage (.384, 43rd) and was 14th in the country, first in the league, with 85 hit batsmen. It was the third time in the past four seasons the team had finished in the top 100 in batting average, including 36th in 2014.

The top two hitters in the A-10 at the end of 2017 were products of Elbin, with senior Logan Farrar at the top with a .365 average that helped him earn the A-10 Player of the Year award, the first ever for the program. He added an A-10 First Team All-Conference honor, an ABCA/Rawlings Division I East All-Region First Team selection and an ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-America accolade to his resume. He was also picked by the Oakland Athletics in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The second-leading hitter in the conference at the end of the season was freshman Paul Witt, a second baseman who hit .374 during the regular season (.361 overall), which helped earn him the A-10 batting crown and the A-10’s Rookie of the Year honor. He added an A-10 Second Team All-Conference selection and a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Freshman All-American honor.

In all, Elbin worked with four guys in 2017 that earned All-Conference honors and during his time at VCU had three players get drafted, including Vimael Machin, at number 239 in 2015, the school’s highest selection since 2008.

During the Rams’ 2015 run towards the program’s first Super Regional appearance, the Black and Gold ranked first in the conference in base on balls (223), hit by pitch (114, also led the nation), hits (622), sacrifice bunts (53), sacrifice flies (31), and was third in runs (364).

Nationally, the Rams finished in the top 100 in walks, batting average and on-base percentage. The team ranked among the top 50 in fielding percentage, hits, runs, sacrifice bunts, and sacrifice flies. Defensively, the team was 34th in all of Division I and second in the conference in fielding percentage.

The 2015 club had four players receive All-Region honors (Matt Lees, Heath Dwyer, Matt Davis, Machin), five were named All-Conference (Davis, Dwyer, Machin, Farrar, Sean Thompson) one earned All-American honors (Machin), and four players signed contracts with professional organizations (Lees, Dwyer, Machin, and Daniel Concepcion).

In 2014, the Rams led the A-10 in runs and hits, while finishing the season among the top offenses in the nation in batting average (36th), hit by pitch (25th), hits (38th), on-base percentage (17th), runs (33rd), and scoring (29th).

In his first season with the Rams, Elbin helped guide VCU to 28 victories and saw two players, James Bunn and Joey Cujas, earn All A-10 accolades.

At Shippensburg
Prior to his time in Richmond, Virginia, Elbin spent two seasons (2011-12) at Division II power Shippensburg University (Pa.). During his two-year tenure at Shippensburg, Elbin helped lead the Raiders to 55 wins and back-to-back PSAC Tournament appearances.

At Thiel College
Before joining the Raiders’ staff, Elbin spent three seasons at Thiel College (2008-10). Under his guidance the Tomcats were a Division III powerhouse in the President’s Athletic Conference, being ranked as high as 13th nationally during his stint. Overall, the team won 73 games and the offense finished among the nation’s Top 10 in five categories while compiling eight ABCA All-Region selections, two ABCA All-Americans and two ESPN Academic All-Americans.

Profile
A native of Bedford, Pennsylvania, Elbin is a 2006 graduate of Lock Haven University, where he was a three-year starter under coach Smokey Stover. He made 135 starts over the course of three seasons, hitting a team-high .346 as a junior. He earned a master’s degree from California (Pa.) in 2008.

Elbin is joined in Blacksburg by his wife, Jaclyn, and their children, Alexander and Juliet.