Courtesy of Trinity College Sports Information

Hartford, Conn. - Trinity College Athletic Director Michael Renwick recently announced that Mark Lambert has been elevated to Interim Head Baseball Coach for the remainder of the season. Lambert, the team's Associate Head Coach for the last two seasons, is replacing Bill Decker who resigned last week to become the Head Coach at Harvard University.

Lambert will coach the Bantams through the current academic year, along with current Assistant Coaches Steve Cervizzi and Ernie May. The College will initiate a national search for a new coach in the spring of 2013.

"I am elated that Mark and the rest of the staff have accepted my offer to stay with the program through the academic year," said Renwick. "It was my hope that we would be able to gain stability and continuity for our student-athletes moving through the year. Coach Lambert possesses a great deal of baseball knowledge, and I am very confident that our goals for this year will remain unchanged. We have a great core of students returning, along with the addition of some very talented first years, so I am confident that the Bantam baseball program will continue to flourish."

Lambert, who arrived at Trinity as an assistant in 2005 and has been the team's pitching coach since 2006, has developed the Bantam pitchers into one of the finest staffs in the country. Trinity pitchers led all divisions of college baseball in team earned run average in 2008 (1.97), and in 2009 was the team ERA leader in Division III (2.77). Under Coach Lambert's tutelage, four pitchers have earned All-American honors, and two have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams.

Prior to Trinity, Lambert served as the Associate Head Coach at the University of New Haven for four seasons, helping the Chargers compile a 103-43 record, earn two NCAA Tournament bids and win a conference title.

Lambert also started the baseball program at Norwalk Community College and served as the Head Coach for seven years. At Norwalk, he compiled an impressive 272-42 record and guided his team to five consecutive NJCAA World Series appearances, including a National Championship in 1998. Lambert developed 23 All-Americans and coached 21 players that were either drafted or signed professional contracts, including current Major League pitcher Erik Bedard. He was named North East Regional Coach of the Year five times and was named National Coach of the Year by the NJCAA and the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1998.

Lambert was an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Sacred Heart University, for four seasons. He has also coached the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League and the Mohawk Valley Land Sharks of the North East League.

Lambert has a bachelor's degree from Sacred Heart in Business Administration and master's degree in Counseling and Human Services from Bridgeport. 

Trinity enjoyed an outstanding 2012 season, finishing with a 34-11 record and winning the NESCAC Championship. The Bantams qualified for the 2012 NCAA Division III National Tournament, defeating the University of Southern Maine (13-8) and St. Joseph's College of Maine (6-0) before bowing out with back-to-back losses to eventual champion Wheaton College (6-4) and Western New England University (2-1), respectively.

In 2008, Trinity won the National Championship with Lambert as their pitching coach. The Bantams were nearly unstoppable that season, posting a record-setting 45-1 final mark. 

"It is a great honor to coach at Trinity, and I appreciate the faith that Athletic Director Mike Renwick has placed in me," said Lambert. "I could not ask for a better group of young men to coach, and will certainly give them my best effort. I have spent the last eight years with Coach Decker, and I appreciate his friendship and wish him the best of luck at Harvard. My staff and I are excited about the upcoming season and hope to uphold the great tradition we have at Trinity."