Originally published Monday, July 27, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Washington to name Lindsay Meggs its new baseball coach

Meggs, who will be introduced as coach in a press conference at 11 a.m. today, replaces Ken Knutson.

Seattle Times staff reporter

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After a search of more than a month, the Washington Huskies have decided on Indiana State's Lindsay Meggs as their new baseball coach, replacing Ken Knutson.

Meggs was not at the top of the rumored wish list when the Huskies began looking for a new coach in late June, and reports are at least two other coaches turned the job down first. But Washington has famously had success in the past with coaches who either weren't the first choice (Lorenzo Romar) or were little-known Midwesterners (Don James).

Meggs, who will be introduced as coach in a news conference at 11 a.m. today, was 77-79 in three years at Indiana State and won Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors after leading the Sycamores to a 33-21 record this past season.

But he made his biggest mark during a 13-year stint at Cal State-Chico, where he won two NCAA Division II national titles and compiled a record of 538-228-4.

He was also previously head coach at Long Beach City College and Oxnard (Calif.) College. He played third base at UCLA, from which he graduated in 1985.

The Huskies fired Knutston on June 22. He had an overall record of 584-399-2 in 17 seasons, but the school hasn't had a winning Pac-10 record since 2004 and was just 25-30 overall in 2009.

Washington athletic director Scott Woodward said he thought the program needed new leadership as it attempts to get back to the upper reaches of the Pac-10. The school has what Woodward said are "a number of upcoming program and facility improvements," including plans to build a stadium around the current baseball field.

Various reports have stated that UW first offered the job to Rich Hill of the University of San Diego and Pete Hughes of Virginia Tech before setting its sights on Meggs.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

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