Western Kentucky baseball head coach John Pawlowski will resign at the conclusion of the 2022 season to pursue other opportunities, WKU announced Wednesday in a news release.

Pawlowski will remain with the team for its final three games of the season before stepping away from his position. The Hilltoppers are scheduled to begin a three-game series against Old Dominion at Nick Denes Field starting with a 5 p.m. contest Thursday.

“After evaluating everything from a personal and professional level, I realized it was time to resign my position here at WKU and pursue other opportunities,” Pawlowski said in a news release. “I appreciate the commitment and dedication from our players and coaching staffs that have been part of this journey. I am grateful for having this opportunity and all the special relationships that have been built along the way.”

Pawlowski has been the program’s head coach for the past seven seasons and has a 142-197-1 record at WKU.

“We appreciate John’s dedication to our baseball program over the last seven years,” WKU director of athletics Todd Stewart said in a news release. “His professionalism and work ethic were a daily fixture of his leadership as our head coach, and we wish him well as he pursues new endeavors.”

WKU has struggled this season and enters its final weekend with an 18-33 overall record and a 7-20 mark in Conference USA play. The Hilltoppers have two C-USA series wins this season – WKU took two of three against FIU and UAB. WKU is currently 11th of the 12 teams in the C-USA standings. The Hilltoppers have been outscored 354-273 this season.

Pawlowski received a contract extension during the offseason – one that was unanimously approved by WKU’s Board of Regents at its Dec. 10 meeting. The new deal went through the 2025 season.

WKU had made back-to-back C-USA Tournaments entering the 2022 season, but the program hasn’t had an overall winning record in a full season since going 29-28 in 2014 – the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 20 years as a Division I head coach entering the 2022 season, Pawlowski had 629 career victories and a .566 winning percentage while at College of Charleston, Auburn and WKU.

WKU has had four players selected in the MLB draft and two players sign minor league deals since Pawlowski’s arrival, with Danny Hudzina, Ben Morrison, Jacob Rhinesmith, Ryan Thurston, Steven Kraft and Jake Sanford all making the jump to the professional level. The Hilltoppers have also had four players pursue careers in foreign and independent leagues during that time, with Paul Kirkpatrick, Colie Currie, Kevin Lambert and Ray Zuberer III all finding homes with professional clubs.

A national search for the program’s next head coach will begin at the conclusion of the season, according to the release.