Jason Dietrich returning to Cal State Fullerton as Titans new head baseball coach

New Cal State Fullerton baseball coach Jason Dietrich appears during a press conference Wednesday on campus. (Photo courtesy Cal State Fullerton Athletics)

Jason Dietrich, who has been the pitching coach at East Carolina the past two seasons, was introduced Wednesday as the new Cal State Fullerton head baseball coach by Athletic Director Jim Donavan.

“I am extremely thrilled to welcome Jason back to Cal State Fullerton as the new head baseball coach,” Donovan said. “It became very clear after talking to several of our amazing alumni that Jason is the perfect person to lead this great program in the right direction. He will not only lead the program to success on the field but will demand excellence from our student-athletes in the classroom. 

“I’m very appreciative of the work from our search committee and the support we received from President Fram Virjee and Vice President of Student Affairs Tonantzin Oseguera.”

Dietrich, the sixth head coach in the program’s Division I history, comes to Cal State Fullerton after spending the last two seasons as the pitching coach at East Carolina where he helped lead the team to the NCAA Super Regionals this year.

“I’m very honored and humbled to get this great opportunity to be the leader of Cal State Fullerton,” Dietrich said. “It’s very special to myself and to my family.”

“I really cherish the relationships I made with so many players during my four years here. Not just the players I coached but the former Titans that I met while I was here. That to me is a big piece of what this program is all about. Those alums have done so much for this program, that’s why I’m so thankful and honored to be standing here. This is their program, they’re the ones that have done all the sacrificing and work. I can’t wait to continuously work with them, grow with them and make great relationships.”

Dietrich replaces Rick Vanderhook, who announced earlier this month that he planned to retire as baseball coach after10 years. Vanderhook is remaining at Fullerton as special assistant to the athletic director.

Dietrich is returning to the Titans program after serving as the pitching coach in 2013-16. He also had stints at UC Irvine (2008-12) and Oregon (2017-19) that resulted in eight NCAA Regionals and one College World Series appearance. During his 14 full seasons at the Division I level, which includes two as director of operations, Dietrich has worked under ABCA Hall of Fame Coach Mike Gillespie as well as George Horton and Rick Vanderhook. 

In his four seasons as the pitching coach at Fullerton he led one of the premier pitching staffs in the country. He was a part of a group that won 160 games during a four-year span that included three Big West Championships, four NCAA Regionals, two Super Regionals and a College World Series appearance in 2015. The pitching staff ranked among the nation’s best each of Dietrich’s four seasons with the Titans.

Cal State Fullerton led college baseball in one of four major pitching categories nine times in Dietrich’s four seasons. The Titans had the country’s best ERA (2.22) in 2016, while leading the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio three times (2013, 2014 and 2015), WHIP twice (2013 and 2016) and fewest walks per nine innings three times (2013, 2014 and 2015).

In his four seasons at CSF, Dietrich’s pitching staff never finished with a team ERA higher than 2.89 or ranked lower than 11th in the country. In addition to the Titans’ Division I leading 2.22 ERA in 2016, Dietrich’s teams posted ERAs that ranked fourth in the country in 2013 (2.47), third in 2014 (2.24) and 11th in 2015 (2.89).

Dietrich’s pitching staffs at Cal State Fullerton also ranked no lower than third in strikeouts-to-walk ratio during his four seasons, while also ranking no worse than sixth in WHIP and seventh in base on balls per nine innings.

During the 2020 campaign at East Carolina, where the Pirates posted a 13-4 record before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his staff posted a 3.12 ERA allowing 54 runs in 17 contests.

The Pirates stood among the national leaders (top 60) in shutouts (32nd/two), strikeout-to-walk ration (45th/2.85) and ERA (54th). Junior Alec Burleson earned first-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball after posting a 2-1 record with a 4.24 ERA, while fellow classmate Jake Kuchmaner sported a 4-0 ledger with a miniscule 0.60 ERA. In all, 10 hurlers had an ERA of 1.00 or less and seven registered double-digit strikeouts.

In three seasons with the Ducks (2016-19), Dietrich mentored a pair of All-Americans, three First-Team All-Pac-12 members and six Major League Baseball draft selections, while leading a pitching staff that ranked among the national leaders in strikeout-to-walk ratio, strikeouts per nine innings, walks allowed per nine innings and WHIP from 2017-19.

Ryne Nelson, a junior in 2019, led the club and Pac-12 with 104 strikeouts (fourth nationally) in 65.0 innings. The second round selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks appeared in 23 games (four starts), posting a 3-4 record with four saves while walking just 41.

During the 2018 season, Kenyon Yovan claimed his second consecutive First-Team All-Pac-12 accolade after posting a 6-4 record with five saves and a 2.98 ERA. The right-hander, who started the season as the closer, struck out a team-best 98 batters in 84.2 innings.                                                                              

In Dietrich’s first season with the Ducks, two of Oregon’s pitchers received All-America honors. David Peterson became the first player in the modern era of Ducks’ baseball to be a consensus All-American.

The eventual first-round draft pick of the New York Mets (20th overall) lowered his ERA from 3.63 to 2.51 and was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser and Golden Spikes Award. Under the tutelage of Dietrich, he also improved his strikeout-to-walk ratio from 2.03 as a sophomore to 9.33 as a junior. Yovan claimed a pair of All-America honors, while also being named a Freshman-of-the-Year by Collegiate Baseball and a freshman All-American by five different organizations.

The Oregon pitching staff, as a whole, ranked in the top 12 in the country in three different categories in 2017. The Ducks stood second in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.25), while ranking 10th in walks allowed per nine innings and 12th in shutouts (7).

Before coaching at Fullerton, Dietrich spent five seasons (2008-12) at UC Irvine where he was the pitching coach during the final two. During his five-year tenure, the Anteaters posted 202 wins and made four NCAA Regionals including a Super Regional appearance in 2008. His club was 17th nationally in both ERA and walks per nine innings in 2011, and were 36th in ERA and 11th in WHIP in 2012.

Dietrich began his coaching career as the pitching coach at Arcadia High School (1999-2001). He became a college pitching coach at Los Angeles City College in 2002 before moving to Irvine Valley College (2003-06) and Cal State Los Angeles (2007). He also spent time as a pitching coach for the Hyannis Mets (2004-05) of the Cape Cod Baseball League and Southern California Fire (2003) of the Western Wood Bat League.

Prior to coaching, he played one year with the New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast Baseball League (1998) and four in the Colorado Rockies organization (1994-98) after being selected in the 19th round of the 1994 MLB Draft out of Pepperdine earning West Coast Conference Honorable Mention accolades. During his professional career, Dietrich posted a 7-2 record with a 2.84 ERA with seven saves in 44 appearances.

From 1991-93, Dietrich played at Santa Ana College where he was a team captain, all-conference and all-state selection and helped his club to the California Community College Championship crown in 1993.

Dietrich, a 1999 graduate of Cal State Fullerton, and his wife Bibi have a son (Dean) and a daughter (Leila).

—Courtesy Cal State Fullerton Athletic Communications