Cal State Fullerton baseball welcomes Dietrich as head coach
FULLERTON, Calif. (BVM) – Cal State Fullerton baseball has found a familiar face to lead its program into the future following the retirement of former head coach Rick Vanderhook after 10 years at the helm.
Jason Dietrich returns to Fullerton and was announced as the Titans’ new head baseball coach on the final day of June.
“I am extremely thrilled to welcome Jason back to Cal State Fullerton as the new head baseball coach,” director of athletics Jim Donovan said in a press release. “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.”
The sixth head coach in program history, Dietrich arrives in 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. He also previously spent time at UC Irvine (2008-12) and Oregon (2017-19), which resulted in a total of eight NCAA Regionals and one College World Series appearance, as well as a stint with the Titans as their pitching coach from 2013-16.
During those four seasons at Fullerton, Dietrich was part of a group that won 160 games and three Big West Championships during that four-year span, including a College World Series appearance in 2015. The Titans had the country’s best ERA (2.22) in 2016 under Dietrich’s direction.
“I’m very honored and humbled to get this great opportunity to be the leader of Cal State Fullerton,” Dietrich said in a press release. “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.”
He’s Back.#TusksUp 🐘⚾️ pic.twitter.com/mfBIX3zWeA
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) July 1, 2021
