SAN DIEGO — A dynamic leader and the architect of one of the West Coast's top college baseball offenses, Brock Ungricht has been named the next head coach of San Diego baseball, announced Associate Vice President/Executive Director of Athletics
Bill McGillis on Saturday.
The fourth head coach in program history and the third in USD's Division I era, Ungricht served as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for the Toreros for the past three seasons.
"I am tremendously excited for the men in our baseball program," said McGillis. "Brock Ungricht is a positive, inspirational leader and gifted communicator, who players believe in and want to play for. He has made immense contributions to our program since joining our staff three years ago, and he embraces our vision of Winning in the Classroom, Winning on the Playing Field and Winning in the Community. We are very well positioned for big-time success next year, and for years to come, as a result of the quality of our current roster, our rich talent base in San Diego county and throughout Southern California, arguably the best college baseball facility on the West Coast in Fowler Park, and more. I believe Coach Ungricht's diverse experiences gained as a player, college coach and professional scout, when combined with his outstanding people skills, expertise and ability to teach the game, will result in great success for Torero baseball."
A San Diego native, Ungricht will enter his fourteenth year of coaching in the fall. In addition to stops at his alma mater, San Diego State, and Stanford, Ungricht's ascension in the coaching ranks comes after he helped lead the Toreros to their most winning season since 2012 and the eighth highest winning percentage in the country.
Ungricht has helped build San Diego into an offensive power as the Toreros ranked in the top 25 in the nation in batting average and scoring in 2021. San Diego also ranked fifth in the country in sacrifice flies and ninth in doubles per game. The Toreros led the WCC in multiple offensive categories, as well, including batting average, doubles per game, and on base percentage.
"I am extremely honored and excited to be named the head baseball coach at the University of San Diego," Ungricht said on Saturday. "This is truly a dream come true for me and my family. I want to thank Director of Athletics Bill McGillis, and President Harris for affording me this opportunity. This is one of the premier programs in the nation because of the foundation laid by Coach Cunningham, Coach Hill and all of the men who have worn the Torero uniform, and I am thrilled to build on their success."
Over his three seasons at USD, Ungricht has coached six MLB Draft picks, a WCC Player of the Year (Thomas Luevano), a freshman All-American (Jack Costello) and 12 All-WCC honorees.
Ungricht entered collegiate coaching at cross-town rival San Diego State, serving as a volunteer assistant under the legendary Tony Gwynn in 2010.
After one season with his alma mater, Ungricht spent six years as an assistant coach at Stanford under Hall-of-Fame head coach Mark Marquess. During his tenure on The Farm, Ungricht coached two first round draft picks (Stephen Piscotty and Alex Blandino), two All-Americans, two freshman All-Americans, eight All-Pac-12 honorees and a Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. The Cardinal reached three Super Regionals during Ungricht's six seasons, and 19 of his players were selected in the MLB Draft.
In addition to notable stops in his coaching career, Ungricht brings major league experience to the Toreros as a former Southern California Area Scout with the St. Louis Cardinals.
A standout at San Diego State, the corner infielder and catcher finished his intercollegiate career among the program's all-time leaders in hits, RBI and total bases. He played three seasons for the Aztecs, putting together a freshman All-American campaign after batting .373 with 48 RBI over 63 games.
Ungricht was then picked in the 30th round of the 2006 draft by the New York Yankees and spent a season playing for the Gulf Coast League Yankees before playing for Chico of the Golden Baseball League in 2007.
A three-time All-CIF selection as a prep, Ungricht was inducted into the Mission Bay High School (San Diego) Hall of Fame in 2008.