Integrity, tenacity, and togetherness define San Diego baseball under Brock Ungricht, and since he took the helm at USD the Toreros have more often than not been the standard in the West Coast Conference.
Ungricht, the reigning (2024 and 2025) WCC Coach of the Year, is set to enter his fifth season as San Diego's head coach in 2026 after being promoted on July 3, 2021. He originally joined the Torero staff as an assistant coach (hitting) and recruiting coordinator in 2019, helping the program to a West Coast Conference-best 77-37 (.675) record across two years prior to taking the top spot in the USD dugout.
In his four seasons leading San Diego baseball, he has steered the Toreros back to national prominence, guiding the program to a 130-90-1 (.588) record, two NCAA Tournament appearances (2022 and 2024), two postseason wins (one in both 2022 and 2024), two WCC Tournament Championships (2022 and 2024), and two WCC Regular Season Championships (2024 and 2025). He reached 100 wins faster than any coach in USD baseball history, hitting the milestone with a memorable win over Portland in the 2024 WCC Tournament Semifinal.
Under Ungricht, Caleb Ricketts (2022) and Jakob Christian (2024) have been named the WCC Player of the Year, Ariel Armas (2024) and Jayden Lobliner (2025) have been recognized as the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, Cal Scolari (2025) has received WCC Pitcher of the Year honors, and Logan Reddemann (2024) earned a WCC Freshman of the Year nod. Twelve USD players have been named to the All-WCC First Team with Ungricht as their head coach, two (Jakob Christian and Conner Thurman) have been named First Team All-Americans, one (Reddemann) has been designated as a Freshman All-American, and one (Armas) has taken home an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Award.
Fourteen Toreros have been selected in the MLB Draft during Ungricht’s tenure as head coach, in addition to one (Ivran Romero) signing with a big-league club as an undrafted free agent.
The excellence of Ungricht's program hasn't been limited to on-field action. Thirteen Toreros have earned WCC All-Academic honors since he took over in 2022, including four to the WCC All-Academic Team. In 2024, Ungricht mentee Angelo Peraza was named the WCC Mike Gilleran Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. And in 2025, Austin Smith was recognized as one of just nine national finalists for the inaugural Tony Gwynn Community Service Trophy, exemplifying the program's steadfast commitment to serving the local community.Â
A San Diego native, Ungricht was a Southern California Area Scout for the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 2017 and 2018. Prior to that, he spent six seasons at Stanford University; the final two as a full-time assistant coach under longtime Cardinal skipper Mark Marquess.Â
HIS BEST TEAM YET IN YEAR THREE (2024)
In 2024, Ungricht one-upped his debut campaign and elevated the Toreros into rarefied air. USD went 17-9 while playing the eighth-most difficult non-conference schedule in the country, notching road wins at No. 16 Texas, No. 17 Dallas Baptist, and Michigan alongside a season sweep of USC and a dominant series victory over Arizona at Fowler Park. Conference play saw San Diego continue its success, posting a 20-4 record within the league that included sweeps of Pacific, LMU, Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, and San Francisco enroute to the Toreros’ first outright WCC Regular Season Championship since 2015.
Under his direction the Toreros were far and away the top offense in the WCC in 2024, leading the league in batting average, walks, hits, on-base percentage, runs, and scoring average while placing second in home runs, doubles, and slugging percentage. USD also paced the conference in fielding percentage, earned run average, hits allowed per nine innings, strikeouts per nine innings, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and WHIP.
USD’s dominant 2024 campaign earned it the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, where it dispatched Gonzaga and Portland (twice) to go undefeated in the event and secure a WCC Regular Season and Tournament Championship in the same year for the first time in program history, as well as an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
On selection Monday, San Diego was assigned to the NCAA Santa Barbara Regional, and the Toreros nearly upended No. 23 Oregon in a hard-fought 5-4 loss in extra innings at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in the opening round. USD went on to stave off elimination with a gritty 7-5 victory over Fresno State before bowing out after a narrow 4-2 loss to top-seeded host UC Santa Barbara.
When the 2024 season concluded, San Diego had achieved the following:
- 41 wins, which marked the program's most since 2008
- Won the WCC Regular Season title for the first time since 2015
- Won the WCC Tournament for the second time in three seasons
- Became only the second team in West Coast Conference history to win the WCC Regular Season Championship and the WCC Tournament title in the same year (since the tournament was introduced in 2013), and first to achieve this feat since 2014
A flurry of accolades followed the Toreros' big 2024 campaign, including three All-American honors, four All-WCC First Team selections, four All-WCC Second Team selections, two All-WCC Honorable Mentions, and one All-WCC Freshman Team selection. Ariel Armas was named a semifinalist for the 2024 Buster Posey Award, Austin Smith and Jakob Christian were named 2024 Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalists, Smith was named a finalist for the 2024 John Olerud Two-Way Player of The Year Award, and Conner Thurman was named a finalist for 2024 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.Â
YEAR TWO (2023)
Ungricht steered the Toreros to a 17-10 West Coast Conference record (24-25-1 overall) in 2023, securing his team a tied-for-second place finish in the league standings and a WCC Tournament appearance in back-to-back seasons. The 2022 and 2023 campaigns under Ungricht marked the first time in program history that the Toreros had qualified for the WCC Tournament in consecutive years. After a challenging non-conference slate that saw San Diego travel to eventual 2023 NCAA Super Regional host Oregon and take a game from eventual 2023 College World Series participant TCU, Ungricht’s squad won four consecutive WCC series to finish its 2023 regular season schedule and prevailed in 10 of its last 13 regular-season conference contests despite losing several key players to injuries down the stretch. On April 6, 2023, Ungricht earned his 50th win as head coach with a nationally-televised 8-1 decision at Gonzaga, making him the fastest coach in San Diego baseball history to reach that milestone.Â
Under his guidance in 2023, USD led the WCC with a .975 fielding percentage, a mark that ranked 36th nationally, and also paced the league in walks (232), hit by pitches (80), and triples (13).
San Diego ranked second in the WCC that year in runs scored (345), home runs (55), RBIs (322), and stolen bases (68) while ranking third in on-base percentage (.381).
Headlined by All-WCC First/Academic Team selection Angelo Peraza, the Toreros took home 11 all-conference honors in 2023, including four total academic recognitions. On February 27, utility player Jack Costello was named the NCAA National Player of the Week.Â
A RETURN TO GREATNESS IN YEAR ONE (2022)
Ungricht’s first year as head coach saw San Diego return to heights not seen in Alcala Park in nearly a decade. The Toreros went 37-20 (17-10 WCC) with him at the helm, placing tied for second in the West Coast Conference’s regular-season standings before completing a rousing run through the WCC Tournament bracket at Banner Island Ballpark to take home the team’s second-ever WCC Tournament Championship. San Diego began the stirring run with a comeback win over San Francisco, then demolished two-seed Portland by a 22-8 margin to set the stage for a rematch with rival Gonzaga. The conference showdown saw the Toreros win both games against the top-seeded Zags in decisive fashion, first beating them 5-3 before completing a thrilling extra-innings comeback for a 15-12 win in the championship game.
The victory advanced USD to the NCAA Corvallis Regional, where Ungricht’s squad opened the event with a signature win over perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt, beating the Commodores 3-2 before a packed crowd at Goss Stadium and a national audience watching at home on ESPNU.
When the dust settled, the strides made under Ungricht were more than clear. In his first year as head coach, the Toreros achieved:
- USD’s most wins since 2013 (37)
- USD’s first WCC Tournament Championship since 2013
- USD’s first NCAA Regional Appearance since 2013
- USD’s first NCAA Regional win since 2013
Under Ungricht’s guidance in 2022, San Diego baseball paced the West Coast Conference in nearly every offensive category, leading the league in runs scored (390), hits (565), home runs (57), runs batted in (359), batting average (.286), on-base percentage (.384), and slugging percentage (.437) while striking out the second-least (375 times) of the WCC’s 10 teams.
This excellence at the plate was paired with elite defense — San Diego’s .980 fielding percentage in 2022 led the WCC and ranked 15th nationally.
Ungricht’s mentorship also helped a Torero win the WCC Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season, with junior catcher Caleb Ricketts earning the league’s top honor after fellow Ungricht mentee Thomas Luevano did so in 2021. With Ungricht’s coaching, Ricketts’ 2022 campaign proved to be among the most accomplished in San Diego baseball history as he led the WCC in hits (85), home runs (16), batting average (.373), and slugging percentage (.658) and was named a Collegiate Baseball Third-Team All-American, a semifinalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, an All-WCC First Team Selection, the 2022 WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and a member of the 2022 Corvallis Regional All-Tournament Team in addition to a WCC Player of the Week Award and a selection to the ABCA West All-Region Second Team.
His big year complemented All-WCC selections for seven other Toreros, including three to the First Team (Brycen Mautz, Chase Meidroth, and Kevin Sim), one to the Second Team (Ian Churchill), two Honorable Mentions (Ryan Robinson and RJ Teijeiro), and one to the All-Freshman Team (Ryan Kysar).
AT USD PRIOR TO TAKING OVER AS HEAD COACH (2019-2021)
2021, Ungricht’s final year as USD’s hitting coach and recruiting coordinator before being promoted to head coach, saw USD again compile the most productive offense in the WCC, leading the conference in batting average (.299), runs batted in (300), on-base percentage (.383), and runs scored (329) while striking out the least of the league's ten teams and finishing second in total hits, doubles, and slugging percentage.Â
San Diego finished with a 33-12 (19-8 WCC) record, placing USD second in the West Coast Conference as it finished the season just a game behind first-place Gonzaga. Despite not earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament, San Diego had the best record of any team not in the postseason, and put together a better record than 56 of 64 teams in the field.
Under Ungricht’s guidance in 2021, Torero hitters captured a WCC Player of the Year award (Thomas Luevano), an All-WCC First Team honor (Luevano), an All-WCC Second Team honor (Cody Jefferis), an All-WCC Freshman Team honor (Jack Costello), three All-WCC Honorable Mentions (Costello, Adam Lopez, Shane McGuire, and Tora Otsuka), a Third Team All-American (Luevano), a Freshman All-American (Costello), and an ABCA/Rawlings West All-Region Second Team honor (Luevano).
The 2020 season looked promising for USD, but was cut short on Mar. 12 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. San Diego finished 12-4 with a top-25 RPI ranking and ranked second in the WCC in on-base percentage (.370) and fourth in team average (.278). Shane McGuire ranked 2nd in the WCC and 7th nationally with a .469 batting average, while Thomas Luevano (.356) also ranked top-10 in the conference.
In 2019, Ungricht coached the Toreros to a first-place WCC ranking and top-60 national ranking in both team average (.286) and on-base percentage (.382). Ripken Reyes (1st, .366) and Jeff Houghtby (2nd, .341) finished with the top two batting averages in the conference.
A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF DEVELOPING TALENT
Fourteen Toreros have been selected in the MLB Draft under Ungricht, and one has signed as an undrafted free agent. In total, 34 of his players have been selected to play at the next level after guiding 19 MLB Draftees at Stanford.
Led by right-handed pitcher Josh Randall’s selection in the third round (85th overall pick) by the Detroit Tigers, five San Diego players were taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, which marked the most in a single season of Ungricht’s head coaching career. Outfielder Jakob Christian (San Francisco Giants, fifth round, 149th overall pick), catcher Ariel Armas (Chicago Cubs, fifth round, 153rd overall pick), utility player Jack Costello (San Diego Padres, 10th round, 300th overall pick), and right-handed pitcher Drake Frize (Arizona Diamondbacks, 17th round, 524th overall pick) joined Randall in the draft, while right-handed pitcher Ivran Romero signed a free-agent deal with the Minnesota Twins.
Kevin Sim’s selection in the fifth round (148th overall pick) by the Arizona Diamondbacks headlined the Toreros’ activity in the 2023 MLB Draft, capping a memorable career for Sim under Ungricht that included a .298 batting average, 13 home runs, and 40 RBIs in his final season.
San Diego’s four MLB Draft picks in 2022, which included left-handed pitcher Brycen Mautz (St. Louis Cardinals, second round, 59th overall pick), infielder Chase Meidroth (Boston Red Sox, fourth round, 129th overall pick), and catcher Caleb Ricketts (Philadelphia Phillies, seventh round, 212th overall pick), were the most Toreros to be taken in the first two rounds of the draft since 2010. Mautz’s selection remains the highest by a USD player since 2015.
LOCAL TIES
In 2009, Ungricht began his coaching career up the street from USD at San Diego's Kearny High, leading the Komets to their first league title in 28 years. He spent three seasons as a student-athlete at San Diego State, batting .373 as a freshman All-American with 48 RBI over 63 games. The corner infielder and catcher finished his Aztec career with a batting average of .318 with 44 doubles and 117 RBI, leaving among the all-time leaders in hits, RBI and total bases.Â
Ungricht was picked in the 30th round of the 2006 draft by the New York Yankees, spending 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. Ungricht's father, Dan Ungricht, was inducted into the San Diego High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015.
He resides in San Diego with his wife (Taylor), daughter (Ava), and sons (Ben and Cole).
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Twitter: @CoachUngricht
Year in Coaching: 16th
Year at USD:Â 6th
Year as Head Coach: 4th
Hometown:Â San Diego, CA
Spouse:Â Taylor
Children:Â Ava, Ben, Cole
EDUCATION
San Diego State (2008)
Bachelor's in Criminal Justice
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Chico Outlaws, Golden Baseball League (2007)
Yankees, Gulf Coast League (2006)
Drafted in 30th round by New York Yankees (2006)
San Diego State, Infielder & Catcher (2004-06)
Mission Bay HS (San Diego)
COACHING EXPERIENCE
San Diego
2021-Present: Head Coach
2019-2021: Assistant Coach (Hitting)/Recruiting Coord.
St. Louis Cardinals
2017-18: Southern California Area Scout
Stanford
2015-16: Assistant Coach
2011-14: Volunteer Assistant Coach
San Diego State
2010: Volunteer Assistant Coach
Kearny HS (San Diego, CA)
2009: Head Coach
