San Diego Athletics

Matt Florer is set to enter his seventh season with San Diego baseball and his first as Associate Head Coach in 2025. Florer also serves as the Toreros’ Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.
 
Since arriving to San Diego in 2019, Florer has helped guide the Toreros to the most wins and highest winning percentage of any team in the West Coast Conference. In eight seasons within the WCC, Florer has developed seven All-American pitchers as well as twelve All-Conference pitchers.
 
For the first time in program history, the 2024 Toreros won both the West Coast Conference Regular Season Championship, as well as the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship. San Diego became just the second team in WCC history to secure both the outright regular-season title and tournament title in the same year.
 
Led by one of the nation’s premier pitching staffs, San Diego ranked in the top 25 of every major pitching category (Earned Run Average, WHIP, Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings, Strikeouts Per Nine Innings, Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings, Strikeout-To-Walk Ratio, and Shutouts). The 2024 Toreros’ 41-15 (20-4 WCC) overall record was the 15^th best winning percentage of any program in the country.
 
Three of Florer’s pitchers went on to earn National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All American Honors in 2024: Conner Thurman (First Team), Austin Smith (Third Team), and Logan Reddemann (Freshman/Second Team). To tag along with these All-American accolades, Thurman was recognized as a finalist for the 2024 NCBWA Stopper of the Year, Smith was named a finalist for the 2024 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year, and Reddemann earned the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year award.
 
During the 2024 MLB Draft, three of Florer’s pitchers were picked up by professional organizations. Josh Randall became the highest selected collegiate pitcher from the state of California when he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the third round (85th overall pick). With Randall’s selection, Florer has helped develop California’s highest-drafted collegiate pitcher in two of the last three MLB draft classes (2022-2024). Additionally, Drake Frize was later selected in the 17th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Ivran Romero signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins.
 
The 2022 season saw Florer guide the Toreros to heights not seen at Alcala Park in over a decade. San Diego went 37-20 (17-10 WCC) with Florer overseeing the team’s pitchers, tying for second in the West Coast Conference’s regular-season standings. The Toreros went on to complete a rousing run through the WCC Tournament bracket at Banner Island Ballpark and take home the team’s second-ever WCC Tournament Championship. The victory then advanced San Diego to the NCAA Corvallis Regional, where the Toreros opened the event with a signature win over perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt. The Toreros beat the Commodores 3-2 with the support of a packed crowd at OSU’s Goss Stadium alongside a national audience eagerly watching at home on ESPNU.

The key to the program’s historic season was Florer’s resilient pitching staff. The Toreros led the WCC in strikeouts (553) and were second in K/9 (9.69) and innings pitched (513.2) while walking the third-least batters (195) in the conference. The group was headlined by local left-hander Brycen Mautz (Westview High School), who set forth a dynamic campaign in 2022 - one that saw him lead the WCC in strikeouts with 129, a mark that ranked 11th nationally. He paced San Diego with a 10-2 overall record in 2022, alongside a 3.87 ERA in a team-high 15 games started and 90.2 innings pitched.

Pitching powerhouse Brycen Mautz’s big season under Florer’s guidance earned him an All-WCC First Team selection, as well as an All-American selection by Perfect Game. The Toreros pitching staff continued to garner accolades for their memorable 2022 season: Left-Handed pitcher Ian Churchill was awarded Second Team All-Conference, Right-Handed pitcher Ryan Robinson gained an All-WCC Honorable Mention, and Right-Handed pitcher Ryan Kysar earned an All-WCC Freshman Team nod.

In July the Torero pitching staff was recognized greatly in the MLB Draft. Brycen Mautz became the highest-drafted San Diego player in seven years when he was selected in the second round to the St. Louis Cardinals (59th overall pick). Ian Churchill, who was selected in the 10^th round by the Toronto Blue Jays (308^th overall pick), led to the most Top 10 Round selections the Toreros have seen in over a decade.
 
The 2021 Toreros finished with a 33-12 record which was the highest winning percentage of any program on the West Coast. With Florer’s continued advancement developing his pitchers, San Diego finished with the second lowest team ERA in the West Coast Conference.
 
First Team All-Conference selection Jake Miller, who was later selected in the 2021 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians, led the Toreros on the mound. Miller had a sensational conference performance pitching to a 1.94 ERA while only allowing a .189 batting average against. Newcomers Ryan Robinson and Kieran Shaw also benefited putting on the Torero uniform, as each arm was selected to the WCC’s Honorable Mention All-Conference Team. Freshman Ivran Romero was also another huge piece to the Toreros’ success in 2021. Romero started off his collegiate career with 20 consecutive innings without giving up a run.
 
2020 looked to be a special year for the Toreros prior to the season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Toreros finished the season with a top 25 RPI Ranking which was the highest in the conference. Under Florer’s tutelage both Carter Rustad and Conner Thurman finished the year with elections to Collegiate Baseball’s Freshman All-American team. San Diego was only one of five schools, and the sole non-SEC school, to have more than one pitcher nominated to this list (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State & San Diego). Rustad collected many national accolades during his 2020 campaign finishing the season tied for first in the NCAA with the least hits allowed, minimum 20 innings pitched, and was second in the NCAA in batting average against. Rustad and Thurman both finished the year tied second in the NCAA in wins.
 
The 2020 season also included one of the more memorable moments in San Diego program history. On February 28^th, 2020, Sophomore Jake Miller threw the first no-hitter for the Toreros since 2008. Miller, who carried a perfect game going into the 8^th inning, struck out 10 hitters along his way into Torero history. With this performance Florer also etched himself into NCAA history books becoming the first individual to coach a perfect game, no-hitter, while also throwing a no-hitter himself.
 
In 2019, Florer’s first year at San Diego, the Toreros finished the season with a 32-21 record which was a nine-game win improvement from the Toreros previous season. Florer developed a San Diego staff that ended up seeing three of its pitchers drafted by Major League Baseball. Chris Murphy, who was selected in the 6^th round, drastically saw improvement under his first year with Florer as he instantly improved his ERA, batting average against, hits per nine innings, and strikeouts per nine innings during this season. Murphy’s strikeouts per nine ended up ranking 22^nd in the nation as Florer’s staff ranked four of the top five pitchers in the WCC in this category. Travis Kuhn, who was selected in the 19^th round, also benefited from Florer’s development as he instantly cut his ERA in nearly half during this 2019 season.  
 
Prior to San Diego, Florer spent two years on the coaching staff at Loyola Marymount University, serving as the program’s pitching coach in 2017 and 2018. Florer helped guide LMU to a 2017 West Coast Conference Championship - the first title for the Lions since 2000. Florer’s Lion pitching staff turned in the sixth-best ERA in program history and sixth-most victories in a season. During this historic run, Florer’s pitching staff set new program marks in walks per nine innings, shutouts, and placing third in strikeouts. On both the conference and national levels, LMU's hurlers led the WCC in WHIP and ERA, while placing 5th and 18th in the nation, respectively.
 
Junior Cory Abbott led the way for the Lions on the mound in 2017 as he finished the year as a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year, while also earning the West Coast Conference’s Pitcher of the Year and a first team All-American selection. Abbott finished WCC play with a miniscule 0.27 ERA (two earned runs in 67 innings of work) against WCC teams. That conference ERA is a WCC record, topping Dana Hendershott (USF) who posted a 0.60 ERA in 1971. Abbott went on to be drafted in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft and made his Major League Debut on June 5^th, 2021.
 
Florer, who finished his playing career as a Lion in 2013, appeared in more than 70 games over his tenure and threw the second no-hitter in LMU history on April 23, 2013. Florer is joined in San Diego by his wife Jordan, daughter Olivia, and son Grayson.