Nathan Choate Introduced as Head Baseball Coach

PULLMAN, Wash. (June 28, 2023) – Washington State University will introduce Nathan Choate as the 18th head baseball coach in program history Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Alger Family Club Room at the Gesa Field Press Box (second floor).

Fans can watch the live webstream here | https://pac-12.com/live/washington-state-university

Choate arrives at WSU after leading Loyola Marymount to a West Coast Conference title this past season while guiding the Lions to new heights in his four seasons leading the program. Choate was named the 2023 WCC Coach of the Year after leading LMU to their first outright regular season title in 25 years with a 29-24 mark including an impressive 21-6 record in conference play, four games ahead of second-place Portland, and swept four WCC series. Choate coached a pair of Lions to All-America honors while five players earned All-WCC honors in addition to the WCC Pitcher of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

"WSU Baseball is our oldest and most storied program. Coach Nathan Choate is the exact fit we need to lead us into the next chapter of WSU Baseball," Chun said. "What he accomplished at LMU speaks for itself. His values and principles are aligned with WSU. We are excited to welcome Nathan, Lori and the Choate Family to Washington State University."

Choate's 2023 LMU club tallied road wins at Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State, claimed six WCC Pitcher of the Week honors, one WCC Player of the Week and the pitching staff finished their season ranked sixth nationally in walks per nine innings and 26th nationally in walk to strikeout ratio. Choate coached three all-conference pitchers in 2023 led by ace Diego Barrera who earned All-America honors after going 8-2 with 93 strikeouts and a 2.17 ERA while Khadim Diaw earned Freshman All-America honors after hitting .314 with eight home runs, 11 doubles, two triples, 33 RBI, 47 runs scored and 66 hits. In the classroom, the Lions closed the 2023 season with a 3.18 team GPA including 24 players with a 3.0 or higher.

Throughout his coaching career, Choate has accumulated 25 players drafted in the MLB Draft, seven of which have been selected in the top-10 rounds, 10 All-Americans, two College World Series appearances, three Team USA pitchers, four Freshman All-Americans, two Big West Freshman Pitchers of the Year, two WCC Pitchers of the Year and nine All-Conference Pitchers. In the 2017 season with San Diego his team finished sixth in the country in strikeouts and his 2019 Lion pitching staff to the 14th best ERA in the nation.

"My family and I couldn't be more excited to join the Washington State University family. Thank you to President Schulz, Pat Chun and Mitch Straub for the opportunity to lead the baseball program," Choate said. We look forward to earning the respect of past, current, and future Cougs, as well as the Pullman Community. Go Cougs!"

Choate and his wife Lori have four children, Kamdyn, Chance, Kyla and Kacey.

Washington State University Athletics

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