Washington State University Athletics

Anthony Claggett completed his fourth season as the Cougars pitching coach after spending the previous two seasons working in the same role at New Mexico State with head coach Brian Green.
 
Claggett helped the 2023 Cougars post a 29-23 record, the most wins since 2015, including series wins at No. 15 Oregon State, over No. 12 UCLA, Arizona, at California, WCC champion Santa Clara and claimed the season series over Gonzaga, 2-1. Following the series win at No. 15 OSU to open conference play, WSU appeared at No. 20 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top-25, the Cougars first national ranking since 2010. WSU put up impressive numbers on the mound as the pitching staff set the strikeout record for the second straight season (518), reliever Connor Wilford was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and starter Dakota Hawkins earned All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention after earning a pair of National Pitcher of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball and recorded 92 strikeouts, the ninth-most in WSU single-season history. Claggett also saw pitcher Caden Kaelber finish with 12 career saves, seventh-most in WSU history, and Chase Grillo post six saves in 2023 while being named to the Midseason Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List.
 
In 2022, WSU posted their third straight winning season and closed the year with series wins in four of the final five weekends, clinching series at No. 10 Oregon, USC, Utah Valley and wrapped up the season with the first sweep over Arizona State in program history. The Cougars posted a pair of road series wins over Top-10 teams for the first time in program history after taking two of three at ninth-ranked Arizona and No. 10 Oregon, notching road series wins in Tucson and Eugene for the first time since 2012. Reliever Caden Kaelber earned All-Pac-12 Conference honorable after finishing the regular season tied for fourth in the league with seven saves and closed out series-clinching wins at No. 10 Oregon, USC and Arizona State. Claggett’s pitching staff set a program record for strikeouts with 473 while relievers Chase Grillo and Cam Liss each tied for the fourth-most appearances in WSU history and starter Grant Taylor closed the season with Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors after firing a two-hit shutout over Arizona State, WSU’s first shutout performance since 2018.
 
WSU continued to put up impressive numbers in the community and in the classroom, placing nine on the Pac-12 Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll and posted 3.14 team GPA in the fall and spring semesters, the highest spring semester team GPA in program history. In the community, WSU partnered with WSU ROAR, a two-year postsec­ondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to host a Lentil Cookoff at Bailey-Brayton Field.

In just his second season on the WSU coaching staff, the Cougars posted their first winning season since 2015 and the most Pac-12 Conference wins since 2014 after posting conference series wins at Utah, at California, against No. 8 Oregon and Washington. In the classroom, WSU recorded a program-record 3.09 GPA in the fall semester as 30 players recorded a GPA of 3.0 or higher and 17 players earned Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll honors. The Cougars also signed his second-straight nationally ranked recruiting class for the 2022 season including the best junior college class in the country according to JBB baseball.
 
Claggett saw his 2021 Cougar pitching staff produce a pair of Major League Baseball draft picks; Zane Mills (4th) and Brandon White (12th), Mills won two Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week awards and reliever Michael Newstrom set the program record for appearances while the staff finished fifth in the Pac-12 in strikeouts-per-game (9.3) and recorded the second-most strikeouts (437) in program history. Mills was selected in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals, the highest Cougar pitcher draft pick since 2011 while White went in the 12th round to the Miami Marlins.

Claggett’s first season with the Cougars was limited to just 16 games due the COVID-19 pandemic but saw WSU post impressive numbers on and off the field. In the classroom, 22 players posted a fall semester GPA of 3.0 of higher and the team combined for a 3.05 team GPA, the highest team GPA in program history. Washington State recorded a series win over Rutgers in Arizona, the first series-win over a Big Ten Conference opponent in program history, and followed with a four-game series sweep of Niagara at Bailey-Brayton Field.
 
The pitching staff posted improved numbers in nearly every category in the first season under Claggett, recording a team ERA over three runs lower than the previous campaign. Sophomore Zane Mills tied for third in the Pac-12 Conference in wins, was fourth in strikeouts and seventh in batting average against while senior A.J. Block made the most of his decision to return to school after being drafted in the 17th round the prior summer. Block led the league in innings, tied for second in strikeouts and became the first Cougar pitcher in the last 33-plus seasons to record 10-strikeout games in three straight starts.

Claggett, who pitched in the major leagues with the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, helped lead the Aggies to a 38-17 mark in 2019 and the programs second WAC Regular Season Championship, the first since 2012. The 38 wins were the fifth-most in program history and included a notable win on the road at Arizona, the program’s first win against the Wildcats since 2012.

Claggett coached a pair of draft picks on the mound at New Mexico State including a sixth-round selection in 2018. Claggett produced three pitchers who earned All-Western Athletic Conference honors including 2018 WAC Pitcher of the Year Jonathan Groff. In 2019, all three weekend starters recorded at least eight wins, while the 2018 pitching staff set the program record with 537 strikeouts and saw a pair of arms set the NMSU record with 11 wins and 12 saves.
 
Off the field, the program earned the NM State Athletics Community Service Award for the fourth straight year in 2019 and set the program attendance record for the fourth time since 2015.
 
In 2018, Claggett coached a pitching staff that propelled NM State to a 40-22 overall record, a 17-7 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, the first WAC Tournament title in program history and just the fourth NCAA Regional appearance for New Mexico State. 2018 marked just the second time in program history in which the team recorded 40 wins and reached an NCAA Regional.

Along the way in 2018, NMSU established the single-season team record with 537 strikeouts (537) led by Kyle Bradish’s school-record 140 while Jonathan Groff set the record for wins (11) and Brock Whittlesey broke the saves record (12). Groff became the first conference pitcher of the year in program history and joined Bradish who both captured All-American honors with Groff earning Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Second Team All-American honors while Bradish was named a Third Team All-American by Perfect Game/Rawlings. In June of 2018, Bradish became the highest drafted player in program history when the Los Angeles Angels selected him in the fourth round (121 overall), the third Aggie since 2016 to be drafted in the top six rounds.

Prior to New Mexico State, Claggett worked the 2017 season as the volunteer assistant coach at San Jose State and helped in the development of a pair of Spartan pitchers were drafted. Claggett worked the 2016 as the pitching coach and assistant recruiting coordinator at Riverside Community College where the Tigers posted a 2.83 team ERA. Claggett also coached one season in the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball League and another at the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif.
 
Claggett pitched collegiately at UC Riverside where he was an 11th-round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers, made his major league debut and pitched for the 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees and later pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Claggett’s 11-year professional playing career included seven minor league seasons where he posted 35 wins and 39 saves. In 2006, MiLB.com named him Minor League Class A Relief Pitcher of the Year while pitching for the West Michigan Whitecaps where the righthander posted an ERA of 0.91 over 59.1 innings and finished with a record of 7-2 and 14 saves.

Claggett began his college career at UC Riverside and played three seasons for the Highlanders as a middle infielder and relief pitcher, and later received his bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Phoenix in 2015. Claggett married his wife, Ashleigh in 2020.