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18

  Dave Serrano

Dave Serrano

Player Profile

Last College:
Trinity University
Position:
Head Coach
Experience:
3rd Season
Record:
202-104-1 (.660)
Graduated:
2003

In his first two seasons at the reins of the Cal State Fullerton baseball program, Head Coach Dave Serrano has continued to lead the Titans down the same path set forth by his predecessors nearly 40 years ago.

Serrano, 45, was hired as the Titans' fourth Division I head coach on Sept. 7, 2007, replacing his long-time coach, friend and mentor, George Horton, who resigned to rekindle Oregon's baseball program in Eugene.

Serrano's second return to Fullerton ended his three-year run as the head coach at UC Irvine (2005-07), a team he managed to Omaha in 2007. Serrano was a relief pitcher for Augie Garrido's Titans in the mid 1980s and was later Horton's assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for eight seasons - helping Fullerton to four College World Series appearances and the school's fourth national championship in 2004.

Now, two years into his tenure as Titan skipper and pitching coach, Serrano has guided his teams to a 88-38 record (.698), a conference championship (2008), two Regional championships (2008-09), a Super Regional championship (2009) and a trip to last year's College World Series (2009). That, coupled with his 114-66-1 record, two postseason appearances, a trip to Omaha and a National Coach of the Year honor (2007 by Baseball America) with Irvine, solidifies Serrano's status as one of the top collegiate head coaches in the country.

In all, Serrano has compiled a head coaching record of 202-104-1 (.660) and has averaged more than 40 wins a season in his five-year Div. I career. He notched milestone victory No. 200 on May 31, 2009, as the Titans punched their ticket to the 2009 Super Regional with a 16-3 over Utah at Goodwin Field.

In 2009, Serrano made his way back to Omaha for the first time as the head coach of Cal State Fullerton, breezing through the Fullerton Regional (3-0) and Super Regional (2-0). However, the results were 180 degrees from those he achieved the last time he coached there as a Titan in 2004. The team's "First to Practice, Last to Play" rally cry served them well for 61 games, but uncharacteristic pitching woes and a lack of clutch hitting sent the Titans packing after losses to Arkansas and Virginia.

The 2009 Titans led the Big West in hitting, pitching and fielding, and at times looked as good as any Titan team in the school's 35-year history. Serrano's team ascended to the No. 1 spot in the nation according to numerous polls following a grueling 11-day road trip that saw his team bus throughout the South to play eight games in 11 days against eventual CWS participant Southern Miss, then-No. 3 Texas A&M, then-No. 19 Oklahoma State, and Rhode Island. They finished that road trip 7-1 and went on to win six of their next seven games upon returning home. Serrano's club ended up with the nation's best RPI and went into the NCAA postseason nationally seeded.

Serrano's two Titan teams have produced 12 All-Americans, a Big West Conference Tri-Pitcher of the Year, a pair of conference Freshman Pitchers of the Year, seven All-Big West Conference first-teamers (16 all-conference honorees in all) and 13 players selected by teams in the major league draft. Those numbers increase substantially for Serrano when you add in his Irvine player's accomplishments; 17 major league draft picks, 17 All-Big West Conference honorees, a two-time All-American (Scott Gorgen) and the NCAA's all-time saves leader (Blair Erickson).

In his coaching career, Serrano has posted an impeccable track record that includes continuous Top 20 recruiting classes, 14 postseason bids and seven trips to the College World Series in 15 years at the Div. I level. He has tutored a long list of professional players, six Big West Conference Pitchers of the Year and three Freshman Pitchers of the Year, has been part of the nurturing of five first-round draft picks and has helped script two Div. I no-hitters.

Following apprenticeships at Cerritos College (1988-1994), the University of Tennessee (1995-96) and Cal State Fullerton (1997-2004), Serrano got his shot as a head coach when he was hired by UC Irvine on July 12, 2005, to replace John Savage.

At the helm of an Irvine program that was defunct from 1993-2001, Serrano compiled .633 winning percentage over three seasons and guided the Anteaters to postseason appearances in 2006 and 2007 and their first College World Series in 2007.

The Anteaters led the Big West Conference in nearly every offensive category in 2007 and finished with an overall record of 47-17-1, setting the school record for victories in a season. Serrano's Irvine squad marched through the 2007 Regionals and Super Regionals and finished tied for third in the nation with a 2-2 showing in Omaha, helping to solidify the National Coach of the Year honor presented to him by Baseball America (the same publication that also picked him as the nation's top assistant coach in 2004). Prior to 2007, the Anteaters had never had a postseason victory at the Division I level.

After winning 14 of their last 15 games heading into the College World Series, Serrano's Anteaters found themselves on the grand stage in Omaha along with conference partner Cal State Fullerton, the team they would eventually eliminate. After a loss to Arizona State, the Titans and Anteaters played the first College World Series game between two Big West clubs. The two squads locked horns for 13 innings, taking a CWS record five hours and 40 minutes, with Serrano's Irvine squad coming out on top, 5-4. The Anteaters went on to defeat the Sun Devils in extra innings in their next game before being eliminated by the eventual National Champion Oregon State Beavers.

In his first trip to Omaha as a head coach, Serrano's team played in front of the second and third largest crowds in College World Series history, became the first team to ever win back-to-back extra inning games in Omaha, and set a record with 12 hit batsmen, breaking the mark set by Fullerton in 2003.

In 2006, Serrano led the team to 36 wins, the highest number of wins in 26 years. The Anteater pitching staff posted the nation's 15th-best ERA, and tallied its first Division I no-hitter by Glenn Swanson, who also broke the UCI career strikeout record.

In eight seasons as Cal State Fullerton's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, Serrano established himself as one of the top assistants in the nation. His recruiting efforts played a large part in the Titans' success, as each of his eight recruiting classes was ranked by Baseball America in its annual Top 20 and two of his classes between 2001 and 2004 ranked No. 2. Collegiate Baseball ranked his 2001 efforts the best in the nation.

As an assistant at Cal State Fullerton, 29 pitchers and catchers were drafted and 11 of his pupils (Matt Wise, Mike Lamb, Erasmo Ramirez, Adam Johnson, Kirk Saarloos, Jordan DeJong, Chad Cordero, Wes Littleton, Ricky Romero, Kurt Suzuki and Jason Windsor) reached the big leagues. Serrano also tutored a trio of major leaguers in Mike Lincoln, R.A Dickey, and Todd Helton during his two-year run as an assistant at the University of Tennessee from 1995-96.

Cordero, the All-American closer for the Titans from 2001-2003, was a first-round draft pick that reached the majors just two months after pitching for the Titans in the 2003 College World Series. He went on to become one of Major League Baseball's premier closers and was named a National League All-Star while leading all of the major leagues with 47 saves in 2005.

Of the 25 Titans to earn All-American honors during Serrano's term as an assistant, 15 were pitchers. Benito Flores and eventual first-round draft pick Adam Johnson in 1998 started the current string of 12 straight seasons with at least one Titan All-American pitcher, the best streak by any school in the nation. Serrano produced a Fullerton school record four All-American hurlers in both 2001 and 2003, including Saarloos, who was a finalist for virtually every National Pitcher of the Year award and recorded a no-hitter in 2001. Windsor, Serrano's last All-American pitcher at Fullerton, was named the 2004 College World Series Most Valuable Player. Last season, Serrano produced another three All-American pitchers in Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill, and Noe Ramirez, and a fourth if you count utility player Nick Ramirez (who pitched and was the team's designated hitter).

Though he had already moved on to Irvine by 2005, Serrano recruited and was also part of the early development of now-big league pitcher Ricky Romero, who ended up being the Titans' 10th No. 1 draft pick, an All-American and Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2005.

Before assisting at Fullerton, Serrano spent two seasons (1995-96) serving the same role at Tennessee for former Head Coach Rod Delmonico. There, he helped the Volunteers reach the College World Series for the first time in 44 years in 1995. During his stay in the south, he oversaw the development of two first-round draft picks in Dickey and Helton, the latter blossoming into one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball after having also pitched for the Vols.

Serrano, who has coached 14 players who have gone on to star for USA Baseball National Teams, will get the chance to don the Red, White and Blue himself in the summer of 2010. He will join Head Coach Bill Kinneberg's (Utah) US Collegiate National Team as the pitching coach as the USA will eventually battle for the gold medal at the FISU Championships in Japan. He will become the first Titan head coach to serve for Team USA.

Serrano's first run as a coach at Fullerton was his second as an assistant to Horton. He worked under Horton at Cerritos College for three seasons (1988-90) before Horton moved to Fullerton in 1991 as associate head coach to Garrido. Serrano succeeded Horton as the head coach that year and earned the South Coast Conference's Coach of the Year Award. He reverted back to his assistant coaching post in 1992 and remained there through the 1994 season. In his seven-year tenure, the Falcons won a state championship in 1989, and five conference championships.

Serrano graduated from Cerritos High School in 1982 and played two seasons at Cerritos College. In 1985, he went 12-1 and earned junior college All-American honors while helping the Falcons to a 39-5 record en route to the state championship. Serrano then pitched for Cal State Fullerton in 1986, posting a 3-4 record with one save in 15 appearances.

Serrano's writing was published in 2009-2010 when he authored a chapter ("Building a Pitching Staff") for the American Baseball Coaches Association's book entitled "Practice Perfect Baseball." He was one of 14 head coaches from around the country to provide their insight. Former Fresno State Head Coach Bob Bennett was the book's editor.

Serrano holds his bachelor's degree from Trinity College and University (2003), and lives in Irvine with his wife, Tracy, and their sons Kyle (14), Zachary (12) and Parker (6).

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