WSU officially names LMU's Choate head baseball coach

PULLMAN — Washington State named Nathan Choate as the 18th head baseball coach in program history, WSU athletic director Patrick Chun announced Friday.

Choate will be introduced next Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Alger Family Club Room at the Gesa Field Press Box.

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 its first outright regular season title in 25 years with a 29-24 mark, including 21-6 record in conference play, four games ahead of second-place Portland, and swept four WCC series.

“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.”

“My family and I couldn’t be more excited to join the Washington State University family,” Choate said. We look forward to earning the respect of past, current, and future Cougs, as well as the Pullman community.”

Prior to his hiring at LMU in 2019, Choate spent the previous two years as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at WCC rival San Diego.

Before coming to USD, Choate had been the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Grand Canyon University for five years. While at GCU, he helped lead the 'Lopes to a DII World Series appearance and a WAC Championship while the school was transitioning to DI. Considered one of the top recruiters in the nation, Choate also spearheaded a top-35 ranked recruiting class in 2015.

Prior to his time at Grand Canyon, Choate spent four years at UC Riverside, where he served as the Highlanders' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, helping 11 pitchers get drafted by MLB clubs, including Joe Kelly and Matt Andriese. Before UCR, Choate was the pitching coordinator for UC Irvine, which finished fourth at the 2007 College World Series.

Choate pitched at Cal Poly for two seasons, where he was awarded the Jim Newkirk Fireman's Award, given to the team's best relief pitcher, in his junior and senior seasons. He also pitched two seasons at Santa Ana Junior College in 1998 and 1999, helping the Dons to a third-place national finish in 1999.