Report: Oregon baseball to hire Blake Hawksworth as next pitching coach
Mark Wasikowski and the Oregon baseball program have found their next pitching coach.
On Wednesday, Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball reported that Oregon will hire Blake Hawksworth to oversee its pitching staff. Hawksworth, 40, most recently served as the director of baseball operations for UC Irvine last season.
The hiring of Hawksworth comes after the Ducks’ former pitching coach, Jake Angier, departed to become the head coach at New Mexico State last month.
Related: Five players who could be key for Oregon baseball’s continued success in 2024
A Sammamish, Wash., native who starred at East Lake High School, Hawksworth signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a 28th-round pick in 2021. He played professionally for 11 seasons and played three big-league seasons. His best professional season came in 2009, when he posted a 2.03 ERA in 30 relief outings.
After retiring from pro baseball in 2014, Hawksworth began working as an MLB Certified Player Agent and continued to do so through 2016.
Hawksworth served as the pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton in 2017 and helped lead the Titans to the College World Series. His staff posted an overall ERA of 3.64.
He then served as the pitching coach at Grand Canyon University in 2020 and led a pitching staff that posted a 3.64 ERA.
From 2021-22, Hawksworth was the varsity pitching coach at JSerra High School and helped lead the team to the CIF Division I championship and CIF Regional title.
Hawksworth will join an Oregon program that won the Pac-12 Tournament title and reached the Eugene Super Regional before falling one game short of the College World Series.
The Ducks’ pitching staff finished the year with a 5.28 ERA and struggled with command for much of the season. Oregon’s projected Friday starter, junior right-hander Isaac Ayon, missed the entire season due to an injury.
In his absence, junior righty Jace Stoffal emerged as Oregon’s ace and was performing at an all-conference level before suffering a season-ending injury during the last week of April.
The Ducks return a talented core of pitchers that includes Ayon, Grayson Grinsell, Turner Spoljaric, Austin Anderson, Matthew Grabmann, Dylan McShane, and several others.
“He did a tremendous job,” Wasikowski said after Oregon’s season-ending loss when asked to assess Angier’s performance. “To be able to — you’re not talking about one specific injury. You guys with hamstrings, backs, all kinds of different things. He was still able to, at the end of the day, be able to piece together a pitching staff to win games. Use guys in small roles. Be creative. I credit him for being able to.
“We hosted a super regional. We won a Pac-12 championship at the Pac-12 Tournament. Those things are hard to explain when it comes to a piece of paper and a state sheet. Pretty special.”
