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Oregon pitching coach Jake Angier reportedly set to become next head coach at New Mexico State

Jarrid Denneyby: Jarrid Denney06/15/23jarrid_denney
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Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oregon made its deepest postseason run in over a decade this season while leaning on a group of up-and-coming underclassmen pitchers.

However, the Ducks are now in search of a new pitching coach.

On Thursday, D1Baseball reported that Oregon pitching coach Jake Angier has been hired as the next head coach at New Mexico State.

Angier spent four seasons with the Ducks and was part of head coach Mark Wasikowski’s original staff when he took over the program in 2020.

Throughout his tenure in Eugene, Angier coached four all-American hurlers: Cullen Kafka (2021), Robert Ahlstrom (2021), and Kolby Somers (2021, 22). Somers was also named an NCBWA third-team All-American in 2022.

This season, junior right-hander Jace Stoffal was one of the top pitchers in the conference and was the likely frontrunner to be named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. But he suffered an injury in late April that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Aside from Stoffal, the Ducks were also without key pitchers Isaac Ayon, RJ Gordon, and Andrew Mosiello for the entire 2023 season.

With those players unavailable, the Ducks leaned on a group of freshman starters throughout May and June. Grayson Grinsell, Turner Spoljaric, Ian Umlandt, and Dylan McShane were among the freshmen who featured in integral roles throughout the Eugene Super Regional.

Fellow freshmen Leo Uelmen, Matthew Grabmann, and Jackson Pace also logged significant innings throughout the regular season.

“He did a tremendous job,” Wasikowski said on Sunday when asked to assess Angier’s performance over the final six weeks of the season. “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.”

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