New Mexico State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia announced Jake Angier as the 12th head baseball coach in Aggie history on Monday, June 19, 2023.
In his first year at the helm of the Aggie program, Angier helped lead the Aggies to a 25-win season while helping instrument the single highest RPI gain in the NCAA Baseball RPI standings of any Division I program in the nation as the Aggies climbed 159 spots from 2023 to 2024. Under Angier, the Aggies also finished the season ranked second in the conference in batting average (.300) to help generate an 11-win increase.
This charge was led by three standouts that garnered all-conference honors as Keith Jones II was named First Team All-CUSA while outfielder Titus Dumitru picked up Second Team All-CUSA honors and Steve Solorzano claimed distinction as a member of the all-freshman team. Angier’s first year also helped produce two MLB draft picks as Jones II was selected in the ninth round by the Texas Rangers while Titus Dumitru was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the 16th round.
Angier’s debut season with the Aggies was headlined by a pair of wins over Power Five programs as NM State took down Pac-12 power Arizona on March 26 before knocking off Big 12 foe TCU on May 11.
A native of Bellevue, Wash., Angier capped off a four-year stint at the University of Oregon with three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2023 Super Regionals. Finishing with 41 wins in 2023, the Ducks posted the fourth-winningest season in program history. In addition, the Ducks also knocked off 26 ranked opponents in four seasons under Angier’s watch, including seven wins over top-ten teams.
One of Baseball America’s Top 50 Names to Watch in 2023’s coaching cycle, Angier has a proven track record of developing pitchers and a winning culture. Through 15 seasons as a pitching coach, Angier has coached 32 MLB Draft picks, eight MLB players, five All-Americans, and three Freshman All-Americans. Angier’s teams have also appeared in five of the past six NCAA Tournaments (2023, ‘22, ‘21, ‘19, and ‘17).
Throughout his career as a pitching coach, Angier has coached at four different Division I schools (Oregon, Sacramento State, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State) and in three different conferences (Pac-12, Western Athletic, and Summit). In addition to several all-conference pitchers, he has tutored five All-Americans, three freshman All-Americans and four all-region pitchers.
Just one win away from a trip to Omaha and the Men’s College World Series, Angier and the 2023 Ducks earned a trip to the Super Regionals for just the second time in program history. Oregon finished the ‘23 season with 41 wins – The highest total since the 2014 season.
Before Angier arrived in Eugene, the Ducks finished the 2019 campaign with a 5.93 ERA, which was the highest mark since Oregon reestablished its baseball program in 2009. In both 2020 and 2021, Angier’s pitchers posted sub-four ERA’s at 3.85 and 3.71, respectively.
In 2021, the pitching staff ranked 18th in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in ERA (3.71), while also ranking in the top 35 nationally in shutouts (15th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (29th) and WHIP (35th). The Ducks led the Pac-12 in shutouts (6) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82), while ranking third in WHIP (1.31).
In each of Angier’s three full seasons, Oregon pitchers have been dominant on the bump, posting three of the top seven strikeout seasons in program history (513, T-1st, 2021; 505, 4th, 2023; 467, 7th, 2022).
No stranger to Las Cruces, Angier spent six seasons (2014-19) with Western Athletic Conference foe Sacramento State. He started his tenure with the Hornets as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before being promoted to pitching coach in 2017 and associate head coach in 2019.
During Angier’s three seasons as Sacramento State’s pitching coach, the Hornets boasted the WAC’s top pitching staff. Sacramento State led the WAC in ERA all three seasons, while also leading the conference in WHIP, strikeout-to-walk ratio and hits allowed per nine innings each season.
Sacramento State advanced to the NCAA Regionals three times in Angier’s six seasons and twice (2017, 2019) with him serving as the team’s pitching coach. In 2018, Sacramento State’s pitching staff finished among the nation’s top 12 in four separate statistical categories: walks allowed per nine innings (2nd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5th), shutouts (T8th) and WHIP (12th). In all, the Hornets had five top 50 national statistical rankings in 2018 while cracking the top 50 in three categories in 2017 and four in 2019.
Before heading to the Golden State, Angier spent three seasons as the pitching coach at North Dakota State where his pitching staffs set several school records. The Bison won 88 games over the course of three seasons, including a then program record 40 wins in 2012. The 2013 North Dakota State team allowed just 3.03 walks per nine innings – a mark that remains the lowest in the history of Bison baseball. While in Fargo, Angier worked under Tod Brown, who is now the head coach at the University of New Mexico.
A graduate of South Dakota State, Angier started his coaching career at his alma mater where he was the pitching coach while working as a graduate assistant from 2009-10. While in Brookings, S.D., the Jackrabbits won 65 games, including a 39-win season in 2010 that still stands as tied for the best in program history.
Angier graduated from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2007 and a master’s degree in sports pedagogy in 2010. While playing baseball at South Dakota State, Angier’s head coach was Reggie Christensen, his future boss at Sacramento State. Angier also spent two years as a player at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash.
Angier and his wife Sheena have a nine-year-old daughter, Avery, and a six-year-old son, Tripp.
