Pepperdine University Men's Baseball

Hirtensteiner was a vital part of this past season's run to the program's first-ever NCAA Super Regional appearance (since the round was instituted in 1999). The Waves won their first NCAA Regional since 1992 after grabbing the program's 17th WCC regular-season title and a WCC Tournament title as well. Hirtensteiner's tireless efforts in the recruiting wars paid off in 2005 as that year's incoming class was ranked #7 nationally by Baseball America. The freshman class played a major role in helping the Waves compile a 41-23 overall record, win the West Coast Conference title, advance to the NCAA Tournament and conclude the year ranked in the national top 25. During Hirtensteiner's 14 seasons as an assistant, Pepperdine has posted an overall record of 505-378 (.572), won five WCC crowns and advanced to the postseason eight times. Named the WCC's Player of the Year in 1989, Hirtensteiner was an eighth-round draft pick by the California Angels. In 2007, Hirtensteiner was named to the WCC's 40th Anniversary Team. Hirtensteiner played professional baseball for seven seasons with the California Angels, Florida Marlins and Montreal Expos organizations, reaching the AAA level with Montreal. Hirtensteiner also played in the Northern League with the St. Paul Saints and the Pioneer League with the Salt Lake City Trappers, plus stints in Australia and Mexico. A graduate of nearby Buena High School in Ventura, Calif., Hirtensteiner cracked the Pepperdine lineup as a rookie in 1986 and ended his career #3 on the Waves' all-time games played list, appearing in 239 contests. During Hirtensteiner's collegiate career at Pepperdine, the Waves won four WCC titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each season, compiling a cumulative four-year record of 164-76-7 (.678), including an 80-15-1 (.839) mark against league foes. The Waves earned a national top-20 ranking all four seasons. The 1986 and 1988 teams advanced to the championship round in NCAA regional tournament play, while the 1987 team was ranked as high as #2 nationally and won a school-record 21 consecutive games. A three-time All-WCC pick, Hirtensteiner ended his career ranked #6 in hitting at Pepperdine with a .336 batting average. He also ended his Waves' career as the school's all-time career leader in runs scored (228), triples (17) and total bases (470). As a senior in 1989, Hirtensteiner led the Waves with a .366 batting average and clubbed a team-best 12 home runs as a leadoff hitter. Hirtensteiner tied a single-game school record by slugging three home runs in a game at UC Santa Barbara. Additionally, Hirtensteiner emerged as the Waves' closer, often tossing warm-up pitches in the outfield during conferences on the mound. Hirtensteiner was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1989 and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. Hirtensteiner was also recognized as the WCC's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming just the second Pepperdine athlete to earn the prestigious Pat Malley Award. After completing his professional career, Hirtensteiner opted to pursue a coaching job, landing an assignment as a volunteer assistant at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Hirtensteiner worked under head coach Jim Gilligan in 1996-97 while completing work for a master's degree in business administration. Hirtensteiner and his wife, Shannon, have five sons, Cade, Cullen, Crosby, Colter and Cash and live in Agoura Hills.

Garza. Garza came to Malibu in 2015 after serving as the pitching coach at Riverside City College and in the Los Angeles Angels minor league system. He enters his second season with the Waves in 2017. I am excited to welcome Rolando to the Pepperdine family, said Hirtensteiner at the time of Garza's hiring. Rolando has a wealth of experience and success. He has a great passion for coaching and has shown the ability to create relationships with his pitchers which leads to their development not only as student athletes and baseball players, but builds character and discipline, molding them into men. Garza took over the Waves' pitching this past season and helped guide the program's 13th first-team All-American in righty A.J. Puckett. The 2016 Pepperdine pitching staff posted a 3.57 ERA, good for first in the West Coast Conference. Garza started his coaching career at Riverside City College under coaching legend Dennis Rogers, who has developed head coaches such as Kentuckys Gary Henderson, Baylors Rodriguez, UC Santa Barbaras Andrew Checketts, Brian Green of New Mexico State, Randy Bennet at Cal Poly Pomona, and Gary Adcock of Cal Baptist. A Southern California native, Garza hails from the Coachella Valley, where he was a ninth round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox out of Coachella Valley High School. He was originally drafted as a shortstop and positional played, and transitioned to a pitcher the second half of his 10-year minor league career between three organizations. Following his playing days, Garza spent two years coaching in both the Tampa Bay Rays organization and most recently as a pitching coach with the Los Angeles Angels minor league affiliate, the AZL Angels, this summer. This past June, Garza assisted with a pitching staff that helped clinch a playoff berth and lead the entire Angels organization with a 66.4 strike percentage for the month before his departure. Very familiar with the collegiate game, Garza spent three seasons as the recruiting coordinator at Riverside City College, bringing in dynamic players to help the RCC program reach regional and super regional play two of the last three years. In addition, Garza assisted in bringing in three consecutive pre-season Top 25 national recruiting classes (as ranked by Perfect Game) and between 2013-2015 Garzas recruiting classes produced 15 NCAA Division I commits. During Garzas three-year stay as pitching coach at RCC, he collaborated with Korean strength coach/skill developer Youngjin Yoon to develop and produce 10 MLB draft picks/free agent pitching signees. In 2013, under Garzas tutelage the RCC Tigers pitching developmental program produced the most pitching draft picks in California at the Division I, II, III and NAIA levels, with five pitchers selected. Moreover, the pitching staff was second in the state of California with an ERA of 2.08. After making two trips to Korea to survey the baseball infrastructure and pitching development, Garza collaborated with Yoon to work on a holistic hybrid pitching philosophy that merges the American power pitching culture, with Southeast Asian baseball developmental strategies. First and foremost, I would like to extend my gratitude to Pepperdine University, Director of Athletics Dr. Steve Potts and head coach Rick Hirtensteiner for this great opportunity, said Garza. It is a great Honor to be a part of a program with such a great history and a winning culture on and off the baseball field. Pepperdine has a high standard of personal beliefs, academics, and athletic excellence, which makes it such a wonderful environment for student-athletes from across the nation. Garza earned his bachelors degree in kinesiology from Cal State San Bernardino, graduating in 2010 with honors. His mother and father, Joe and Linda Garza, are retired and reside in Coachella, Calif. Garza has two siblings, Jose and Raymond, as well as a nephew, Jose Garza III.