FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
MALIBU, Calif. – Jon Strauss has joined the Pepperdine baseball staff as the team’s new pitching coach, head coach Steve Rodriguez announced on Friday. Strauss replaces Sean Kenney, who is now the pitching coach at Maryland.
A Southern California native with close to 15 years of collegiate coaching experience, Strauss completes Rodriguez’s coaching staff for the 2009-10 season. Earlier this week, Rodriguez tabbed former Ohio State standout catcher Joe Wilkins to the volunteer assistant coach position.
“The Pepperdine and Long Beach State baseball programs both have a great history and winning traditions, so I’m confident the transition will be an easy one for Jon and that he’ll help us get deeper into the postseason,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve gotten to know Jon pretty well on the recruiting trail and I’m excited that he and his family are coming to Malibu to join the Pepperdine family.”
“Pepperdine is a great program that I’ve always respected,” Strauss said. “The Waves and Dirtbags have lived off their pitching and defense for years, so it’s great to come to a new team that shares a similar philosophy.”
Strauss recently completed his third coaching stint with the Dirtbags in the spring of 2009. He previously served as an assistant on Coach Dave Snow’s staff from 1995 to 2000 and then again as a volunteer in 2006. During his time at LBSU as a coach, the Dirtbags have gone 313-227, won three Big West titles, advanced to six NCAA Regionals and finished third at the 1998 College World Series behind one of the top hitting teams in school history.
Additionally, Strauss’ 2008 Long Beach pitching staff posted the second lowest earned-run average in the NCAA at 3.20 en route to a 38-win season and NCAA Regional appearance. Five of his pitchers were taken in the first five rounds of that year’s Major League Baseball draft.
“The pitching has always been good at Pepperdine so I don’t feel like I’m coming in having to change everything,” Strauss said. “I want our guys to be throwing strikes. I like pitchers who can throw a fastball, have good command of it and can also pitch to contact. My idea of a perfect inning is three pitches, but I know for some players it’s closer to nine. I’ll be working to limit their pitch counts and develop them into healthy and mechanically sound athletes, but they have to want to compete or none of that will matter.”
During his most recent hiatus from Long Beach, Strauss filled the roles of top assistant, pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at San Jose State. The Spartans were 34-26 in 2007 and their recruiting class for 2008 was rated amongst Collegiate Baseball’s annual rankings.
Strauss also served as the pitching and recruiting coordinator at Loyola Marymount for three seasons (2003-05) where 11 pitchers signed pro contracts. The Lions twice won the Divisional Championship (2004-05) and reached the WCC three-game Championship Series in each of those seasons.
After leaving LBSU in 2000, Strauss was the head coach at Glendale Community College, where he went 66-25 with a pair of league titles under his belt in 2001 and 2002. He was also twice named the Western State Conference Coach of the Year.
Strauss, who played for the Dirtbags during the team’s College World Series run in 1993 and in 1994, graduated from LBSU in 1996 with a degree in psychology after spending a year in the Yankees minor league system (1994). He served as the pitching coach for Chatham in the Cape Cod League in 1997 and 1998. The 1998 team won the Cape Cod League Championship.
Strauss prepped at Glendale High School and played at the College of the Canyons prior to coming to LBSU. He and his wife Nikki have two sons, Casey and Brady.
