FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
(San Francisco, CA) – Matt Hobbs has accepted the open pitching coach position at the University of San Francisco, as announced by head coach Nino Giarratano today. Hobbs comes to the Hilltop from UC San Diego, where he held an associate head coaching position for three years.
"We are extremely excited to have Matt Hobbs as a pitching Coach/ recruiting coordinator at the University of San Francisco," said Giarratano. "Matt brings great success, knowledge, and great work habits to our program. Matt will continue to help the program rise."
"I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to come to the University of San Francisco and be a part of such a wonderful program and be around such a great coaching staff and student-athletes," Hobbs said. "I’m excited to be here and feel really grateful that Coach Giarratano thought I would be a good fit for the program."
At UC San Diego, Hobbs was also pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, and he helped lead the Tritons to their first ever final four appearance in the 2009 Division II College World Series. UCSD was ranked third by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association in 2009, after being named Regional Champions for the first time in school history. The Tritons 41-15 record was the second best in program history, behind the 2008 team that had 43 wins.
On the mound, Hobbs’ pitching staff allowed the fewest number of walks per nine innings of any Division II baseball program, and was 12th nationally in ERA (3.73). As a recruiter, since 2007 Hobbs brought in three All-Americans, four First-Team All-West Region, four Second-Team All-West Region, seven First-Team CCAA, one Second-Team CCAA, and one CCAA Freshman of the Year.
Prior to UCSD, Hobbs spent two seasons (2005-2006) at Santa Barbara City College as the pitching coach. In 2006, the Vaqueros had the fewest walks in the Western State Conference, while the 2005 squad led the WSC with a 2.27 team ERA and seven shutouts as SBCC earned a program high 24 wins. During the summers while at SBCC, Hobbs was the pitching coach for Foresters Baseball. The summer league team earned the National Baseball Congress World Series in 2006, after a runner up finish in 2005. He also spent one season as an assistant coach at Chapman University, working with the pitching and catching staffs and coaching first base.
Hobbs played Division I baseball at the University of Missouri, where he tallied 13 career victories and finished his career as the Big 12 record holder for consecutive strikeouts. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2001 and the Kansas City Royals in 2002. During the summers, he helped lead the Foresters to three consecutive California Coastal League Championships and three top-ten finishes in the National Baseball Congress World Series.
Hobbs inherits a pitching staff that includes a 2009 WCC First-Team Selection (senior Doug Murray, 9-0, 3.77 ERA), a 2009 WCC Honorable Mention (junior Matt Hiserman, 4-6, 3.43 ERA), and junior Matt Lujan, who earned WCC First-Team, Freshman Team, and Louisville Slugger All-American status in 2008.
