FULLERTON, Calif. – Former University of Arizona top assistant and recruiting coordinator, Sergio Brown, joins the Cal State Fullerton baseball program as its new recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, Head Coach Rick Vanderhook announced Tuesday.
“We are very excited to welcome Sergio (Brown) back to the Titan family,” Vanderhook said. “He’s proven himself to be one of the top coaches and recruiters in the country. His knowledge of the game and the West Coast will be a huge asset for our program.”
Brown, who won a national championship as a player with the Titans in 1995, returns for his third stint as a coach after serving on the staff in 2001-03 and 2007-10.
“I would like to first take this opportunity to thank the City of Tucson, the University of Arizona, and all of Wildcat Nation for fully welcoming my family and I. The last four years have been truly memorable,” Brown said. “I am honored to have been offered the opportunity to become associate head coach of the Cal State Fullerton baseball program and return home. My wife Olivia and I know that our foundation was built around the great education we both received at Cal State Fullerton. Our lives have been enriched by the doors that have been opened to us because of our alma mater. We are thrilled to wear the Titan pinstripes once again.”
“I would like to thank President Virjee, Athletics Director Jim Donovan and Senior Associate Athletics Director Steve DiTolla for working to make this all happen. Most of all I would like to thank Rick Vanderhook. Rick is my former coach, a mentor and a true friend. I am honored that a coach with over 30 years of National Championship pedigree has entrusted me to be a part of his coaching staff. Each of my three previous stops here have led to trips to Omaha and I cannot wait to see this year’s Titans touch the ‘1,544 Miles to Omaha’ at Goodwin Field.”
In his time at Cal State Fullerton, the Titans won three Big West championships in 2001, 2008 and 2010 and finished seventh at the 2009 College World Series. Brown helped lead the Titans to three Super Regionals and 14 total postseason wins.
As the recruiting coordinator in 2009, he boasted the nation’s fifth-best class, while in 2010 his group was ranked eighth and in 2008 it was tabbed 14th nationally. During his final two seasons at Fullerton, Titan hitters led the Big West in batting average, hits, runs, RBI, on-base percentage and sacrifice bunts.
In his second stint at Fullerton, Brown helped develop 11 All-Americans, seven All-Conference players, and numerous student-athletes that have since gone on to log over 1,000 games of Major League Baseball experience. The program excelled on defense during his time with the Titans as well – the 2008, 2009, and 2010 squads all posted fielding percentages that rank among the top 10 marks in school history.
Brown also played an instrumental part in the Titans 2010 offense that went down as one of the best in school history, ranking among the top 10 years in program history in batting average (2nd), triples (T-2nd), hits per game (3rd), slugging percentage (6th), and total bases (7th).
Brown comes back to Fullerton after spending four seasons at Arizona where his second recruiting class in 2016 was ranked No. 4 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball while his recruiting class in 2018 was ranked No. 3 in the country by Collegiate Baseball.
Under Brown’s tutelage, numerous Wildcat position players have been tabbed with All-American honors by an array of national publications including: Zach Gibbons (2016), Cody Ramer (2016), JJ Matijevic (2017), Alfonso Rivas (2017), Jared Oliva (2017), Nick Quintana (2017, 2019), and Cameron Cannon (2019).
Brown’s work with the hitters helped shape the Wildcats 2019 offense that ranked as one of the most potent in the country. Arizona’s offense averaged 9.8 runs per game, the second-best mark in the nation and the best mark posted by an Arizona team since the 1975 team averaged 10.07.
Arizona finished 2019 season ranked second in the nation in slugging percentage and on-base percentage and third in batting average. In addition to spectacular team numbers, multiple players also thrived – Quintana led the Pac-12 during the regular season with 77 RBI while Cannon finished the year leading all Division I players in the nation with 29 doubles.
