SAN FRANCISCO – Greg Moore, USF's pitching coach for nine seasons, has been appointed as head coach at Cal State-Northridge. He succeeds Matt Curtis, who held the position for the past three seasons.
Moore, who first joined
Nino Giarratano's coaching staff in 2002 as a volunteer assistant, had two separate stints as USF's pitching coach. He spent seven seasons (2003-09) as the Dons' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator before taking a similar position at the University of Washington for the 2010 campaign. In 2011, he returned to the Hilltop as associate head coach.
Under Moore's tutelage, USF posted four of the top five single-season earned run averages in school history, including a single-season record 2.86 in 2005. The 2004 staff set a single-season school record for strikeout-walk ratio and tied a single-season mark for strikeouts with 389. Moore's 2005 staff led the West Coast Conference in earned run average and held opponents to a conference-low .234 batting average.
This past season, the Dons' staff ranked in the top three in five conference pitching categories, including ERA (3.36; 2nd), strikeouts (389; 3rd), opponent batting average (.257; 3rd), saves (15; 2nd) and fewest walks (152; 2nd). The team's ERA was the third-best mark in school history while its strikeout total tied a school record.
Two USF pitchers –
Abe Bobb and
Haden Hinkle – were first team All-West Coast Conference selections while closer
Adam Cimber was an honorable mention selection. Hinkle led the WCC in ERA (1.91) and tied for the conference lead in wins with nine. Cimber set a single-season record with nine saves.
Alex Balog, who finished the year with a 3-4 record and a 3.63 ERA, was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the competitive balance round “b” with the 70th overall pick in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft, while Cimber was a ninth round selection of the San Diego Padres.
Three of Moore's pitchers off the 2012 staff were selected in the First-Year Player Draft, including
Kyle Zimmer, who was drafted by Kansas City with the fifth overall pick.
Another of Moore's protégés, Aaron Poreda, was selected by the Chicago White Sox with the 25th overall pick in 2006.
“We are very proud of what Greg has accomplished at the University of San Francisco,” said Giarratano. “He has been instrumental in all of our success, and we'll never be able to replace the contributions that Greg has made to the players and alumni. Cal State-Northridge has hired a great coach, but even a better man. I hope we will all celebrate for Greg.”
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Moore played one season (1997) at Long Beach Community College before transferring to USF, where he earned three letters as a pitcher and back-up catcher in 1999-01.
Cal State-Northridge Release