Andrew Checketts is an American college baseball coach and former player. He currently is the head coach of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

Andrew Checketts
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamUC Santa Barbara
ConferenceBig West
Record429–244–3
Biographical details
Born (1975-10-08) October 8, 1975 (age 48)
Alma materOregon State '98
Playing career
1995Florida
1996–1998Oregon State
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001Riverside CC (asst.)
2002–2007UC Riverside (asst.)
2008–2011Oregon (asst.)
2012–presentUC Santa Barbara
Head coaching record
Overall429–244–3
TournamentsNCAA: 10–11
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big West (2019, 2022)
Awards
2× Big West Coach of the Year (2019, 2022)

Playing career edit

Checketts graduated from West Linn High School in West Linn, Oregon and was named 1994 Oregon State High School Player of the Year. He then played one season at Florida before transferring to Oregon State for his remaining three years. In his final year with the Beavers, he posted an 11–1 record, earning conference and national honors and a 21st round selection by the Boston Red Sox in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. He played briefly in the Red Sox system at the end of 1998, then played for the Independent Tri-City Posse for one season before turning to coaching.[1]

Coaching career edit

Checketts began coaching at Riverside Community College in 2001, serving as pitching coach and helping the team to their second state championship. The next season, he moved across town to UC Riverside where he stayed for six seasons as pitching coach and later recruiting coordinator. The Highlanders claimed their first Big West Conference championship in his final season and ranked highly in several national statistical pitching categories. Checketts then moved to Oregon, which re-launched its program in 2008. He served as pitching coach and was also instrumental in several strong recruiting classes for the Ducks.[1] In his time at UC Riverside and Oregon, Checketts had 36 pitchers drafted or sign pro contracts, including nine draft picks in three years at Oregon.[2][3]

Following the 2011 season, Checketts was named as the ninth head coach in UC Santa Barbara history.[4] The Gauchos were coming off a sixth-place finish in the competitive Big West Conference and had not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2001.[5] He claimed 28 wins in his first season, most in school history for a first year head coach, and his pitching staff set a school record for strikeouts.[1] UC Santa Barbara also led the league in batting for the first time since 1984.[6] In Checketts' first recruiting class he brought in Dillon Tate, who later became the 4th overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.[7]

Head coaching record edit

Below is a table of Checketts's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[8][9]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UC Santa Barbara (Big West Conference) (2012–present)
2012 UC Santa Barbara 28–28 10–14 T–6th
2013 UC Santa Barbara 35–25 17–10 T–2nd NCAA Regional
2014 UC Santa Barbara 34–17 12–12 T–5th
2015 UC Santa Barbara 40–17–1 16–8 2nd NCAA Regional
2016 UC Santa Barbara 43–20–1 14-10 3rd College World Series
2017 UC Santa Barbara 24–32 8–16 T-8th
2018 UC Santa Barbara 27–28–1 10–14 7th
2019 UC Santa Barbara 45–11 19–5 1st NCAA Regional
2020 UC Santa Barbara 13–2 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 UC Santa Barbara 41–20 29–11 2nd NCAA Regional
2022 UC Santa Barbara 44–14 27–3 1st NCAA Regional
2023 UC Santa Barbara 35-20 18-12 T-5th
2024 UC Santa Barbara 20-10 7-4
UC Santa Barbara: 429–244–3 187–118
Total: 429–244–3

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Andrew Checketts". ucsbgauchos.com. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  2. ^ Jim Beseda (June 22, 2011). "Andrew Checketts named head baseball coach at UC Santa Barbara". Oregonlive.com. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Adam Jude (June 22, 2011). "Oregon pitching coach Andrew Checketts named head coach at UC Santa Barbara". The Register-Guard. Eugene, OR. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  4. ^ Mercado, Jorge (May 19, 2016). "Checketts' Method: A Winning Culture Reborn". Daily Nexus. Santa Barbara, California. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Bob Clark (June 23, 2011). "Coach Can't Say No to Job Pitch: Ex-UO Pitching Coach Andrew Checketts Officially Named Santa Barbara's Head Coach". The Register-Guard. Eugene, OR. p. C1. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  6. ^ "2012 Was a Year of Many Records for Baseball Team". prestosports.com. May 29, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  7. ^ "UCSB Baseball's 2012 Recruiting Class Ranked Eighteenth in Nation". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. September 26, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  8. ^ "2012 Big West Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  9. ^ "2013 Big West Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.

External links edit