Steve Rodriguez
Rodriguez with Pepperdine in 2010
Texas Longhorns
Second baseman/Shortstop/Coach
Born: (1970-11-29) November 29, 1970 (age 53)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 30, 1995, for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1995, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average.179
Runs scored5
Stolen bases2
Teams
Player

Coach

Steven James Rodríguez (born November 29, 1970) is an American baseball coach and former second baseman/shortstop, who is the current hitting coach for the Texas Longhorns. He played college baseball for the Pepperdine Waves from 1991 to 1992. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1995 season. He served as the head coach of the Pepperdine Waves (2004–2015) and the Baylor Bears (2016–2022).

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, he was selected by Boston in the fifth-round of the 1992 draft out of Pepperdine.[1] He would play briefly for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers during the 1995 season. Rodríguez was hired as the 19th head coach of the Baylor University baseball team on June 12, 2015.[2]

Playing career

High school

Rodriguez attended Valley High School in Winchester, Nevada. Prior to being recruited by the Pepperdine Waves baseball team, he had never heard of Pepperdine University and did not know where Malibu was. Nonetheless, he was won over by handwritten letters from coach Andy Lopez.[3]

College

A two-time All-American (1991–92), Rodríguez helped his team claim its only national championship in the 1992 College World Series,[4] when he was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year and also was a member of the All-Tournament Team.[4] Rodríguez collected a .419 batting average –the third-highest single-season average in school history–[1][4] and his 104 base hits that season are also a Pepperdine single-season record,[4] as he finished with a .382 average in the round-robin phase of the 1991 Pan American Games for the Bronze Medal USA baseball team, earning Player of the Series honors against Mexico and Cuba.[1][4] Then, in 1992, Rodríguez was named one of the West Coast Conference's Top Fifty Athletes of all time.[1][4][5]

Major League Baseball

In an 18-game major league career, Rodríguez was a .179 hitter (7-for-39) with five runs, two doubles, and two stolen bases without home runs or an RBI. He also played in the Red Sox, Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Montreal Expos minor league systems from 1992 to 1998, hitting .263 with 16 home runs and 205 RBI in 613 games.[1]

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Rodríguez served as an assistant coach at his alma mater from 2000 to 2003, and was the head coach from 2004 to 2015. He was hired as the sixteenth head coach in the history of the Pepperdine baseball program in June 2003,[1] to become only the third former Pepperdine player head coach for the Waves in the program's sixty-five-year history.[1]

Taking over a young team in 2004, Rodríguez guided Pepperdine to the WCC Championship where the Waves swept conference rival Loyola Marymount University in the best-of-three WCC championship series.

In 2015, Rodriguez was hired to be the head coach at Baylor.

On July 7, 2022, Rodriguez joined the staff of the Texas Longhorns as the team's hitting coach.

Head coaching records

Below is a table of Rodriguez's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[6][7]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Conference) (2004–2015)
2004 Pepperdine 30–32 19–11 1st (West) NCAA Regional
2005 Pepperdine 41–23 21–9 1st (West) NCAA Regional
2006 Pepperdine 42–21 15–6 t–1st NCAA Regional
2007 Pepperdine 35–22 14–7 3rd NCAA Regional
2008 Pepperdine 38–21 14–6 2nd NCAA Regional
2009 Pepperdine 31–23 12–9 t–3rd
2010 Pepperdine 24–30 12–9 3rd
2011 Pepperdine 22–34 7–14 7th
2012 Pepperdine 36–23 16–8 1st NCAA Regional
2013 Pepperdine 27–24 13–11 5th
2014 Pepperdine 43–18 18–9 1st NCAA Super Regional
2015 Pepperdine 32–29 17–10 2nd NCAA Regional
Pepperdine: 401–300 178–109
Baylor Bears (Big 12 Conference) (2016–2022)
2016 Baylor 24–29 10–14 6th
2017 Baylor 34–23 12–12 4th NCAA Regional
2018 Baylor 37–21 13–11 4th NCAA Regional
2019 Baylor 35–19 14–8 2nd NCAA Regional
2020 Baylor 10–6 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Baylor 31–20 11–13 6th
2022 Baylor 26–28 7–17 8th
Baylor: 197–136 (.592) 67–75 (.472)
Total: 598–436 (.578)

      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

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Steve Rodriguez Lives the Pepperdine Tradition". www.pepperdine.edu. Archived from the original on 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  2. ^ "Baylor Hires Pepperdine's Rodriguez As New Head Baseball Coach". kwtx.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-14.
  3. ^ Klein, Gary (6 June 1992). "Rodriguez Opens Eyes at Pepperdine". The Los Angeles Times. p. C6. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Steve Rodriguez - Staff director". www.malibubaseballcamp.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  5. ^ "West Coast Conference Announces Top 50 Student-Athletes in League History". lmulions.cstv.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  6. ^ "2013 West Coast Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). West Coast Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  7. ^ "2013 West Coast Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2013.

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