June 22, 2011

Checketts hired as head coach at UC Santa Barbara

Andrew Checketts has been named head coach at UC Santa Barbara.

For the past three seasons, Checketts was an assistant at Oregon. He served as pitching coach and had 11 hurlers drafted, including 2011 first-rounder Tyler Anderson.

This year’s pitching staff for the Ducks had a team ERA of 2.99, 18th in the nation. Oregon was 33-26-1 in 2010, including 11-16 in the Pac-10. The Ducks did not receive a bid to the NCAA tournament.

A native of West Linn, Ore., Checketts was also recruiting coordinator for the Ducks. He helped Oregon secure three straight Top 25 recruiting classes.

Checketts will return to the Big West Conference, as he was an assistant at UC Riverside for six years from 2002-07. The Highlanders were conference champions in 2007.

Checketts was an All-American pitcher at Oregon State. He was 11-1 with a 3.77 ERA in 13 starts as a senior in 1998. Checketts was selected in the 21st round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox.

UC Santa Barbara was 26-26 this past season and 10-14 in the Big West.