Choate Joins GCU Baseball Staff

Grand Canyon University announced today the hiring of Nathan Choate as its new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.

Choate joins GCU after spending four seasons at UC Riverside, serving as the Highlanders’ pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. While at UCR, he coached 11 pitchers that were drafted by Major League Baseball clubs. In addition, Choate has coached back-to-back Freshman All-Americans in Mitch Patitio and Dylan Stuart. Stuart was later named the 2011 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year. UC Riverside’s pitching staff compiled a 3.40 ERA this season, the lowest ERA in the last 15 years of the program and the lowest ERA for a UCR team at the Division I level.

“I am very excited to add Nathan Choate to our baseball staff,” said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. “He comes to us from UC Riverside and the very competitive Big West Conference. He understands academics and the importance of players working to gain their degrees. He has proven himself to be one of the top pitching coaches on the west coast. His ability to identify and develop pitchers is evident in the fact that his pitching staff has always been on top of the leader board, not just on the west coast but in the nation. He is a tireless recruiter and will work hard to develop relationships with the baseball community here in the state of Arizona.”

Prior to his time at UCR, Choate was the pitching coordinator for UC Irvine, who finished fourth at the 2007 College World Series. He served as the Anteaters’ director of baseball operations in 2006.

Choate pitched collegiately at Cal Poly for two seasons, where he was awarded the "Jim Newkirk Fireman's Award", given to the team's best relief pitcher, in his junior and senior seasons. He also pitched two seasons at Santa Ana Junior College in 1998 and 1999, helping the Dons to a third-place finish in 1999.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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