Head Coach

Tyler LaTorre

Tyler LaTorre has been selected as the 18th head coach in Pepperdine baseball program history, Director of Athletics Tanner Gardner announced on Friday. LaTorre has nine years of coaching and 10 years of professional playing experience with the San Francisco Giants organization, and he was most recently the head coach at Division II Westmont College where he led the Warriors to the 2023 NAIA National Championship.

"With great excitement, we welcome Tyler LaTorre as the next leader of Pepperdine Baseball," Gardner said. "He's a strong man of faith, a proven winner with deep roots in professional and college baseball, and has a clear track record of leading and developing players on and off the field. We look forward to Tyler leading this storied program to national prominence."

LaTorre has proven himself to be a winner. In his first year at Westmont, he won the 2023 NAIA National Championship — finishing with a 48-9 record — and was named the 2023 NAIA National Coach of the Year, the American Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, and GSAC Coach of the Year. Last season, LaTorre was named the 2024 Pac-West Coach of the Year after leading Westmont to a 33-15-3 record in the program’s Division II debut season. All told, LaTorre had a 81-24-3 (.750) overall record at Westmont while overseeing the program’s move from the NAIA ranks to Division II.

Before Westmont, LaTorre was the recruiting coordinator at Sacramento State and San Jose State, where he was awarded the 2018 San Jose Assistant Coach of the Year and the 2019 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coach of the Year after spending two years as the associate head coach at Division II San Francisco State.

As a recruiter, LaTorre has helped six players get selected in the MLB Draft. Most notable are Kellen Strahm, a right fielder drafted to the Texas Rangers in the fourth round and Travis Adams, a pitcher taken by the Minnesota Twins in the 2021 MLB Draft. At San Jose State, LaTorre coached Kellen Strahm, Andrew Mitchell, and Fineas Del Bonsta-Smith, who were all part of the 2019 MLB draft class. The following two years at Sacramento State, LaTorre was an integral part of three pitchers signing professional baseball contracts, including Parker Brahms in the 2020 MLB Draft as well as Travis Adams and Scott Randall, who were selected by the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively, in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Prior to coaching, LaTorre played professionally in the San Francisco Giants organization from 2006-15. During his nine-year stint with the team, the Giants went on to win three World Series titles (‘10, ‘12 and ‘14). He was also a member of the Italian National Baseball Team, catching in the 2012 European Championship as well as the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

As a team captain at UC Davis, LaTorre helped the Aggies make the 2003 Division II World Series. LaTorre was a first-team All-CCAA selection in 2004 and an All-Independent league selection in 2006. He graduated from UC Davis in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communications before earning his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2018.

Coach LaTorre is married to his wife, Stacey. They have one daughter, Arabella.