STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific baseball team has named Grant Kukuk as the program's next pitching coach, as announced by head coach Reed Peters today.
"The Tigers are proud to announce the hiring of pitching coach Grant Kukuk," Peters said. "Grant is one of the most respected young pitching coaches in college baseball. He is a great mind on the pitching side and a relentless recruiter who will lead our recruiting efforts at Pacific."
Kukuk most recently spent three seasons at Utah Valley as the team's pitching coach.
"I am fired up to be a part of the new baseball staff here at University of the Pacific," Kukuk said. "I want to thank Coach Peters for the opportunity and to everyone who has helped me along the way. I can't wait to get back to Northern California and am excited to be alongside a staff that will work tirelessly to bring excitement to the community of Stockton and Tiger fans."
In Kukuk's second year (2023) as the pitching coach at Utah Valley, the pitching staff set the single-season school record in strikeouts on the mound with (480). In 2023, the Wolverines saw continued success in multiple pitching categories.During the 2023 season, Kukuk guided junior RHP Casey Anderson (5-1, 3.39 ERA, 69 IP, 90 Ks to 25 BB, .240 OPP BA), while earning first-team All-WAC honors. Anderson led the WAC conference in strikeouts and was also selected in the 11th round (Pick 325) by the Arizona Diamondbacks, being the highest draft pick in UVU's Division I era.
Prior to his arrival at Utah Valley, Kukuk spent three seasons as an assistant coach at California State East Bay in Hayward, California, where he served as the program's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator (2018-21). During his time at NCAA Division II California State East Bay, Kukuk helped deflate the pitching staff's ERA from a near 6, to a 4.44 ERA in 2020, which was the lowest since 2015 at CSU East Bay. Alongside being the pitching coach, Kukuk heads up all recruiting duties where Cal State East Bay in 2020 got off to their best start in program history with a 10-2 record.
A native of Reno, Nevada, Kukuk began his collegiate pitching career at the College of Southern Idaho. He pitched for the Golden Eagles for two seasons, earning All-Conference honors as a sophomore. He then transferred to Division I WAC Foe in Sacramento State and spent two years as both a starter and reliever for the Hornets, tossing 107.2 innings in 33 career appearances.
Kukuk was also an exemplary student-athlete in the classroom. He was an Academic All-American at CSI, then at Sacramento State, won the Scholar Student-Athlete Award after posting the highest GPA of any student-athlete in any sport. Kukuk earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Sacramento State in 2016, then, while coaching at CSI, obtained a master's degree in human resource development from Idaho State in 2018.
#PacificProud
