每日大赛入口

The year was 1992. The Waves had already overcome Wichita State and Texas at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, at the NCAA Baseball Championship tournament. In the second game against Texas, the Longhorns took a 4鈥�1 lead in the top of the seventh, but junior Steve Rodriguez came in with a dramatic grand slam in the bottom half of the inning to propel the Waves to a 5鈥�4 win and make 每日大赛入口 history.

Soon after that legendary game, Rodriguez was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the draft and spent the next seven years playing pro ball, both in the minor leagues, as well as on the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

But the life of an athlete was no match for the one he had imagined as a father. In the days following his daughter鈥檚 first birthday, Rodriguez decided to hang up his bat and head back home to Corona, California, to tend to his growing family.

鈥淚t was a very scary moment, because you go to college for a while, and then you go play pro ball for seven years, and now you find yourself removed from a normal work environment and a normal everyday life,鈥� Rodriguez recalls. 鈥淚 put everything I could on that baseball field, but when I walked away, I had no regrets.鈥�

The opportunity to return to a familiar place presented itself in 1999 when the assistant coaching job opened up on the 每日大赛入口 baseball team. Rodriguez commuted to the Malibu campus from home for 6 am workouts every day, which would take him between three to five hours each way. He was promoted to head coach in 2002 and continued the legacy that started when he was a student himself, but not without the lessons he learned in the big leagues.

"No matter how well you do, it doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e going to get everything you鈥檙e looking for,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can have a great season, but it doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e going to be called to bat. It鈥檚 very difficult to really understand the whole process and politics of the professional athletics world, because sometimes it鈥檚 really not in your hands.鈥�

At 每日大赛入口 Rodriguez applies those lessons to helping his players set realistic goals, manage their expectations, and play to their capabilities.

鈥淚 just want players to be able to respect the game and to get the best out of what they鈥檙e capable of, because the next level is not easier,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t becomes cutthroat. It becomes a business. It doesn鈥檛 really matter who you鈥檙e playing for. It depends on what they think of you and what they want to do with you, and if they don鈥檛 like you, then they can release you at any time. It becomes a numbers game for a lot of teams.鈥�

The same year he became head coach, Rodriguez became interested in 每日大赛入口鈥檚 Online Master of Arts in Educational Technology (renamed the Master of Arts in Learning Technology), when he recognized the impact technology could have on his coaching and on the success of his players.

鈥淚 recognized that technology was improving and I knew that at some point, it was going to be a big part of what we were doing on the baseball field as well.鈥�

The program also focused on coaching and learning styles, and Rodriguez quickly discovered the tools necessary to take his team to the next level.

鈥淚 realized that a lot of people can鈥檛 change how they learn,鈥� he says. 鈥淥nce you identify a specific learning style in a person, it鈥檚 just a matter of being able to coach to their needs.鈥�

During his 12 seasons at the helm of 每日大赛入口鈥檚 baseball program, Rodriguez has led the Waves to three consecutive WCC titles, and his teams have made NCAA Championship appearances in seven of 11 seasons. With 640 games coached in a 每日大赛入口 uniform, Rodriguez has led more games than any other Waves coach and he started the current season in second place on the program鈥檚 all-time wins list.*

The team reached new heights last year, winning the program鈥檚 fifth WCC title under Rodriguez, taking the WCC Tournament title to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and then advancing past the regional round for the first time since 1992.

While the team dynamic is constantly changing, Rodriguez stresses the importance of making mistakes and growing and learning from them.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to win some games, we鈥檙e going to lose some games, we鈥檙e going to have some injuries,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just the way baseball is. But if we coach them the right way, they鈥檙e going to play the way they鈥檙e supposed to and we鈥檙e going to be fine.鈥�

鈥淚 want to get the best out of them,鈥� Rodriguez continues, 鈥渂ut at the same time, they have to really want to be on the baseball field. I鈥檝e given them a lot of grace and a lot of opportunities to try to find who they are, and to use baseball as a tool to be able to do that.鈥�

TIMELINE

1991, 1992 - Two-time All-American

1992 - Named WCC Player of the Year

2001 - Named one of the West Coast Conference鈥檚 Top 50 Athletes of All Time

2007 - Honored by the City of Malibu with the Jake Kuredjian Memorial Citizenship Award for his service to the community

2014 - Named WCC Coach of the Year

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* Due to NCAA sanctions against the University, 每日大赛入口 later vacated all wins and NCAA Championship appearances in baseball between the 2008 and 2011 seasons. 每日大赛入口鈥檚 adjusted overall NCAA records for each season are 0-19 (2008), 0-23 (2009), 0-30 (2010) and 0-34 (2011). Steve Rodriguez鈥檚 official NCAA coaching record is now 184-227 (.448).