Dirtbags Head Coach TJ Bruce Adds Two Experienced Coaches To Staff

LONG BEACH, Calif. --- Newly appointed Long Beach State head baseball coach TJ Bruce has named Thomas Walker and Rolando Garza to his inaugural coaching staff.

Walker will serve as the Dirtbags' hitting coach. He comes to Long Beach State from San Jose State, where he began as an assistant coach before serving as the associate head coach for the past three seasons.

Walker's Spartans appeared in consecutive Mountain West Conference Championship games before breaking through and taking home the program's first league tournament title in 2023, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

Under Walker's guidance, the Spartans were among the top-hitting teams in the Mountain West, particularly from a power perspective. Three of his players, Hunter Dorraugh, Charles McAdoo, and Dalton Bowling, ranked in the top five for most career home runs by a Spartan, and Dorraugh broke the SJSU single-season record with 15 home runs in 2022.

Two of Walker's former position players, Ruben Ibarra and McAdoo were taken in the MLB Draft as the Cincinnati Reds chose Ibarra in the fourth round in 2021, and McAdoo was selected in the 13th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2023.

Before his tenure with the Spartans, Walker spent two seasons as an assistant coach for Golden West College. As part of the Rustlers' staff, he worked with players on and off the field, instructing them in fielding and hitting.

Walker split time between the Rustlers and the Rochester Honkers, a summer league team based in Rochester, Minn., as the team's field manager. In this role, he was responsible for player development and was a team mentor.

Walker's coaching career started early when he became a youth travel baseball coach straight out of high school, where he was a three-year varsity baseball player. He began his collegiate career at Oregon State in 2012. He was a part of the Beavers' squad that appeared in the Super Regionals. He transferred to UC Riverside in 2013 and was a member of the Highlanders' club from 2013-16 and was a three-time captain. In 2014, he was selected as first team All-Big West as an outfielder.

A Long Beach native, Walker graduated from Poly High School in 2011. He was named to the Press Telegram Dream team as a junior and as a senior. Walker was selected All-CIF in 2010 and was a three-time All-League selection.

Garza joins the Dirtbags from the Fresno Grizzlies, where he served as the pitching coach during the 2024 season. He moved to Fresno from the Tampa Bay Rays system, where he was the pitching coordinator from 2020-23.

Long Beach State is a return to the collegiate level for Garza, as he was the pitching coach at Pepperdine from 2015-19. With the Waves, Garza coached an All-American (A.J. Puckett in 2016, who had a stretch of 57 1/3 innings without giving up an earned run and 45 2/3 innings without surrendering a run, the third-longest streak in NCAA history), a WCC Freshman of the Year (Cooper Chandler in 2018) and two WCC Pitchers of the Year (Puckett and Jonathan Pendergast in 2018). In 2016, the Waves led the WCC with a 3.57 earned-run average. Pepperdine won a WCC regular-season title in 2018.

Garza spent 2015 with the ACL Angels after coaching at Riverside City College from 2013-15. While at RCC, he collaborated with Korean strength coach/skill developer Youngjin Yoon on a holistic hybrid pitching philosophy that merges the American power pitching culture with Southeast Asian baseball developmental strategies.

Before starting at RCC, Garza had coaching stints with the Angels and Rays organizations. The Chicago White Sox drafted Garza in the ninth round of the 1997 MLB amateur draft from Coachella Valley High School. He played in the minor leagues from 1997 to 2004. In 2000, Garza transitioned from an infielder to a pitching role. After his playing career ended, Garza earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal State San Bernardino, graduating in 2010.

Long Beach State University Athletics

Dirtbags Head Coach TJ Bruce Adds Two Experienced Coaches To Staff

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