Baseball
- Title:
- Interim Head Coach
- Email:
- Bryan.Peters@csulb.edu
Bryan Peters was named Interim Head Coach at Long Beach State on June 19, 2023.
Peters arrived at Long Beach State in June 2019 as the new Associate Head Coach on Eric Valenzuela’s staff. He originally joined Valenzuela at Saint Mary’s in August 2018 as an assistant coach for the Gaels and remained on his staff in Long Beach. Peters ran the offense at Saint Mary’s and filled the same role with the Dirtbags.
Focused on the offense, Peters guided the Dirtbags to the second most home runs in single-season program history (62) in 2023, headlining one of the best offensive seasons Long Beach State has seen in recent history. The team’s .436 slugging percentage was the highest for the ‘Bags since 2002, while the .273 average and .355 on-base percentage were the best since 2010.
In his four seasons with the program, Peters has piloted a power surge totaling 145 home runs, more than the previous nine years combined. Long Beach has also ranked in the top half of the Big West in virtually every offensive category each season. Among his highlights thus far are:
- One All-American honoree.
- One All-West Region selection.
- Eight All-Big West recipients
- Jonathon Long moving into second on the LBSU career home run list.
In 2022, the Dirtbags registered the most doubles and total bases in a single season since 2017. Chase Luttrell led the way, becoming the first player to record 17 doubles and nine home runs for the program in over a decade. His offense in 2021 posted some of the best numbers Long Beach State has seen in recent years. The team’s .283 average was the highest since 2010, the .370 on-base percentage was the highest since 2009, and the .451 slugging percentage was the best since 2002.
The Dirtbags also connected for 45 home runs in the 2021 season, the most since 1999, when the team hit 57. Calvin Estrada launched a team-high 10 bombs under Peters’ mentorship, becoming the first Dirtbag with double-digit home runs in a season since 2008.
Before joining Valenzuela’s staff, Peters helped NCAA Division II powerhouse Nova Southeastern set several program records. The Sharks led the entire country in Division II with a program-record 97 home runs in 2017. In 2018, the Sharks were tops in the powerful Sunshine State Conference in batting average (.318), slugging percentage (.509), scoring (8.6 runs per game), stolen bases (86), sacrifice flies (37), and home runs per game (1.43).
Peters has over two decades of coaching experience at multiple levels, finding success at several big-name programs all over the East Coast. After finishing his playing career at the University of South Florida, he spent nine years with the Bulls as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator to start his coaching career. While there, USF made the NCAA Tournament three times and had eight .500-or-better seasons
From Tampa, he moved to mid-major power Stetson University in Deland, Fla. With Peters on the coaching staff, the Hatters won the 2006 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. After success, he moved to another strong program at the University of Central Florida. For two years, he guided the Knights to improvements in nearly all offensive categories, while his 2008 recruiting class was ranked No. 7 in the country.
Later, Peters moved to High Point University in North Carolina. He had three players hit over .400, including Nate Roberts, who led the country with a .573 on-base percentage and 88 runs scored in 2010. The Panthers set program records in batting average, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, home runs, walks, and stolen bases while posting their first winning record in a decade (2010). Then Peters moved to the University of Pittsburgh and the elite Atlantic Coast Conference for three seasons. The Panthers saw five players be drafted in the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Players Draft, including first-rounder T.J. Zeuch. A program-record four players were named all-ACC, while Charles LeBlanc won the ACC’s regular season batting title with a .405 average (14th in the country). The Panthers’ 2015 recruiting class was ranked No. 23 in the country, a program high.
