On Monday, the ECU baseball program announced the return of former assistant coach Jason Dietrich to the role as assistant to the head coach.
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Photo illustration and story by ECU Sports Information
A familiar face to the East Carolina baseball program, Jason Dietrich returns to Greenville to join the coaching staff as the Assistant to the Head Coach, Cliff Godwin announced Monday afternoon.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jason back to East Carolina,” Godwin said. “Jason has a tremendous understanding of what it takes to be successful at this level, and, more importantly, he knows what ECU Baseball Culture stands for and the type of players who can help us compete for a national championship. His experience, knowledge and ability to develop players will be a tremendous asset to our program, and we are excited to have him back in Greenville.”
Dietrich returns to East Carolina after five seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Cal State Fullerton (’99). During his tenure, 23 Titans were Big West All-Conference selections, including five First Team honorees, two Conference Players of the Year and one All-American. Ten Titans heard their names called in the MLB Draft under Dietrich, including three selections in the 2026 MLB Draft in July.
In his second season at the helm in 2023, Dietrich ended the Titans’ four-year postseason drought, guiding Fullerton to a 32-24 record, a second-place Big West finish and an appearance in the NCAA Stanford Regional. The Titans’ 20 conference wins were their most since 2013.
Before taking the head coaching position at Fullerton, Dietrich spent two seasons at East Carolina as the pitching coach for the Pirates. In 2020, the Pirates posted a 13-4 record before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic; his staff posted a 3.12 ERA, allowing 54 runs in 17 contests. The Pirates stood among the national leaders (top 60) in shutouts (32nd/two), strikeout-to-walk ratio (45th/2.85) and ERA (54th).
In 2021, Dietrich and the pitching staff helped the Pirates reach their second consecutive regular-season conference championship and stay nationally ranked, making their sixth NCAA Regional Championship. Right-handed standout Gavin Williams garnered 2021 American Conference Pitcher of the Year accolades while receiving five All-American selections. Williams led the Pirates with a 10-1 record, keeping a 1.88 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP and 130 strikeouts. He later became a first-round (23rd overall) pick in the 2021 MLB Draft to the Cleveland Guardians.
Dietrich returned to Fullerton after previously serving as the Titans’ pitching coach from 2013-16. He has also coached at UC Irvine and Oregon, totaling eight NCAA Regionals and one College World Series appearance. Across his Division I coaching career, Dietrich has worked alongside ABCA Hall of Fame coaches Mike Gillespie and George Horton, as well as Rick Vanderhook.
At Oregon, Dietrich mentored two All-Americans, three First Team All-Pac-12 selections and six MLB Draft picks; at UC Irvine, he helped the Anteaters reach 202 wins and four NCAA Regional appearances.
Dietrich began his coaching career at the high school and junior college levels before moving into Division I baseball. As a player, he spent four seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization after being selected in the 19th round of the 1994 MLB Draft out of Pepperdine.