July 1, 2005

Los Angeles, Calif. - After assisting LMU baseball to a West Coast Conference Coast Division title in 2005, Vince Beringhele has been named the program's associate head coach, Head Coach Frank Cruz announced today. Beringhele will work with Cruz in overseeing all aspects of the program.

During the 2005 season, Beringhele coached third base and assisted with the Lions' offense. He joined the LMU baseball staff last winter after 15 years with UCLA.

"This past year, Coach Beringhele did a great job in assisting Coach Moen with the hitters, and I look forward to them continuing to work together closely," Cruz said. "He was also very valuable in helping me directly with game management. For these reasons, he will have a great amount of influence on the LMU baseball program as an associate head coach."

Serving as the hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator for UCLA, Beringhele tutored the likes of Troy Glaus, Chase Utley, Eric Valent, Eric Byrnes, Ryan McGuire, Michael Moore, Chris Pritchett, Joel Wolfe, and Paul Ellis, all of whom were drafted in the top five rounds. During his final eight seasons with UCLA, Beringhele's hitters posted a .301 batting average and averaged over 80 home runs per season.

In his time with UCLA, the Bruins credited Beringhele with bringing the top high school talent in California to the program. Beringhele's 1997 signees were named the top newcomers in the nation by Collegiate Baseball. His 2003 recruiting class also received a top-five ranking from Baseball America.

Beringhele helped guide the Bruins to the College World Series in 2000. After losing the first game at the Midwest Regional, Beringhele's 1997 team battled back to win five in a row (including two over Oklahoma State on its home field) to advance to the Series.

"Adding Coach Beringhele as a full-time associate head coach will help the program greatly because of his wealth of experience in coaching college baseball," Cruz said.

Before beginning his coaching career, Beringhele played in the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor league system for three years for Lethbridge, Vero Beach, and Bakersfield. In 1983, he batted .338 at Lethbridge. He tied for the league lead in hits (94) with teammate and former Dodger Jeff Hamilton. In 1984, he batted .256 for the Vero Beach Dodgers, collecting 100 walks in 100 games. Beringhele completed his playing career in 1985, playing for Vero Beach and Bakersfield.

Beringhele graduated from Loyola High as a two-sport standout in baseball and football before becoming UCLA's starting center fielder from 1981 to 1983 and a career .319 hitter. He signed with the Dodgers after his junior year, but not before leaving a mark on the Bruin record book after three seasons of play. Beringhele's 138 career walks is the second-highest total in Bruin history, while his 46 career stolen base mark is tenth-best in school history. His 61 walks in 1982 is fourth on the single-season chart.

The former UCLA great continues his work with Cruz, as he began his coaching career as an assistant for Cruz's University High School team before spending two seasons (1988-89) at Cal State Los Angeles.

Beringhele also worked with Cruz in the summer of 2004 during the selection process for the gold-medal winning USA Baseball National Team. Beringhele has a bachelor of arts in sociology from UCLA.

He and his wife, Trudy, along with their daughter, Betina, currently reside in Culver City.