Loyola Marymount University Athletics

Nathan Choate was named the Loyola Marymount Lions head baseball coach on June 25, 2019 becoming the eighth head coach in team history after leading LMU to the West Coast Conference Tournament Title and first appearance in the NCAA Regionals since 2000. Choate was brought onto the LMU coaching staff in the summer of 2018 after being hired by then head coach Jason Gill. 

Throughout Choate's coaching career, he has accumulated 25 players drafted in the MLB Draft, seven of which have been selected in the top-10 rounds, eight All-Americans, two College World Series appearances, three Team USA pitchers, three Freshman All-Americans, two Big West Freshman Pitchers of the Year, nine All-Conference Pitchers and 2019 WCC Pitcher of the Year in Codie Paiva. In the 2017 season with San Diego his team finished sixth in the country in strikeouts and last year he led the Lions to the 14th best ERA in the nation.  

The 2021 season saw the Lions open up with 14 straight games against the Pac-12, winning two weekend series including a three-game sweep of Utah. In addition to his success against the Pac-12, the Lions won six of the nine weekend series versus the WCC. On the offensive end, LMU led the conference in triples with 15 and were among the WCC leaders in stolen bases and stolen bases per game. 
 
On the mound, Choate produced one of the most lethal end of game pitchers in Holden Christian who was named to the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I West All-Region Second Team, finishing the year with three wins, four saves, and an ERA of 0.97. The Lions pitching staff had 342 strikeouts on the year and four members posted ERAs of 3.43 or below. 

In 2020, his first season at the helm of the Loyola Marymount Lions, Choate went 8-8 winning three of his first four weekend series including a sweep of San Jose State. Under Choate’s direction the Lions pitching staff posted an ERA of 4.07 had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.61, which ranked third in the WCC, a strikeout per nine inning average of 9.0, a WHIP of 1.43 and finished the season with 154 total strikeouts. 
 
Offensively, LMU led the WCC and ranked 25th nationally in stolen bases with 32, were the pace setters in the conference in stolen bases per game at 2.00 and also set the school record for steals in a game with eight at UC Davis on March 1, 2020. Choate’s aggressiveness on the bases was aided by the Lions discipline at the plate resulting in 84 free passes which also led the conference. 
 
Choate’s first win came in his first game leading LMU when they beat the Washington Huskies 7-1. In 2020 he also took part in the second-longest game in NCAA history in both time and length with a 24 inning, six hour and thirty minute contest on Feb. 28 – 29 at UC Davis. In the game LMU set the school record for at-bats with 79 and Trevin Esquerra tied the NCAA record and set the Lions record for at-bats with 11.
 
In 2019 the Lions finished with a 34-25 overrall mark and a 15-12 record in the WCC. With a strong start in WCC play the Lions won their first five series and secured a berth into the WCC Championship Tournament. The Lions went on to beat WCC regular season champions BYU then posted back-to-back victories over Saint Mary's to clinch their first WCC Championship Tournament Title. The Lions went on to beat #24 Baylor and #1 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament before falling to the Bruins in the deciding game of the Los Angeles Regional. Under his helm the Lions were able to nab six All-WCC selections with Codie Paiva being named WCC Pitcher of the Year and Nick Sogard being tabbed WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Prior to his hiring, Choate spent the previous two years as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at WCC-rival San Diego. While with the Toreros, Choate helped guide USD to a combined 58-50-1 record. In his first season with San Diego in 2017, Choate's staff struck out 9.7 batters per nine innings to record the sixth-best rate in the nation and lead the WCC. Torero ace, Nick Sprengel, went 9-1 to tie a program record for win percentage and was named to the All-WCC First team. Additionally, Chris Murphy was named to the Freshmen All-American team after striking out 11.61 batters per nine innings - the fifth-best rate in a single-season in program history.
 
Through his two seasons, five Torero pitchers were selected in the MLB Draft, including right-hander Paul Richan by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 2018 June Draft.
 
Before coming to USD, Choate had been the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Grand Canyon University for five years. While at GCU, he helped lead the 'Lopes to a D-II World Series appearance and a WAC Championship while the school was transitioning to D-I. Considered one of the top recruiters in the nation, Choate also spearheaded a top-35 ranked recruiting class in 2015.
 
Prior to his time at Grand Canyon, Choate spent four years at UC Riverside, where he served as the Highlanders' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, helping 11 pitchers get drafted by MLB clubs, including Joe Kelly and Matt Andriese.
 
Before UCR, Choate was the pitching coordinator for UC Irvine, which finished fourth at the 2007 College World Series.
 
Choate pitched collegiately at Cal Poly for two seasons, where he was awarded the Jim Newkirk Fireman's Award, given to the team's best relief pitcher, in his junior and senior seasons. He also pitched two seasons at Santa Ana Junior College in 1998 and 1999, helping the Dons to a third-place national finish in 1999.
 
Choate and his wife Lori have four children, Kamdyn, Chance, Kyla and Kacey.