MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Pitching coach Dave Serrano’s tenure at West Virginia has ended after one season in what a school official described as “a mutual parting of ways.”
The Mountaineers later announced the hiring of Oklahoma State’s Mark Ginther to fill the vacancy.
One of only 12 head coaches to guide two schools to the College World Series, Serrano’s decision to accept an assistant’s role at WVU in July 2017 seemingly raised the profile of a program coming off its first NCAA regional appearance in 21 years.
The 2018 Mountaineers opened the season ranked in the D1Baseball.com top 25 but stumbled to a 29-27 record that included a seventh-place finish in the nine-team Big 12. Their team ERA of 4.79 ranked sixth in the league.
This month Serrano had been among the runners-up in head coaching searches at San Jose State and Middle Tennessee State.
“I don’t think there’s any secret he wants to be a head coach again,” a source close to the program said.
Serrano owns a 446-302-1 record as a head coach, highlighted by CWS appearances at UC Irvine in 2007 and Cal State Fullerton in 2009. That success never materialized in his six-year run at Tennessee, where a 157-163 record saw the Vols annually resigned to the bottom of the SEC East.
Ginther joins WVU
Ginther spent four years on the Oklahoma State staff, the last three as volunteer assistant after one season as player development coordinator in 2015. The Cowboys reached the NCAA tournament each season, including a College World Series appearance in 2016 and a Big 12 title in 2017.
He’s a Tulsa, Okla., native who was selected in the Major League Baseball draft coming out of Jenks High School in 2008 and then twice at OSU in 2011 and 2012
“He was a tremendous athlete at Oklahoma State and made a big impact as a member of their coaching staff,” said WVU coach Randy Mazey. “What I’m really impressed with about him is his character, integrity and work ethic. I am super excited to have Mark be a part of the Mountaineer baseball staff.”